Speaker:

I'm Todd Miller of Isaiah Industries manufacturer Specialty Metal Roofing.

Speaker:

Welcome to Construction Disruption, the show where we break ground

Speaker:

on big ideas and tear down a few walls and myths along the way.

Speaker:

Today I'm joined by my co-host, Ethan Young.

Speaker:

What's the news, Ethan?

Speaker:

Well, this has actually been a busy week for me, Todd.

Speaker:

I've been, uh, traveling for work some and been a productive week for sure.

Speaker:

But, you know, it's, it's been good.

Speaker:

How about you?

Speaker:

How you doing?

Speaker:

Going Well, yeah, it had, you're right, you have been busy, you've been out doing

Speaker:

filming and video work and interviewing people and all kinds of fun stuff.

Speaker:

So excited to see the results of that.

Speaker:

Gonna be cool.

Speaker:

But, uh, yeah, it's been a fairly busy week as we kind of go into.

Speaker:

Fall.

Speaker:

It always seems like September and October are our busiest months.

Speaker:

Oddly enough, no one ever understands that.

Speaker:

I never understood it for a lot of years.

Speaker:

Um, but we seem to be going into that phase again right now.

Speaker:

So, um, once again, to let our audience know we are doing challenge words where,

Speaker:

uh, Ethan and I, and also our guest, um.

Speaker:

All have a word.

Speaker:

We have been challenged to work into the conversation as seamlessly as possible,

Speaker:

and we will let you, our loyal listening audience, uh, know at the end of the

Speaker:

show whether we were successful or not.

Speaker:

So Ethan, you good to go?

Speaker:

I'm good to go.

Speaker:

Let's start it up.

Speaker:

Let's do it.

Speaker:

So our guest today is Jordan Rueschhoff , residential sales manager for Diversified

Speaker:

Roofing based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Speaker:

Jordan has considerable history in the roofing and construction industry before

Speaker:

he took his role as sales manager for Phoenix's leading roofing contractor.

Speaker:

Jordan has a passion for our industry, for customer service, and also

Speaker:

for giving back to his community.

Speaker:

Jordan, welcome to Construction Disruption.

Speaker:

True Pleasure to have you with us today,

Speaker:

Thanks guys.

Speaker:

Really appreciate you having me on.

Speaker:

Uh, excited to, uh, chat some roofing stuff with you guys today.

Speaker:

Cole.

Speaker:

Thank you so much.

Speaker:

Well, I know that you have a lot of industry history that goes

Speaker:

back even to your college days.

Speaker:

Um, tell us a little bit about that journey that got you where you are today.

Speaker:

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker:

So, um, for starters, I, uh, I was, um, a student athlete in college.

Speaker:

I played football for four years.

Speaker:

um, after my senior year of football, I'm a very competitive person and I

Speaker:

was like, all right, what's, what's the next thing my football career is done?

Speaker:

I need to find something to drive my competitiveness and, you know,

Speaker:

find that next thing for me.

Speaker:

And, I had an opportunity to take a, um, position as a franchise owner for

Speaker:

a painting company, uh, in Montana, which is where I was going to school.

Speaker:

And I, uh, I decided to take that on.

Speaker:

I feel like entrepreneurship has always kind of been a passion of mine.

Speaker:

Like going through school, I went to school for business.

Speaker:

Like I knew that was kind of a direction I wanted to go.

Speaker:

Uh, but home improvement industry was really never on my radar growing up.

Speaker:

Like, I, I didn't grow up wanting to be in the home improvement industry, but,

Speaker:

uh, I, I, I quickly learned that, um, the industry itself is what a really

Speaker:

competitive one, but also just one where you can really get out there and.

Speaker:

Get out what you put into it.

Speaker:

Right.

Speaker:

Which is what I was striving for.

Speaker:

Um, and uh, so I, I took on the challenge of, uh, starting a

Speaker:

painting franchise in a market that, that franchise had never been in.

Speaker:

Um, so that was a task in itself.

Speaker:

Um, so I did painting for five years.

Speaker:

Um, found some success with it, enjoyed it.

Speaker:

Um, but I was looking for something a little different after about five years,

Speaker:

and that's when I started to, uh, look into other home improvement industries,

Speaker:

and that's where I came across roofing.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

And, um, roofing, I was like, I, I looked at it as like, man, these

Speaker:

average job sizes are like four times the amount of these painting jobs.

Speaker:

Like there's, there's some potential of this, right?

Speaker:

So, um, make good money.

Speaker:

I really enjoyed my time painting, but roofing was like, Hey, there's,

Speaker:

there's so much more upside here.

Speaker:

Um, so I took the leap of faith.

Speaker:

I actually moved from Montana to, um, Arizona to work with a startup roofing

Speaker:

company that was working out here.

