By Karen L. Edwards, RCS Editor.  

Here’s what’s trending on RoofersCoffeeShop®(RCS) this past month.  

In looking at our most popular articles for the month of February, we saw that technology and more specifically, apps for your business, was the topic that had the most interest from our readers. The article has a nice overview of apps used for measuring, estimating, photo management and customer relationship management. We are always looking for solutions that make running businesses easier and more efficient.  

Supply chain issues and material shortages are again in the most popular articles as the industry wonders when things will ease up and looks for ways to work around the issue. Because we are all about people at RCS, we weren’t surprised to see our 2022 Influencers announcement and the NRCA officers and directors announcement make the top 10.  

Featured projects are also a popular topic at RCS and two of our project profiles caught the interest of our readers with cool roofs and green roofs making the list.   

If you didn’t get a chance to see some of the most popular articles from February, follow the links below to catch up!  

Honorable Mention (#6-#10)  

10 - Cool Roofs Can Fight Climate Change 

9 - NRCA Announces 2022-23 Officers and Directors  

8 - Material Shortages Will Pass: Build a Workable Plan and Stay Patient  

7 - Recordable Injuries: Why Employees Should Care  

6 - How to Break into Commercial Roofing: The Importance of Training  

Read the Top 5 articles:  

5 - Supply Issues Won't Be Over Any Time Soon  

4 - RoofersCoffeeShop Announces 2022 Roofing Influencers 

3 - Avoiding Skin Cancer Caused by Sun Exposure 

2 - Green Roof Installed on Nonprofit Arts and Education Organization 

1 - Roofing Contractor Apps That Help You Manage Your Business 

Get the top news each week in your inbox when you sign up for the Week in Review email newsletter.   

By Cass Jacoby, RCS Reporter.  

Excellent customer service is all about putting yourself in the customer’s shoes, which Go Roof Tune Up exemplifies through how they work with their customers to educate them on making the best decisions for their roofs.  

RoofersCoffeeShop® is proud to present the honor of R-Club Roofer of the Month to Go Roof Tune Up.  

Go Roof Tune Up™ specializes in repairing roofs. Comprised of certified roofing professionals and expert craftsmen, Go Roof Tune Up is dedicated to promoting the longevity of a roof through roof maintenance. Focusing on roof repair over replacement, Go Roof Tune Up inspects the entire roof system, and provides a written report with photos on every property they evaluate.  

Marty Stout is the President of Go Roof Tune Up. “Primarily our focus is trying to educate people about the condition of their roof and what they can do to prolong the life by doing minor repairs that will help them get better life cycle out of their roof,” Marty tells RCS. 

This sustainable approach ensures that people get the most out of their roof before they get a new one. By focusing on education, Go Roof Tune Up shows homeowners how their roof can be repaired and extend the lifespan of the roof to 30 years. “The common problem that people have with contractors is many people are afraid that if they hire, if they have a contractor come to their house to do some work, that he's going to try and upsell them on something,” says Marty. “So we dispel that by just the name and our tagline is don't buy a new roof if all you need is a roof tune up.” 

Providing excellent customer service is about helping educate and working with the customer for Go Roof Tune Up. “Superior customer service is making sure that your customer is educated on what the expectation level is and if you can't deliver, then help them understand where the break down is, what the difference is and help them find someone who can deliver what they're looking for,” says Marty. 

Not only is it a greener alternative to replacing the roof, Go Roof Tune Up also helps homeowners save money and help the budget so that an inevitable roof replacement makes more financial sense. “It's a big investment. If you have a house in today's market, a new roof could cost you $15- $20 thousand,” says Marty. “One of the other things that we give people in their report is, your roof is okay now and you need some repair and do the repair. We can give you a five-year warranty and off in the future this is how much money you need to be budgeting for a new roof .” 

At the end of the day, Go Roof Tune up is about doing right by customers and employees alike. “We try hard. We try to be a little bit different. There's a lot of people out there but we have really good staff. They all understand how to repair things and how to make things work and so that's ultimately our goal,” says Marty.  

Listen to the entire podcast to hear more about how Go Roof Tune Up goes the extra mile to help their customers and learn more about why they are our R-Club February Roofer of the Month.

RCS Influencers celebrates its sixth year of giving back to the roofing industry.

RoofersCoffeeShop®, celebrating 20 years as the award-winning website where the industry meets for technology, information and everyday business, announces the 2022 RCS Roofing Influencers.    

RCS Influencers contribute thoughts and wisdom monthly through interviews, videos and articles on RoofersCoffeeShop concerning pertinent industry and roofing topics. The Influencers represent all facets of the industry including contractors, associations and industry service providers. Their insights are recognized in a special category on the site called RCS Influencers.   

