Full Episode Transcript

 

Introduction

Hey there, this is John May, General Manager here at Petrali Roofing. I am excited because this is our first ever education series that we’re putting out from Petrali Roofing. We really believe in being a resource to the community, helping educate the community on roofing in general. And so we’re excited about this series of getting you guys information to help you make informed decisions.

The roof is one of the most important things that is a part of your house and you want to be able to have as much information when you’re going into a large decision like a roof replacement or repair or something like that. We’re excited about this series and uh excited to bring you more of these to help educate you going forward.

So, I have here with me, (Jacob: Morning, John!) Jacob McKinnel, who is our Sales Manager. So, we’re excited to be asking him some questions about the process, asking him some questions about what it means to to get a new roof and and work with insurance and elements
like that.

 

Getting to Know Jacob McKinnell, Sales Manager

So, our first question is, how did you come to work for Petrali Roofing? Tell me a little bit about your professional journey and then coming to work for Petrali Roofing.

Jacob: Uh well in brief, I started in the trades when I was about 20 years old. Ran a small business for a few years. One thing led to another when I was starting my family, I was networking work out of home shows and got into a sales position eventually. Started with marketing with a home improvement company. We offered just about every trade you could imagine. I left that business to go back to the trades to have a little bit more control of time because our family was growing. Spent about three or four years doing that and just when I thought that was probably going to become my future, Michael O’Malley walked up my driveway,
introduced himself and more or less closed me on a position here at Petrali.

John: That’s awesome!

Jacob: Which was a blessing beyond my wildest dreams really to be in good association doing something I’d done before, but with a much better mindset behind it and with a great team.

John: Awesome!

Jacob: Yeah!

John: Love it. That’s great. Well, Jacob does a great job. He’s our, like I said, he’s our Sales Manager. So, he leads our sales team. He brings a great heart to that role. He’s the first person to have on this education series ‘cuz that’s a big part of his heart is educating our clients, educating the people that we’re working with, and educating our salesmen on how to do a good job.

 

How The Roofing Process Starts

John: Walk us through a typical customer experience, you know, from a customer initially thinking about, hey, I got something wrong with my roof. I have some issues up there. I can tell something’s going on up there too, you know, in this scenario, let’s say like you’re getting a roof completely replaced. So, can you give a broad brushstroke overview of that process that a customer might expect?

Jacob: Yes. So, there’s a lot of reasons a customer might call us. They may have an active problem. They may have water getting into their house. That creates a high level of urgency and sometimes a relatively high level of pain, depending on where that’s showing up and how bad it is. Yeah, oftentimes customers see their neighbors getting their roofs replaced all in their neighborhood. They hear that, they see all the equipment and the crews and they think, “Well, I haven’t had my roof looked at. I better have that done. Who can I call? Who can I trust?”

The first contact would most likely be with one of our office representatives and they’re going to get you in connection with a sales consultant who comes out and introduces themselves. Typically, we’re going to make contact within 24 hours with you guys. We’d like to get out and see you with urgency regardless of whether you have an active leak or a hill claim or you just need a new roof. That first meeting is going to take roughly 45 minutes to an hour typically depending on how much we talk!

And what we try to do in that first meeting is get to know you, get to know what you need, and also then provide you with a detailed inspection report. So, we’re going to check out every penetration in your roof, every valley. We can do our very best to diagnose the leak on that first visit if you have one. If you think you might have hail. We like giving good news and the truth so
if you don’t, we’re going to tell you that when we come off the ladder, right? But in any case, we’re going to take photographs, oftentimes a short video, something to show the customer who typically doesn’t spend a lot of time on their roof. And from there, the customer can decide whether they want to proceed with a repair. We’ll give you a written estimate within 24 to 48 hours. And if it is an insurance claim, we can help you with that moving forward every step of
the way.

John: Let’s say the customer has decided to go with Petrali Roofing for that roof replacement. What are the steps from that point to getting a new roof on the house?

Jacob: Okay. Yeah. Once we have earned a customer’s trust and earned their business, we want to choose products, colors, get all of that reviewed and in writing for you guys. And then the consultant is responsible for building work orders both for the crew and the suppliers. So there’s a lot of hightouch. We don’t hand that ball off to somebody else to handle that part of the process. So we eliminate a lot of mistakes, a lot of headaches and our lead times right now are generally around 7 to 10 business days. So if we were to imagine a customer calling on a Tuesday and making a decision by the end of that week, they could have their project installed within 2 to 3 weeks from their initial contact with us. And we try to make that seamless.

You’ll have a supervisor on site during an installation who is another point of communication because I truly believe communication is customer service. So the sales consultant, the supervisor, our office staff, and then we have field directors and higher up supervisors, are going to make sure you guys are always
in the know as to what’s happening on your project and when to expect from us. And managing those expectations is a big part of our service to the customer.