Speaker:

Um.

Speaker:

to where it never rains.

Speaker:

Makes perfect sense to go.

Speaker:

I didn't know that I was young and naive at the time.

Speaker:

Um, so I, uh, started as a sales rep. You know, I wanted to kind of learn

Speaker:

the trade, uh, understand I worked on some of the roofs myself in Arizona,

Speaker:

talk about a terrible decision.

Speaker:

But I, I, I learned very quickly, um, kind of the ins and outs of sales and within

Speaker:

a year I was able to move into a director of operations role for that company.

Speaker:

Um, and we.

Speaker:

We're a startup company and we grew very big, very fast.

Speaker:

We had five different states that we were operating in, um, and we had over

Speaker:

40 sales reps, uh, across the country.

Speaker:

Um, and I was in charge of those 40 sales reps, which, um, was a lot, but it was.

Speaker:

Just an incredible learning experience and understanding different

Speaker:

markets and how different markets operate from Texas to Arizona.

Speaker:

Like those are two very, very different types of markets.

Speaker:

Um, so it, it was interesting.

Speaker:

I did that for two years.

Speaker:

And as you can imagine, I got burnt out very

Speaker:

Sure.

Speaker:

Um, and it was, it was a lot.

Speaker:

Uh, but at the same time it, I don't regret it at all.

Speaker:

It was such a great learning experience.

Speaker:

Um, so I actually stepped away from the roofing industry for a couple

Speaker:

years and I went into consulting.

Speaker:

Uh, so I was a consultant for, um, small businesses looking to start

Speaker:

up in the home improvement industry.

Speaker:

So actually help.

Speaker:

launch over a hundred small businesses in roofing, painting,

Speaker:

flooring, just any of the home

Speaker:

Wow.

Speaker:

Helped them, from hiring their first sales rep to how to manage

Speaker:

payroll, how to develop a website.

Speaker:

Um, and that was just a really, really cool and fulfilling experience.

Speaker:

Um, and I just remember my time when I was starting.

Speaker:

business at 21 years old and how difficult it was, but I had kind of a structure

Speaker:

that franchise system to help me and guide me, and I wanted to provide that

Speaker:

for, you know, individual business owners who didn't want to go to that

Speaker:

franchise route and wanted to have full ownership of their, of their business.

Speaker:

I did that for a couple years.

Speaker:

Uh, really, really enjoyed it, but I also kind of missed the.

Speaker:

Day-to-day of operations.

Speaker:

I, I, I miss the chaos of being in the middle of it, you know,

Speaker:

of, of what operations and roofing or home improvement is.

Speaker:

Um, so I decided to step away from that and get back into it, and that's

Speaker:

where I found Diversified Roofing.

Speaker:

Um, I started, uh, it's been just over two years now.

Speaker:

I, I took the, uh, seals, um.

Speaker:

Sales manager role here, um, which is kind of a glorified, uh, just manager

Speaker:

in general, how I manage everything from the sales to the operations

Speaker:

and all that for, for my division.

Speaker:

Um, but it's, it's been a, a crazy process, but I've always kind of

Speaker:

just found myself still staying with that home improvement, uh, area.

Speaker:

And, um, I enjoy it, you know, I enjoy the customer interaction.

Speaker:

I get, I enjoy helping people grow within the industry.

Speaker:

Like that's, that's always a passion of mine.

Speaker:

Sure.

Speaker:

Well, I'm curious, as you look back on the growth of your career

Speaker:

in sales in particular, are there any certain experiences.

Speaker:

Or lessons or maybe education or training you went through, um, that

Speaker:

have been particularly formative to you, uh, in developing, um,

Speaker:

your expertise in that area.

Speaker:

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker:

I think, um, for me, the best thing I ever did was get my hands in on a little

Speaker:

bit of everything in the business.

Speaker:

So I've worked on production crews, I've sat in production meetings.

Speaker:

I see what the admin team does.

Speaker:

I have meetings with them.

Speaker:

I try to.

Speaker:

Immerse myself into every aspect of the business.

Speaker:

'cause for me, as a salesperson, that helps me understand the full

Speaker:

scope of what we're trying to accomplish on all ends, right?

Speaker:

To make sure that, uh, there's so many salespeople out there to

Speaker:

just focus on getting the sale.

Speaker:

And for a business to be successful, there's so many components

Speaker:

that need to work together.

Speaker:

And I think as a sales person, that's your responsibility to make sure.

Speaker:

Everything comes together smoothly, right?

Speaker:

Expectations are set properly with the customer and the production crews and the

Speaker:

admin team or whatever it may be, right?

Speaker:

So I, that's the first thing is just really understanding the full aspect

Speaker:

of the business and how your decisions as a sales person impacts the rest

Speaker:

of the company and that customer I.