“We have been committed to sharing the thought leadership of our RCS Influencers since 2017,” states Heidi J. Ellsworth, president of RoofersCoffeeShop. “Each influencer brings a unique perspective to issues that are of importance to roofing contractors and the overall roofing industry. We are thankful and appreciative of their willingness to share their insights.”

We are proud to announce the following 2022 RCS Influencers: 

1. Anna Anderson – Art Unlimited 

2. Charles Antis - Antis Roofing & Waterproofing 

3. Julissa Chavez – SRS Distribution, Inc. 

4. Trent Cotney - Cotney Construction Law 

5. Kendall & Chris Ekerson – SA Roofing 

6. Heidi Ellsworth – RoofersCoffeeShop® 

7. John Esbenshade, Jr. – National Roofing Contractors Association 

8. Rudy Gutierrez - Shell Roofing Solutions 

9. Tammy Hall – CFS Roofing Services 

10. Mike Hicks – Hicks Industrial Roofing 

11. Joe Hoffman – Hoffman Weber 

12. Rae July – Chinook Roofing

13. Danny Kerr – Breakthrough Academy 

14. John Kiesel – Imagine Technologies/Division 7 Roofing 

15. Wendy Marvin - Matrix Roofing and Home Solutions 

16. Mandy McIntyre - 1st Choice Roofing 

17. Arty Molinari – Tremco Roofing & Waterproofing 

18. Mike Pickel - Texas Traditions Roofing 

19. Ashley and Seth Pietsch - Integrity Insurance & Bonding Inc 

20. Camila Santander – ASA Roofing 

21. Greg Serevetas – USA General Contractors  

22. Marty Stout - Go Roof Tune Up 

23. Curtis Sutton - Rackley Roofing

For more information on the 2022 RCS Influencers, meet them here. Download the Top 20 insights from our 2021 influencers eBook here.

About RoofersCoffeeShop 

As an award-winning website and online community, RoofersCoffeeShop is committed to being a roofing professional advocate by supplying consistent information, education and communication avenues for all roofing professionals, and especially contractors, while promoting the positive growth, education and success of the roofing industry overall. Visitors to the site continue to find excellent opportunities for sharing information while participating in important ongoing conversations concerning new technologies, safety and the overall roofing trade. From the rooftop to the board room, RoofersCoffeeShop is “Where the Industry Meets!” For more information, visit www.rooferscoffeeshop.com.

RCS Influencers celebrates its fifth year of giving back to the roofing industry. 

RoofersCoffeeShop®, the award-winning website where the industry meets for technology, information and everyday business announces the 2021 RCS Roofing Influencers.    

RCS Influencers contribute thoughts and wisdom monthly through interviews,videos and articles on RoofersCoffeeShop concerning pertinent industry and roofing topics. The Influencers represent all facets of the industry including contractors, associations and industry service providers. Their insights are recognized in a special category on the site called RCS Influencers.   

“We have been asking important questions to diverse groups of RCS Influencers for the last four years and have found that they all have expertise in completely different areas of a roofing contractor’s business.  We have been committed to sharing that thought leadership since 2017,” states Heidi J. Ellsworth of RoofersCoffeeShop. “With our RCS Influencers’ opinions, tips or advice, our readers get a feeling for all sides of a topic. Our Influencers are true thought leaders in the roofing industry and bring diverse and informative perspectives based on their interactions and relationships.” 

We are proud to announce the following 2021 RCS Influencers: 

1. Rae July – Chinook Roofing 

2. Tammy Hall – CFS Roofing Services 

3. Pete Harding – Go Green Roofing 

4. Greta Bajrami – Golden Group Roofing 

5. Michelle and Christian Kettering – LTD Exteriors 

6. Danny Kerr – Breakthrough Academy 

7. Julissa Chavez – SRS Distribution, Inc. 

8. Rod Petrick – Ridgeworth Roofing Co Inc 

9. Charles Antis - Antis Roofing & Waterproofing 

10. Michelle Boykin and Curtis Sutton - Rackley Roofing 

11. Trent Cotney - Cotney Construction Law 

12. Thea Dudley – Pocket Protectors, LLC  

13. Heidi Ellsworth – RoofersCoffeeShop® 

14. Rudy Gutierrez - Shell Roofing Solutions 

15. Wendy Marvin - Matrix Roofing and Home Solutions 

16. Mandy McIntyre - 1st Choice Roofing 

17. Mike Pickel - Texas Traditions Roofing 

18. Marty Stout - Go Roof Tune Up 

19. Ashley and Seth Pietsch - Integrity Insurance & Bonding Inc 

For more information on the 2021 RCS Influencers, meet them here.  

