RC: How do you handle repairs?
Troy Marshall: We have three service techs out there, and it’s a difficult part of the company to manage for the 10% to 15% income we get from it. And people may have leaks and you don’t know what you’re taking on.
Lance Smith: We don’t do an awful lot of repair work. Of course we service our own customers, but we only have one crew that does that. It’s something we should try to find more manpower to do.
Gary Kearns: We will do repair. If there’s a problem with the chimney, we will fix that. But my idea of repair is a specific roofline, so that we can guarantee the work is our work, our caliber of work. Otherwise, I can’t give the customer a guarantee. We will take a quadrant, from the peak to the starter board, but we will not come in and do a little area. That way we can guarantee the workmanship. We will do the repair, but it has to be on our terms.
Lance Smith: That’s why we don’t do a lot of that. The minute you touch their job, they expect you to come out for free, no matter what you tell them ahead of time.
Troy Marshall: There are a lot of simple ones, too.
Gary Kearns: That’s what I was talking about. Like you, we have a service department with three crews. And we’ve grown that and managed it over the last three years. The guy in charge is an ex-roofer who’s well-trained. He and his crews encompass a lot of work — ridge vents, soil-stack repair, cut-in counterflashing …
Troy Marshall: Do you find that’s bringing you repeat customers?
Gary Kearns: Very much so. Small jobs are a viable part of our business — $250, $350, $500 jobs. That’s how we have taken our [company] to market and grown.
Troy Marshall: That’s the point I was making. I haven’t figured out how to make that a profitable part of our business, but it’s a way of building up a lead source.