Speaker:

Boy, I love that.

Speaker:

And you're right, that makes so, makes that salesperson so much.

Speaker:

Um, just more powerful in the home when they understand the full business.

Speaker:

Well, so, unless I'm mistaken, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think diversified,

Speaker:

um, is known a lot for its commanding presence in commercial roofing and

Speaker:

you're heading up residential for them.

Speaker:

Um, what's that look like to be doing that for a company that is known a lot

Speaker:

for commercial and, you know, what's your team look like and so forth?

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Uh, so actually we, we have a pretty even 50 50 split now

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

between residential and commercial, um, which is really exciting.

Speaker:

Um, our, our team on the residential side, um, is.

Speaker:

A big part of our business is in the new construction side

Speaker:

of things for residential.

Speaker:

So we do a lot of track home custom homes, stuff like that.

Speaker:

So that's a big portion of our residential space.

Speaker:

And then obviously reroof, repairs service, um, all of that's

Speaker:

kind of encompassed into our residential side of the business.

Speaker:

Um, in terms of team size, we, we actually do it pretty efficiently.

Speaker:

Um, so on the sales front.

Speaker:

Um, I got myself and then there's, uh, an account manager that manages

Speaker:

all of our, uh, track home builders.

Speaker:

Um, so your Taylor Morrisons and, you know, things like

Speaker:

that, your bigger home builders.

Speaker:

And then I have another account manager that focuses solely on the, like the

Speaker:

local custom home builders that do the multimillion dollar homes out here.

Speaker:

and then I have three more, uh, guys that focus strictly on residential reroof.

Speaker:

So, um, so five total sales guys essentially.

Speaker:

Um, so I feel like we're, we're pretty efficient with that.

Speaker:

Uh, with the numbers we'll be able to get on the production side,

Speaker:

that's a whole different beast.

Speaker:

Um, we have eight different superintendents on the residential side

Speaker:

each running about four to five crews.

Speaker:

Wow,

Speaker:

Um, that's, that's, yeah,

Speaker:

you're busy.

Speaker:

Yeah, you're busy.

Speaker:

That's a lot of roofing.

Speaker:

Well, and I always think it's interesting whenever I come across a

Speaker:

new construction home in Phoenix or around Arizona always seems like it's

Speaker:

a huge house and just complicated.

Speaker:

And, you know, those are nice projects though.

Speaker:

But, uh, well, I'm kind of curious.

Speaker:

So, so I mean, I've always looked at commercial roofing.

Speaker:

I've never been involved with it, but it, it always seems like that would be

Speaker:

a sale that would focus a lot on things like cost per year, return on investment.

Speaker:

And yet.

Speaker:

Most residential guys don't go about selling residential

Speaker:

roofs quite in that same vein.

Speaker:

I'm kind of curious, you know, what crossovers or what similarities do you

Speaker:

see in your company, um, between how commercial and residential roofs are sold?

Speaker:

Or are they completely different beasts to you?

Speaker:

Uh, a little bit of both.

Speaker:

I, I would say so.

Speaker:

Um.

Speaker:

I think when we are looking at, for example, in residential we do HOA

Speaker:

communities and things like that.

Speaker:

So that type of sale is very, very similar to that of like a commercial sale, So of

Speaker:

those, like bigger jobs, those HOA boards, they're all about cost effectiveness,

Speaker:

saving money over time, all of that.

Speaker:

Um, when it comes to like individual homeowners though, this is where

Speaker:

I think it gets interesting.

Speaker:

Um, I try to focus like.

Speaker:

We sell value right to a homeowner.

Speaker:

That's what they care about.

Speaker:

Sometimes that does mean.

Speaker:

Return on investment, right?

Speaker:

It just depends on what that customer's looking for, um, specifically.

Speaker:

And the way I always look at, it's like any chuck in the truck is

Speaker:

what I like to call, can go out and put a good roof on for a customer.

Speaker:

But it, it's really how you value your service and your products.

Speaker:

And how you create that value through those options to the

Speaker:

homeowner that really separates you.

Speaker:

So that's what we really try to focus on in the residential space,

Speaker:

is how do we create that value?

Speaker:

We're not gonna be the cheapest.

Speaker:

I don't want to be the cheapest,

Speaker:

Right.

Speaker:

It's, it's all about how is my service gonna separate me from my competitor?

Speaker:

And that's kind of our focus point in the residential space.

Speaker:

Makes a lot of sense.

Speaker:

Yep.

Speaker:

Sell the value.

Speaker:

So, um, as I look back on 2025, it's been a year where most areas

Speaker:

of the country contractors have really found lead generation to be a

Speaker:

little bit sluggish, um, compared to at least what they'd seen in those

Speaker:

years, immediately following COVID.

Speaker:

Um, any.