About RoofersCoffeeShop 

As an award-winning website and online community, RoofersCoffeeShop is committed to being a roofing professional advocate by supplying consistent information, education and communication avenues for all roofing professionals, and especially contractors, while promoting the growth, education and success of the roofing industry overall. Visitors to the site continue to find excellent opportunities for sharing information while participating in important ongoing conversations concerning new technologies, safety and the overall roofing trade. From the rooftop to the board room, RoofersCoffeeShop is “Where the Industry Meets!” For more information, visit www.rooferscoffeeshop.com.

By Lauren White, RCS Reporter.

Download the top 15 blogs of 2019 for FREE!

Here at RoofersCoffeeShop® we are dedicated to providing contractors and roofing companies with as much information as possible to support the success of their businesses.  One way we do that is with the help of our RCS Influencers, a diverse group of people, including roofing contractor companies, and companies that service contractors. This variety of professionals bring their own opinions, tips, and advice they then share with our followers.  Each individual has their own interesting perspective based on their background and experience in the industry.

Read below to see what the top 15 blogs of 2019 were:

Jennifer Stone is the Pacific, Preferred Accounts Manager for Johns Manville.  She spent 15 years in sales and marketing. While working as the Vice President for a horticulture company, she realized she was drawn to the roofing side of the business.  She’s been in the industry ever since. Her blog, Service Departments Take Extreme Organization, focuses on the niche market of service and maintenance departments.  She notes that women are finding huge success in leading these departments due to their ability to organize and multi-task, in addition to their emotional intelligence, among other qualities necessary for the job.

Mike Hicks, the President of Hicks Industrial Roofing, Inc., has been roofing since he was 16.  He has a unique view of his career stating, “I look at roofing as a means of doing good rather than a way to provide a lifestyle.”  Mike belongs to three trade associations: the National Roofing Contractors Association, the Midwest Contractors Association, and the Ohio Roofing and Contractors Association.  He stresses the importance of being involved in trade organizations and all of the benefits they provide businesses in his blog, Associations Offer Business Owners Resources That They Can’t Get Anywhere Else

Go Roof Tune Up, Inc. focuses on inspecting, reporting, repairing, and warranting single family homes.  Marty Stout, the President of Go Roof Tune Up shares in his blog, 2019 Will be About Better Service, Better Relationships and Building a Better Place to Work, the specific ways his company is working hard and marking improvements.

Drew Smith, the Vice President at Brad Smith Roofing, emphasizes the role technology plays at his company.  Drew started roofing at 16 when he worked during the summer months as a laborer on new roof and repair service projects.  He provides the names of the technology-based programs his company uses and explains their benefits in his blog, From Leads to Estimates to Project Management, This Company Has a Tech Solution Every Step of the Way.

The founder of Cotney Construction Law, Trent Cotney, is dedicated to serving the roofing industry.  He specializes in roofing litigation and arbitration, including defending roofs on construction defect claims, prosecuting lien and bond law claims, defending OSHA citations, contractor licensing defense, and bid protests.  In his blog, Research Matters When Starting Your Business, Trent explains the value in researching the industry, market, prospective clients, and competitors when starting a business.

Mike Pickel started as a framer, then moved into project superintendent roles, and managed multi-million-dollar projects as a project manager.  He then co-founded Texas Traditions Roofing with his brother-in-law. Mike’s blog, Technology Can Help Support Your Business’ Growth, is a transcript of his conversation with RCS Editor, Karen Edwards.  She speaks with Mike about the ways his company is integrating technology, in addition to the benefits and challenges the company has experienced with technology.

The President of Kelly Roofing, Ken Kelly, took over the family business in 1993.  Kelly Roofing is an industry leader, ranking 53 out of all roofing contractors in America.  Ken is a traveler, businessman, and humanitarian. In his blog, You Can Make a Difference When You Participate and are Involved in Your Community, Ken stresses the importance of giving back by joining local committees, volunteering, donating free roofs, and participating in Roofing Day in D.C., among other ways.

Heidi J. Ellsworth, the owner of HJE Consulting Group and partner in RoofersCoffeeShop, has been in the roofing industry since 1993.  Throughout the years she has worked with Malarkey Roofing, Carlisle Construction, and EagleView Technologies, and founded her own roofing-focused sales and marketing consulting group (HJE Consulting) in 2015.  Heidi writes about the importance of change in order to meet market demand, employee needs, and business requirements. Her blog, 2019 is About Pushing Boundaries, highlights the ways RCS is pushing its boundaries and making changes to improve.

