An underlying benefit of Best of Success is that the conference serves as a forum for non-competing contractors to share business practices that generate real-world results. Brett Hall’s presentation titled “The Marketing Matrix” personified this theme. Hall, the president of Joe Hall Roofing Inc. in Arlington, Texas, demonstrated some of the strategies that have helped his company prosper in a very competitive local market.
The session titled “Recruiting, Training and Retaining Employees” was led by Ken Kelly, president of Kelly Roofing, Naples, Fla., and Paul Brockman of Roof Maintenance, Nashville, Tenn. Kelly led off the session by describing his own entry into the family business at 17 after his father was injured in a fall. He recommended that contractors consult Michael Gerber’s book The E-Myth, which describes how typical small businesses get their start and details why many eventually fail.
Ricardo González, founder and CEO of Bilingual America and a Roofing Contractor columnist, provided insights on recruiting, hiring, training and retaining Latino workers in his session titled “Success With Hispanics.” González issued some practical advice designed to help employers improve communication and bridge cultural differences at the office and on the jobsite.
Roofing Contractor safety columnist Chip Macdonald of Best Safety LLC presented the conference with a lecture and demonstration on post-arrested fall (PAF) self-rescue. The first consideration in the proper execution of a self-rescue is to avoid one whenever prudent, he stated. “Eighty-five percent of the time, performing a self-rescue is ill-advised,” said MacDonald. “And 60 percent of the time self-rescue is performed, an assisted rescue should have been conducted.”
Business consultant Ellen Rohr summed up her job this way for attendees of the Best of Success Conference: “I help you make more money and put a little more life in your life.” Rohr, the president of Bare Bones Biz and a Roofing Contractor columnist, says she nearly starved in her family’s contracting business until she learned how to make money - and keep track of it. Her session titled “Extreme Makeover - Roofing Contractor Edition” centered on the importance of a business plan. “It has to be written down,” Rohr asserted. “Some of you had to compile one to get a loan and probably put it in a drawer. Well, pull it out of the drawer, dust it off and put it in a binder.”
There's been a lot of water over the roof since 1981, when The Roofer Magazine (as it was then called) premiered. With artistic covers, human interest stories, the latest news and expanded coverage of new innovations, the magazine helped usher in a new era for the roofing industry. Emerging at about the same time as a membrane known as single ply, the advent of The Roofer was another indication that the image, marketing and selling of roofing was about to change forever.
Roofing contractors find out early that the job doesn't end with installing the shingles. If there's a leak at the chimney, a skylight, or some other roof penetration -even if it's installed long after the roof system is completed - invariably the homeowner will be on the phone with the roofing company. One company that's earned an excellent reputation when it comes to customer service by providing a quality installation and handling callbacks promptly when they occur is the Jorve Corporation. Early on, its president and founder, Ted Jorve, decided that the only way to ensure a weatherproof installation was for his company to handle all the areas tied into the roof - including gutters, chimneys, dormers, siding, and skylights - and to provide a warranty for all of its workmanship for as long as the customer owns the home.
When it comes to installing something as complicated as roofing systems, no company gets the job done all by itself. Roofing contractors rely on material manufacturers, distributors, salespeople, subcontractors, bankers, lawyers, accountants and a host of others to help them succeed. The difference between a smooth job and a headache - and a profit or a loss - can rest not only with your employees, but those of another company. That's why Roofing Contractor decided to put the spotlight on the industry's Most Valuable Partners - those individuals outside of contracting firms that make an extra effort to help contractors satisfy the needs of their customers.
ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. - Multifaceted roofing and sheet metal contractor Allen Brothers Inc. is operating in one of the toughest local economies since its inception in 1952.
Contractors looking to close a sale, add profit to the job, and ensure a clean, crisp roofline are looking in the gutter. Portable gutter machines allow contractors to custom-manufacture seamless gutters on site, lowering material and labor costs while increasing productivity, versatility and visibility.
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