John: Absolutely! I’m going to come back to the supervisor thing in a minute because I do think that’s a big part of the Petrali process and the Petrali experience that we really pride ourselves on. But before we come back to that, talk about insurance ‘cuz that’s still a big part of what we work with with our customers of, working with insurance, working with an adjuster because there’s a lot of customers that might not have filed a claim yet, might not have gone through that experience. So, it’s a little nerve-wracking. How does that work? How does that flow? And then how do we support through that process?

 

Working with Your Insurance Company

Jacob: Okay. Well, the insurance process is somewhat different than a normal engagement with any contractor because there’s a third party involved. You’ve got your insurance company that has a big say in the amount of money they’re going to offer you, what they’ll approve, and certain timelines come into play. When we investigate a roof and we find hail, the customer is responsible for contacting the insurance company and opening their claim. From there, your consultant can really help you either ride shotgun if
you would like to stay in a more active role or they can get in the driver’s seat and help you run through that claim.

The first step will be having a field adjuster come out. That field adjuster is representing the insurance company. And in some cases, you could even think maybe their interests, right? They want to determine whether or not you have a valid claim, how old the claim is, the scope of damages, etc. But in my experience, they’re all good people. And in truth, we’re all on the same team helping to serve the customer.

So, a Petrali rep wants to be there uh to advocate for you, not to step on the insurance adjusters’s process or tell them what to do, but to be a second set of eyes and really to make a friend that day, to make initial contact so we can smooth the process out. Because 99% of the time, that initial estimate from an insurance company will have omissions or errors that can be corrected amicably through a supplement process, which we are very skilled at here and we train our guys how to do that properly with proper support, proper documentation. We even write our estimates in the same software that the insurance company’s using. So we’re looking at apples to apples as often as possible. Once an insurance adjuster receives a supplement, they give us a little bit of time to review and that approval becomes, you know, the scope of work that we’re going to perform for the customer.

And our goal when we’re on an inspection and insurance claim is not just to focus on the roof. Uh here at Petrali, we are a roofing company, but the hail storm is going to hit your entire property. And that is one of the most satisfying roles that I can play for a customer is to advocate for them outside of our scope of work to make sure that the deductible they’re paying is affording them as much coverage as they can reasonably get, honestly get, for the storm that damaged not just their roof, but perhaps their fence, their siding, their windows, you name it.

John: Mhm! Awesome!

Jacob: Yeah. And then when we’re all done, we send an insurance company an invoice and they release a final payment to the customer and we wait to collect until they’ve done that. I suppose insurance is maybe not as complicated the way I just described it, but there’s some ins and outs there, some nuance, and we try to carry the customer over the finish line.

 

Understanding Insurance Deductibles in Colorado

John: Yeah! Last thing on insurance, ‘cuz this is a question that comes up quite a bit, but paying the deductible. So talk about that role of the customer’s responsibility in regards to paying the deductible on that insurance claim.

Jacob: So Colorado state law; years and years ago mortgage companies, insurance companies all kind of got together to change the way things were done and the customer is legally responsible to contribute their deductible to their claim. That is a motivation in some ways for a customer to take their claim a little bit more seriously. And in the past, there was an opportunity for customers to have their deductible either waved, refunded, paid for by a contractor. And not that I would personally disagree with helping a customer in any way, but the people that were cutting the checks thought that removes the customer’s skin from the game. So, at the current time, the customer is legally responsible to pay their deductible.

There are ways, legal ways, to help a customer offset a deductible with their claim. But there are a couple downsides to that. Number one, if we were to find additional damages on the property, the customer is going to be allowed coverage for those and they can use their first payment to offset a deductible legally because that’s their money. However, if they decide to use that money now to pay for their deductible and they don’t replace say a component of their house like their guttering, they will not receive their depreciated amount for the guttering and they will no longer be insured for their gutters. So, knowing those two pitfalls, some customers do manage their cash flow based on the rest of their claim offsetting their deductible and that is perfectly legal. There’s just a couple things to consider before you make that decision.

John: This goes to why we’re doing these types of things because being in this roofing world, we see material advertising of companies that are claiming that they’ll cover your deductible and that is not a legal action. You consider as you look at those local roofing companies, you know, be careful of the verbiage that you might be using. And if they’re putting you in a situation where you feel pressured or they’re making it seem like there might be something that’s a little shady in what they’re talking about, it probably is a little shady.

 

Why Job Supervision and Cleanup Matter

John: The Supervisor that you mentioned earlier, and there’s a couple things that we do special here at Petrali Roofing is having a supervisor on site for the projects. And then also we have our Final Touch which comes in after the project is completed. We do have our crews and supervisors clean up after a job, but we also have a Final Touch team which goes and does a final sweep. So, talk about those two elements that are special about Petrali.

Jacob: So, I would tell you John, if when I came to Petrali, if I didn’t know you guys supervised your jobs, I might never have come back to roofing. So, in my past experience, I would say the the two highest pain points for customers, even if the customer was completely satisfied with the work otherwise, were the fact that they had trouble interfacing with the crew, if they had any issues during the installation, because roofing is one of the more invasive services you can get for your home, right? There are certain trades that just have an impact on your property. And especially while the work’s going on, there’s equipment, there’s trucks, there’s a lot of guys moving around.