The President and CEO of Shell Roofing Solutions Group, Rudy Gutierrez, has helped develop strategies for companies with a focus on sustainable construction and energy efficiency for 25 years.  Energy and roofing professionals at Shell Roofing Solutions focus on eco-friendly and sustainable roofing building solutions.  In Training and Education are Imperative to the Success of a Company, Rudy shares the value and benefits of the NRCA Pro-Certification™ Program, which many of his employees are enrolled in.

In Jon Stantz’s blog, Customers Want to Be Educated, he explains the importance of providing information about each job to customers so they can make informed decisions confidently.  Jon is a salesperson and repairman for Pell Roofing and Siding, a company he has worked at since 1988. He started as an installer/groundman and has worked his way up to being a supervisor, salesperson, and repairman.

Ross Riddle has been with South Coast Shingle Company for 51 years, serving as the President and CEO for the last 20 years.  South Coast Shingle Company supplies southern California with every type of roofing and masonry material. Ross shares 11 Tips for New Contractors Just Getting Started, which include planning ahead, having a cash reserve, and much more.

Charles Antis, the founder and CEO of Antis Roofing, began his career as a roofing professional in 1984.  Throughout the years he has become one of the most trusted names in the southern California roofing industry, as well as an inspirational business leader championing social corporate responsibility.  His blog post, It’s a Super Exciting Time to be in Roofing, shares his excitement about the future of the industry.  He starts by explaining that roofing is a reliable trade that will always be around and moves into the new and exciting changes technology is bringing to the industry.

The owner of Pocket Protectors LLC, Thea Dudley, has worked for 30 years as a credit and collection officer.  Thea has been a major force in both the building industry and the credit profession to advocate for business financial health awareness through education and presenting seminars and webinars for associations.  Now as the owner of her own consulting company, Thea writes about how Giving Customers a Little ‘Extra Time’ to Pay Will Lead to Cashflow Issues.  She encourages contractors to always keep an eye on their collections and accounts receivable to keep cash flow consistent.  

In Wendy Marvin’s blog, Use Technology as Leverage to Grow your Business, she dives into the various technologies her company uses and encourages people to identify the needs of their company before settling on a specific program or technology to use.  Wendy co-founded Matrix Roofing and is now the CEO and current owner of the company, which was founded on the principles of customer service, people over profits, integrity, and trust.

Shelly Duhaime is a Captive Specialist for NFP, an insurance broker and consultant.  She has served roofing contractors for more than 21 years in risk management and alternative risk financing.  In her blog, Want to be a Roofing Contractor? Buy an Existing Company, Shelly outlines the multiple benefits to buying an existing company, such as having an existing client base and established labor.

An influencer is an authority, mentor, and expert.  We ask our RCS Influencers to answer important questions, share their opinions, and provide tips.  And many are returning for the 2020 year!  We are grateful for their insights and the wisdom they provide to our followers.

Download your FREE copy of the top influencer articles from 2019!

RCS Influencers celebrates its fourth year of giving back to the roofing industry.

RoofersCoffeeShop®, the award-winning website where the industry meets for technology, information and everyday business announces the 2020 RCS Influencers.   

RCS Influencers contribute thoughts and wisdom monthly through interviews, videos and blogs on RoofersCoffeeShop concerning pertinent industry and roofing topics. They represent all facets of the industry including contractors, associations and industry service providers. The blog posts are recognized in a special category on the site called RCS Influencers. 

 “We have been asking important questions to diverse groups of RCS Influencers for the last three years and have found that they all have expertise in completely different areas of a roofing contractor’s business. Oftentimes, we see articles written on a subject with one person’s opinion or suggestions, but there are many sides to the coin, and we have been committed to sharing that thought leadership since 2017,” states Vickie Sharples of RoofersCoffeeShop. “With our RCS Influencers opinions, tips or advice, our readers get a feeling for all sides of a topic. Each of them has an interesting perspective based on their interactions with the roofing industry.”

“We believe in empowering the industry and especially contractors to communicate with each other.  We are hearing confirmation every day that RoofersCoffeeShop is where the industry meets. We want it to be the voice of contractors and roofing professionals that continue to build the professionalism and amazing reputation of our industry,” concluded Sharples.

