Today’s time-strapped homeowner doesn’t want to spend a lot of time getting a leaking roof or a foggy window fixed, so the assurance of service is also a major selling point in the sales presentation, one that can easily trump price. This past year, Wilson Colonial Exteriors in Mundelein, Ill., switched to a 15-year warranty on the high-quality windows, doors, siding, roofing, and gutter products it installs. That change simply put in writing a policy the company already practiced. “We market ourselves as our brand,” says operations manager Jack McGann. “We tell customers that all the products we carry are quality, but the products are only as good as the people who stand behind them.” Adds owner Jim Wilson, “It’s all part of our plan, because if we walk in and try to compete on price, we can’t.”
Referrals now make up 75% to 80% of his business, Wilson says, largely because “if we promise something, it gets done. I don’t argue with people or make excuses. We just take care of things,” even problems or malfunctions not formally covered by warranty, he says. “Once we earn their trust, the possibilities are endless,” Wilson points out.
Of course, a liberal service policy does cost a company time and money — a few percentage points of total sales, some contractors estimate. However, those costs are not excessive compared to what companies might otherwise have to spend on lead generation, so for contractors like Gindele, Wilson, and others, it’s money well spent. The repeat and referral leads that come with a strong service policy are always of higher quality than leads generated by media, store, or event marketing. “If I didn’t have this referral base built up, I’d be forced to spend probably double the ad money or more to get the same number of leads,” says Petrucci, whose company offers a 3-year labor warranty, though the 15-year warranty on products offered by the manufacturer he uses covers both shingles and defective installation. “If I wasn’t getting those [referrals], I’d need three times the leads,” he adds.
Under Warranty Contractor labor warranties vary widely. Some companies merely fulfill their obligation under state law. Others match the manufacturer’s product warranty with a comparable warranty on labor. The most confident offer some variation of a lifetime warranty on anything sold or installed. K & H Windows and Exteriors in Arvada, Colo., for example, gives a “Worry Free Lifetime Warranty” that covers all aspects of the windows for as long as they remain in the openings, no matter how many successive owners of the house there are, says Larry Summer, company partner. At least in part because of its service policy, his company benefits from a high percentage of referrals.
Even though their warranty coverage and business base may vary widely, contractors who say that service helps their business have a lot in common in how they set up and run a successful service department:
Consistent, quality work is essential to a service policy that doesn’t devour job profits. Gindele, for example, uses a zero-defects program to ensure quality and absorb some of the costs of correcting installation shortcomings. At the end of a job, his project managers complete a job checklist and installers each collect a $10 per-job zero defects bonus. Half goes into their zero defects account until they establish a $500 balance, at which point they get the entire bonus. When an installer has to return to a job for a fix, the cost is deducted from his fund.
Checking and double-checking for job quality ensures not having to return. At P.J. Fitzpatrick, a roofing, siding, and window company in New Castle, Del., initial quality control on a job is handled by project managers. That’s backed up by a three-person team exclusively assigned to quality control. In addition, to keep overall quality high, the company operates a “full-blown training center in the warehouse,” where general manager Rick Stover says installers are trained and retrained.
Document before and after for future reference. Petrucci uses digital photos to check job conditions at all points of the installation. To date, he has more than 10,000 photos filed with jobs as a permanent record and reference if a service issue comes up.
Gold Seal Roofing & Construction in Tampa, Fla., recently began photographing the roof before and after the job and attaching those documents to its job files, so they know what the problem is before sending out the company’s in-house service crew, says service manager Wayne Gill. Photos also let the service department know about conditions such as access, plan issues, or potential site problems. A steep roof slope, for example, means that service personnel must bring proper safety equipment, Gill says.
A system of record keeping is crucial. Service means more work to manage on behalf of customers, who often call in a panic. You have to set up a system to handle their needs and those of your business. “Any time a customer calls in with any problem, it immediately gets documented in our customer service database,” Gindele says.