John: It’s loud.

Jacob: Yes, loud. If the customer needs to get out of their garage, for instance, and they weren’t told that there’s going to be a dump trailer in front of their garage, that can really burden them during their day. So, a supervisor on site is a Petrali employee that is there to help interface the customer, the crew, the consultant, and the office into this project that is typically taking one day, sometimes two days. They’re there as your primary point of contact when they’re on site and while the work’s being done and I believe that is one of the most important, critical components to our customer satisfaction is having a competent supervisor on site.

The supervisor is also there to facilitate the crew and make sure that the crew has everything they need to complete the work in a timely manner. So, the crew, you know, six or seven guys, aren’t standing on your roof waiting for a component that they need from a supplier, right? The supervisor is there to help facilitate that process.

And finally, when the work is done, the crew and the supervisor clean your home thoroughly. They’re going to spend an hour, two hours, first of all, they protect your property, so clean up goes easier. We tarp every area we’re going to be tearing material off onto. But then they’re going to do a very thorough job removing debris uh down to the nitty-gritty. And imagine thousands of nails coming off your house during the removal of the old roof. They’re running magnets over your driveway, walkways, decks, anywhere people
will be, cars will be. They’re running them in your rocks, your yard. And if you imagine that percentage wise, maybe they get 99% of that debris off your property, that means there’s still perhaps dozens of nails on your property that are waiting there lurking that weren’t there when we came, so we don’t want them there when we leave.

And one of the greatest things I heard, it actually was instituted after I got here at Petrali, was our Final Touch service where we do a very granular cleaning process as well. We offer that service within a few days or a week of an installation to come out, spend roughly 3 hours, is what I hear the average is, going over your property now with a very fine tooth comb. And I believe that that has elevated our customer satisfaction even higher since that was implemented because cleanliness shows respect and it shows consideration. It’s a safety consideration too. If you have dogs, uh even kids, right, that are running around the property, (I probably should have said kids first!) we want to protect your property and the people and the animals that live there.

John: The last thing I wanted to talk about, so, the project’s done. Final Touch team has come out and done that last sweep, that last clean. But what does it look like for after that roof is done, our guarantees and and going on to that customer relationship with Petrali moving forward after that project?

 

Post-Installation Warranty and Relationships

Jacob: So we try to set ourselves up for our post-productive relationship by doing everything during the installation to meet or exceed industry standards, best practices, right? So, we offer a 5-year workmanship on literally anything we touch, and that includes repairs, which is incredibly rare in my experience. Most companies would not offer a warranty on a repair. Again, that warranty is limited to the service area that we treat, but when we do a full roof replacement, we are warrantying that roof for 5 years against any issue whatsoever with regard to workmanship. So, you know, if you ever experience an issue, please just call. The service is free, the visit is free, and we will expedite that service.

Our goal is to really create a relationship with you during the process that lasts. And truth be told, I’ve got several close friends now that I see on a regular basis that I never would have known if I hadn’t gone to their home to look at their roof. So, it’s not just a boast. We really are a community focused company. We’re a relational company, not a transactional one. And I hope our customers all get that sense when they work with us. But moving forward, you know, we’d like to stay in touch with you. Uh not just if you need another, you know, roofing service or something like that, but if you have friends, family, neighbors, or relatives, etc. that need anything at all with regard to their roof. We thrive on referrals here. We’re a family-owned company. We have been in business since 1982, in Colorado Springs since 2013. So, we’re built to last and that’s because of our customers, right? Our customer referral rate is relatively high and we would love to nurture that.

John: Absolutely!

Jacob: It helps us thrive here. We like to give back to you guys as well. We have a referral bonus program that’s not to give you any financial incentive to refer us but really as a genuine way of saying “thank you” in a, you know, in a manner that that may make a difference that you could, you know, take the referral bonus and go to dinner etc., whatever you need with it. We want to let you know that, you know, we thrive because you opened your heart and your mouth and told a friend or family about your experience with us and we want you to know how grateful we are for that and put our money where our mouth is with regard.

And every year we have a Great Big Give Back party, basically and we’d love to invite every customer to that. I believe it’s at the end of May coming up this year. Bring your kids, your grandkids, and come enjoy a day of celebration for another good year with Petrali. The last couple years anyway, we’ve done it at Lost Island [now Lost Realm] and the whole place is open to you and your family. There’s food, there’s fun, there’s raffles, there’s games for the kids outside of what the venue offers and it’s just a way to get to see the entire heart of Petrali and to really immerse yourself in the culture of a roofing company that’s more than a roofing company.

 

Conclusion

John: Jacob, thanks for the time. We really appreciate it!

Jacob: Thank you, John. It was excellent!

John: Follow us on social media. We’re on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok. Give us a follow. Look for more videos like this to help educate you on your roof, one of the most important parts of your home. And thank you for your time! We appreciate it! We’ll see you next time.

Jacob: God bless!