We are proud to announce the following 2019 RCS Influencers:

1. Charles Antis - Antis Roofing & Waterproofing

2. Michelle Boykin and Curtis Sutton - Rackley Roofing

3. Trent Cotney - Cotney Construction Law

4. McKay Daniels – National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA)

5. Thea Dudley – Pocket Protectors, LLC          

6. Heidi Ellsworth – RoofersCoffeeShop®

7. Rudy Gutierrez - Shell Roofing Solutions

8. Mike Hicks - Hicks Industrial Roofing, Inc.

9. Jordi Lopez - Sage Roofing

10. Christian Madsen – Madsen Roofing & Waterproofing

11. Wendy Marvin - Matrix Roofing

12. Mandy McIntyre - 1st Choice Roofing

13. Chelsea Oesch – Beacon Roofing Supply

14. Mike Pickel - Texas Traditions

15. Ashley and Seth Pietsch - Integrity Insurance & Bonding Inc.

16. Jennifer Stone – National Women in Roofing (NWIR)

17. Marty Stout - Go Roof Tune Up

For more information or to read recent RCS Influencer blogs please visit our RCS Influencers page.

About RoofersCoffeeShop

As an award-winning website and online community, RoofersCoffeeShop is committed to being a roofing professional advocate by supplying consistent information, education and communication avenues for all roofing professionals, and especially contractors, while promoting the positive growth, education and success of the roofing industry overall. Visitors to the site continue to find excellent opportunities for sharing information while participating in important ongoing conversations concerning new technologies, safety and the overall roofing trade. From the rooftop to the board room, RoofersCoffeeShop is “Where the Industry Meets!” For more information, visit www.rooferscoffeeshop.com.

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an interview with Marty Stout. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast here.

Speaker 1: Welcome to the RoofersCoffeeShop Podcast, with your host Dave Sullivan from The Roofer Show. You've found the podcast that is dedicated to celebrating the roofing industry and the great people that work in roofing. Each week Dave interviews a member of our roofing community to learn more about their challenges and successes, and to share only a roofer would appreciate. Let's get started.

Dave Sullivan: Welcome everybody. I'm Dave Sullivan, and thanks for joining me on the RoofersCoffeeShop Podcast, where the industry meets. Many of you know the RoofersCoffeeShop as it's been a place for the last 20 years that's built a community of roofing professionals that share idea, tell stories, do research. We share items, find items and get help on the day-to-day problems we all face. I've been a successful roofing contractor for over 30 years, and I host another iTunes podcast called The Roofer Show where I help contractors grow their businesses. You can check that out at theroofershow.com to see what that's all about. The great thing about podcasts is that you can download them to your phone, listen to them in your truck or wherever you want. Each week I sit down with another roofing contractor that's hitting it out of the park, and learn what they're doing at their company that's working for them and give you the takeaways that you can use in your business. Today I sit down with Marty Stout of Go Roof Tune Up. His company has a unique approach where he does roof repairs, restoration, renovation and maintenance on single family homes. Right now he's got three locations, and he's looking to expand on some more. Marty's a third-generation roofer, has some great ideas about business, so let's sit down and see what's up with Marty.

Hey Marty, it's great to sit down with you and talk about roofing today.

Marty Stout: Looking forward to it. Nice to be here.

Dave Sullivan: Good. Tell me a little about what you do and what your businesses is like. I see that, pulling up your website, looks like you've got some great stuff going on. You're more into the roof maintenance it looks like. Can you tell me about that?

Marty Stout: Sure. We specialize in residential maintenance and repair, we also do a little bit of re-roofing, but we really focus on just the maintenance and repair side of the business. Our tagline is, “Don't by a new roof if all you need is a roof tune up.”

Dave Sullivan: There you go, I like it. Do you do any commercial maintenance work at all, or is it just pretty much focused on the residential?

Marty Stout: 99.9% is all residential. We'll do a commercial job if we have a good customer that really wants us to do something for them, but generally we try and stay away from that.

Dave Sullivan: Why is that? Because-

Marty Stout: There's some really smart people that do really good work on commercial work. We let them do it.

Dave Sullivan: That was a lot of our business, and we were up here in San Francisco and we focused primarily on commercial re-roofing. Then we built up a maintenance division where it just really took off and worked for us. But I think that on the maintenance end, whether it's residential or commercial, it's a great way to go.

Marty Stout: We really like it, it's a good business.

Dave Sullivan: Well it looks good. I'm checking out your website, looks like you've got three locations. Is that right?

Marty Stout: Yeah, we have offices in three cities, Seattle, Denver and Southern California, but we're actually active in five markets besides that, that we don't have offices in.

Dave Sullivan: Now how did you get in the roofing business? Everybody's got a story.

Marty Stout: Well, yeah. I guess I should say I got into the roofing business because my dad was hitchhiking down Firestone Boulevard in 1955. But my dad was a roofer and so I started roofing, follow in his footsteps.

