“No!” This word stands between you and everything you want. No wonder it is such a tough word to hear. But if you are going to survive in this industry, you are going to have to learn to hear the word “no” for an answer!
I’m not being pessimistic. The truth is that if you can hear “no” and not go home and put your head under your pillow, you will make it to the next “yes!” Everything is sales, my friend. To get good at sales, you need to get comfortable with “no.”
As Fletcher-owned DECRA Roofing Systems Inc. commemorates its 50th anniversary in 2007, the company has plenty to celebrate. Sales of DECRA’s stone coated steel roofing products are on the upswing, keeping folks busy at the company’s 104,000-square-foot UL registered ISO 9001:2000 manufacturing facility in Corona, Calif. The company recently opened a brand-new Indianapolis warehouse and moved its Arlington, Texas, warehouse to expanded facilities last October.
Asphalt represents a significant investment on the part of contractors and manufacturers. Beyond equipment and infrastructure, the attachment to asphalt is almost emotional because it has served its calling so well and done it with such longevity. Its versatility and dominance may be unmatched in the roofing business. From self-adhered underlayments to mineral surfaced cap sheets, asphalt can be found in just about any layer of a roofing system, and companies continue to spread the word about its benefits.
Automation Alley was established in 1998 to bring together Southeast Michigan businesses, educators and government officials. Its goal is to accelerate commercialization of new technologies and services for its 680 member organizations. In the fall of 2004, Automation Alley opened its new 11,000-square-foot headquarters in the Detroit suburb of Troy, Mich. Housing a Technology Center, International Business Center and the Great Lakes Interactive Marketing Association, the structure is visited by over 500 business owners, facility managers and residential consumers every month.
It’s a crazy and difficult spot to be in - leading your friends, relatives and countrymen while all the while trying to be loyal to your company and company ownership. I mean, how do you choose your loyalties in this situation?
A roofer relies on his work truck to be a mobile office, toolbox, taxi, billboard, waste hauler, tow vehicle and lunchroom - sometimes simultaneously. The challenge for contractors is to maximize the functionality and reliability of their company vehicles while minimizing costs.
Managing people has always been a challenging issue, and many believe young people today are spoiled and don’t want to work. This is not a new opinion, and the following quote sheds some light on how others have felt:
“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”
The third annual Roofing Contractor Best of Success Conference was bigger and better than ever. Attendance figures for the event have risen every year, and at this year’s event more than 200 elite contractors joined manufacturer sponsors and industry executives for the two-day educational conference. The meeting room at Pointe South Mountain Resort in Phoenix was filled to capacity as contractors eager to improve their business practices and bolster their bottom lines participated in educational seminars and panel discussions led by industry experts, including top-flight commercial and residential roofing contractors.
Roofing companies all know how to put a new roof on a home, but if everyone knows the basics of the industry, why do so many companies fail each year? Few companies fail because they don’t know the technical aspects of the industry, but many a roofer has gone under because they couldn’t get the calls they needed.
The rewards of operating a contracting business in a hurricane zone are tempered by the risk becoming your own client. As the president of New Orleans-based Carriere-Stumm Inc., roofing contractor Rob Stumm Jr. is a veteran of both ends of the business. His presentation on preparing a company to survive a natural disaster focused on the harsh lessons he learned during the hurricane season of 2005. The emergency preparations he employs could benefit any business vulnerable to storm, fire, flood or theft.
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