Dave Sullivan: Well it's going around. That's how I got in the business. We had a family business, I bought my father out when I got out of school, about 1979 and had been doing it for about 30 years, and then just retired about 5 years ago. It beats you up pretty good.

Marty Stout: Yeah, you're the smart one.

Dave Sullivan: I don't know about that. Like I say, be careful what you wish for, but it's been going well. So tell me what kind of problems do you run into? I mean the roofing business is nothing but problems for the most part, we've got a lot of headaches.

Marty Stout: I think our biggest problem, like most people's biggest problem right now, is quality recruitment and finding the right people. We do all of our work through local contractors that we partner up with, and finding guys that are property licensed and run their businesses legitimately, that still do a good job and understand how to do repairs. It's easier to find a guy that knows how to re-roof a house, but to find a guy that actually knows how to dig through and get the repair done and will follow through, that's our biggest problem but it's not a unique challenge to us.

Dave Sullivan: Yeah, I think that's the biggest problem throughout the industry. I don't know. It alk with a lot of contractors. I don't know what the solutions gonna be because we've got more and more guys retiring from the business. I mean, the average roofer out there's close to 45 years old, so these guys are retiring, we're not bringing in new people, nobody wants to do this job unfortunately even though I think it's a great industry to be in. The big push going into four year colleges, come out with a ton of school debt, can't get a job, they're working at Starbucks and not making any money. Can't even make their school debt payments. As opposed to get back into the idea of trade schools and so forth, because you can come out high school, make a great living, a great career in the roofing business. You're not seeing that at all, so I don't know what the future's gonna be as far as recruitment, and so forth. It's gonna be a big problem, don't you think?

Marty Stout: It's a huge challenge, and you hit the nail on the head. People have this mindset that working with their hands is beneath them, so it's a big, big problem. We'll sort it out at some point, but right now it's a problem, and it's a problem everywhere. Every one of the markets that we're in has the same challenges with finding good people, and every roofer complains about it. I don't know the short-term, I don't know the answer, but long-term something will work out.

Dave Sullivan: Yeah, I mean here's a great job, it's not gonna be off-shored because somebody's gotta do it. There's a huge demand, there always be. There's gonna be more and more roofs that need to be replaced as time goes on. Yeah, I don't know. NRCA, we're trying a lot of things. The demographics just doesn't work out, I don't think.

Marty Stout: Well one of the problems I think we have is all these kids are reading about these internet millionaires or billionaires and they wanna be that kid.

Dave Sullivan: Right, right.

Marty Stout: Great idea, but who's the actor that has that Dirty Jobs show that talks about just getting in there and working hard?

Dave Sullivan: Yeah, Mike Rowe.

Marty Stout: Find passion in something. Yeah. Find passion in the work you have, don't try to find the passion of your life. There's a lot of truth to what he says, and he sees a lot. I remember when I was talking to my senior year class counselor, he told me I needed to straighten up or I wasn't gonna get to go to college. I, pretty cocky, said, “I don't need to go to college.” He says, “Well you never make a good living if you don't go to college,” and I said, “I made more money than you did last year, so I'm pretty good.” That was in high school.

Dave Sullivan: Exactly. That is so true.

Marty Stout: But you know, it's different now. Then you find the guys that get into roofing and they don't wanna show up to work every, and it's tough. But it's always been a little tough, it's just tougher now.

Dave Sullivan: Yeah, I think so. So what are you doing as far as marketing these days? As far as bringing in business, getting leads, what kind of things have worked for you?

Marty Stout: Well we have a two-pronged business. This business, Go Roof Tune Up, we started in 09, and it focuses primarily, as I said, on residential maintenance and repair. Our core business is going directly to the consumer, working with home owners trying to help them extend the longevity of their roof. So that marketing we do, we have a marketing person who focuses full-time on the internet and social media and trying to get good reviews and all of those sundry things. Right now we're working on a problem where, as an example, we're working on a program where we're matching donation funds for the fire victims in California. Trying to get our existing customers and potentially new customers interested in going to our website and seeing what we're doing, and if they donate money we match it. Anything we can do to get somebody on our website we think is a win. We also have what we call the investor side of our business, or the commercial side of our business, where we do a lot of real estate work and work for investment REITs that have large blocks of houses. So that's a different kind of marketing. The two sides of the business kind of complement each other, and I do most of that stuff just networking and getting to know people, and working through those kind of connections. I'm more hands-on with that part.

Dave Sullivan: So you're talking more apartment building complexes, multiple-

Marty Stout: Still, our focus is all single family homes. So in the last downturn there were a few companies that came out of that downturn, were developed in that cycle, that have bought thousands of houses around the country.

Dave Sullivan: Oh, I see. I got you, mm-hmm (affirmative).

Marty Stout: So they like us for a one-stop shop for managing their roofs. We can provide for them the same thing you provided for your commercial roof customers on the residential side.

Dave Sullivan: Sure. Okay. Now you go up there, you make an inspection. What kind of things are you looking at for covering in those inspections as far as making the recommendations for work for to your customers?

Marty Stout: Well on a typical shingle roof we're looking at what the granules look like, how much fiberglass might be showing through if it's a fiberglass shingle roof. What the trim condition is, flashings and antennas that have been mounted and remounted on the roof. Edge metal, whether it's existing or not. Anything we can see there that's obvious, score marks from trees, we'll repair those things. Our goal in looking at the roof is to provide them a five-year warranty on the whole roof, not just an area that we might repair, but we walk away from that roof, we give them their report and they get a five-year warranty. If that house leaks in five years, we repair it. If it won't do five years, we recommend that they re-roof it. If it's beyond five years, we give them the date that it needs to be re-roofed. We project out as long as we can on what the life expectancy of that roof is and we give them a budget in today's dollars of what that roof should cost, so they can start putting together their budgets knowing what their exposure's going to be on a roof in the future. That even helps single, regular consumers. If we go look at their house and we give them a five-year warranty, and we tell in 15 years you're gonna need a new roof and heres what you need to be planning for, then they can start putting that money aside and they have it when they need it.

Dave Sullivan: Right, right.

Marty Stout: People really like the program.

Dave Sullivan: Yeah, it sounds great, and I don't know anybody else that's doing it in the commercial area, but on the residential, I think it sounds like a great little niche that you're in.

Marty Stout: We're trying.

Dave Sullivan: So when you're not out there pounding away, running your business, what do you like to do? You got any hobbies that you're interested in?

Marty Stout: I enjoy golf. I don't get to play very much, but I really enjoy golf. It's a great game, it's good camaraderie. I've got three daughters and four grand kids, and they keep me really busy.

Dave Sullivan: I bet.

Marty Stout: So we spend a lot of time with them.

Dave Sullivan: Yeah the golf-

Marty Stout: Didn't realize how expensive-

Dave Sullivan: ... there's a frustrating game. I mean, it's something you've gotta start when you're really young I think. It's tough to pick it up, like I did, later in life. It's never gonna happen. So it's a tough deal.

Marty Stout: I'm the same way. I didn't pick up golf until I was older. It's fun. I'm not really super good at it, but it's a great game. I love the camaraderie.

Dave Sullivan: That's great. Now coming into the new year, have you set any good goals for the business?

Marty Stout: We've got three or four new markets that we're hoping to get into farther east. We've been concentrating most of our energies on west of the Mississippi. We're looking at some stuff, some opportunities in Florida and Georgia, and a couple of other places in that part of the country. Then trying to just, beyond that, trying to dig deeper into the markets we have, and try and capitalize on a few more opportunities there.

Dave Sullivan: I like it. How do you determine which new markets that you go after?

Marty Stout: Well, a lot of that is driven by our investor customers that have properties there and they want us to go there for them. That gives us the little bit of juice to be there. Then we can go into that market and we can partner up with the local roofer, and we have something to give him. It's much easier to get a guy, or a couple of guys, when we have some existing business. So then we use that to capitalize and try and get some consumer business also.

Dave Sullivan: I like that. Now go into an area, partner up with another roofing contractor, pretty much have them handle most of this, is that what I'm hearing?

Marty Stout: Yeah. So we get an address to look at. He or she will go look at it and do an evaluation based on our formula, which is all iPad driven now. Come up with a price, what it would take to do the tune up, which with a five-year warranty, or if it's not repairable or tune-upable, what the re-roof budget should be. Then send that back to us, and then we send it to the customer.

Dave Sullivan: The RoofersCoffeeShop, as you know, it's all about getting contractors together and helping each other out. What advice can you give to some of these younger guys that are just coming up? I know the question is always, if you were to do it over again what would you do differently?

Marty Stout: It is a great question, and I think that the thing that I would do different is listen more. I think I'm part of a group of guys that all thought we were all so smart we didn't have to listen to any of our competition or get together and network, or any of those things. I think I missed out on a lot of great education and great networking. I mean, I knew the guys I was competing with, we saw each other at functions and stuff, but we never really learned from each other. I think I missed out on a lot there.

Marty Stout: I would stay connected, get together, talk about things, don't be afraid. Obviously you have your little trade secrets or your customer list, that kind of stuff you're not gonna share, but best practices and how things are going and all that, it's important to know what each other are doing and learn from each other. Be smarter.

Dave Sullivan: I totally agree, and that would be my answer too to that question.

Marty Stout: Yeah, we're probably about the same.

Dave Sullivan: Yeah, and I think maybe that's what it takes to become a contractor, you know? Maybe we're not that bright, and we all seem to have that big ego though, that we know it all, we're not gonna listen to a lot of people, we don't take a lot of advice, we don't ask for help from others. I think the problem with this industry that I always had, and I think so many contractors are faced with, is that you're really alone out there. You don't have anybody that you can really talk to that understands the business, because unless you're sitting there in the trenches, sweating, making payroll or whatever it is, all the problems that we deal with every day, nobody really understands that. To have a group that you can talk to, that you can bounce off ideas, really learn from each other. That was the idea of this podcast, when I got together with Vicky and said, “Yeah, I'd like to do this.” I've got another podcast called The Roofer Show. I've really enjoyed doing that, we've put out a lot of good information for contractors and hopefully it helps, but having that camaraderie and a group that we can all get together and talk about, is what the CoffeeShop's all about. We're trying to develop some more reforms and perhaps get into peer groups where we can really learn from each other because we've all been there and learned from so many of the hard knocks that we've had to face. It can help these guys avoid, take some of these shortcuts and avoid some of the pitfalls that we've all gone through. You and I have both seen our fathers go through this too, the cycle continues, right?

Marty Stout: Yeah, and it's gonna keep going. There's gonna be another cycle, and then another one after that, and another one after that, and we all think we know it until we realize we don't. Usually the realization is something that slaps you on the side of the head. So just respecting one another and understanding what each other are doing, it's a good thing.

Dave Sullivan: Well Marty, that's some great information and as I say, the CoffeeShop's all about getting together and talking with each other and sharing information. How can the other contractors get in touch with you?

Marty Stout: My email address is mstout@gorooftune.com, and my phone number is 951-536-8368. Love to have anybody that wants to talk, they can call me.

Dave Sullivan: Fantastic. That's what it's all about. Marty, it was a pleasure talking to you, and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Marty Stout: Nice talking with you too. Thanks for the coffee.

Dave Sullivan: You got it. Take care, thanks so much. That's it for the podcast today, I appreciate everybody listening. Be sure to visit therooferscoffeeshop.com, sign up for the forum, get active in the community, ask some questions, offer some answers, and it will make this a great place. You can check out my other podcast at theroofershow.com and see what's that about. Until next time, thanks for listening to therooferscoffeeshop.com podcast.

Martin Stout is the leader behind Go Roof Tune Up, a company that teams up with roofing contractors and provides business support for their contractors.

by Go Roof Tune Up

What do you look for when you decide to work with someone? Choosing a company to work for is a big decision. After all, your hours are valuable and you get to choose how to spend them. Go Roof Tune Up is a company that teams up with roofing contractors and provides business support for their contractors.

Martin Stout, or Marty, president of Go Roof Tune Up, has been involved with roofing his whole life. As a young child, Marty used to go to work with his dad, John Stout - now the VP of Go Roof Tune Up - and it just so happens that John was a part of the team that put the roof on my house when the community was built in the late 60’s. Fast-forward to today, and here I am working with the Stout family and living under a roof that they installed. Pretty cool, in my opinion. And not only does Marty remember being in my neighborhood back in the 1960’s, but he also still feels a sense of pride in the work that his family did for our community.

Those that know Marty, know him to be a person of high morals and great integrity. Started in 2009, Marty built Go Roof Tune Up based on his core values: integrity, professionalism, and a passion for roofing knowledge and education. These serve as the foundation for our company, and our roofers maintain the highest standards of roofing on every job. At Go Roof Tune Up, we never compromise our values.

Marty also values seeing others succeed, and he works to help those around him grow to be the best they can be. It’s one of the best things about working for Go Roof Tune Up. Marty understands the business, and can do everything from helping you learn how to sell a job and support your customers to improving the way you lay your flashings for example. Marty believes in partnerships and teamwork, and has built a family of like-minded individuals that work to provide and maintain shelter for homeowners and commercial accounts alike.

So, who is Martin Stout? He is a man that can help you become the best you can be. He is a man that stays closely connected to the building industry and continues to look for opportunities to help aspiring individuals succeed. If you want to improve your craftsmanship, and want to work with a team that will both value and support you, then check out Go Roof Tune Up at www.gorooftune.com. Getting to know Marty could be the best professional choice you ever make.

For more information on joining the Go Roof Tune Up team call (866) 989-6976 or visit www.gorooftune.com.