Speaker:

Saying Your company is finding being successful or effective

Speaker:

in terms of lead gen right now?

Speaker:

Yeah, it, it has been slow.

Speaker:

Especially, I mean, we're field it here at Phoenix especially.

Speaker:

Um, and we've had to get creative.

Speaker:

Um, there's so many things changing.

Speaker:

I know we're gonna talk about this more a little bit later on AI and how digital

Speaker:

marketing's kind of evolving and changing.

Speaker:

Um, and we've really had to pivot, um, on our approach to lead generation.

Speaker:

And this year we took more of kind of a grassroots style

Speaker:

old school style marketing and really kind of focused on that.

Speaker:

Um.

Speaker:

Not as much like door knocking, which I'll, I'll kind of get into it a little

Speaker:

bit, but more so networking groups.

Speaker:

So we have guys in BNI groups, we have home builder associations, this, you know,

Speaker:

chamber of Commerce, stuff like that.

Speaker:

We found a lot of traction with that, um, and a ton of success.

Speaker:

But I think the, the biggest winner is the referral referral program.

Speaker:

That that is bar none, the most important aspect of our lead generation

Speaker:

and having kind of a program in place to help generate referral leads and

Speaker:

it's helped increase our close rate.

Speaker:

drastically having that type of high quality lead as well.

Speaker:

So it, it's really helped us in that front.

Speaker:

So those are the two areas that I'd say the most successes come from.

Speaker:

We do some door knocking.

Speaker:

We're not, I wouldn't say canvassers, we're not hitting full neighborhoods.

Speaker:

We do a very strategic style of, uh, canvassing or door knocking.

Speaker:

I call it the quick six.

Speaker:

We hit a very small number of houses around the bills that we're doing.

Speaker:

Introduce ourselves.

Speaker:

Hey, sorry for the noise.

Speaker:

Here's my card.

Speaker:

If you have any questions, let me know.

Speaker:

Also, be more than happy to give you a free estimate.

Speaker:

So, you know, stuff like that.

Speaker:

Um, we, we run pretty lean here and I my guys to make sure

Speaker:

they're maximizing their time.

Speaker:

And I've found that in our type of market, in a retail heavy market like

Speaker:

Phoenix, the door knocking can be very, very difficult and time consuming.

Speaker:

I, I like what you're saying about, well, something I've always called.

Speaker:

Referral maximization.

Speaker:

And I started talking about it several years ago saying, you know, we put

Speaker:

all this money into traditional advertising of different forms and when

Speaker:

it's not working, the people selling the selling you the advertising,

Speaker:

their answer is, well spend more.

Speaker:

Um, and, and you know, my comment was always, well, why don't we

Speaker:

take a certain amount of our advertising budget and devote that.

Speaker:

To maximizing our referrals.

Speaker:

Um, and so I, I love what you're saying there.

Speaker:

I think that is spot on.

Speaker:

Um, kind of curious what's happening.

Speaker:

I mean, Phoenix has traditionally been a tile market.

Speaker:

Um, you know, nationally of course we're seeing a product close to

Speaker:

our hearts metal, um, growing in market share, are you seeing that

Speaker:

in the Phoenix market yet at all?

Speaker:

Or is it still just tile, or what are you seeing out there?

Speaker:

Seeing a little bit metal.

Speaker:

Um, I would still say over 90% of our new builds here in the

Speaker:

Phoenix area are Tyler foam.

Speaker:

I think foam is the other kind of roofing system that.

Speaker:

It's utilized out here.

Speaker:

That takes up a good chunk of, um, the market.

Speaker:

Um, metal.

Speaker:

The only time we're seeing it really is on custom homes.

Speaker:

So custom homes, we're seeing portions of that roof be metal.

Speaker:

Um, so that, that hasn't, uh.

Speaker:

It a huge part, like reroof though it's been, everybody talks about it.

Speaker:

We go to trade shows and we have our metal roof samples up there and they're

Speaker:

all intrigued and excited about it.

Speaker:

And then we go out there and we show 'em the price and

Speaker:

they're like, yeah, nevermind.

Speaker:

So, um, so that's, that's kind of been the challenge for us to overcome.

Speaker:

Um.

Speaker:

On the, on the metal side of things.

Speaker:

Another product that we've, looked into on the metal side that's starting to get some

Speaker:

traction is, it's called unified steel.

Speaker:

It's almost like the metal shingles or the metal tile.

Speaker:

Um, like we've seen stuff like that starting to grow in popularity as well.

Speaker:

Um, but uh, standing seat and things like that, seeing it on

Speaker:

the custom homes, but not a whole lot on the re-roof side of things.

Speaker:

Interesting.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Unified steel's kind of a dirty word around here.

Speaker:

They are, they are our number one competitor probably.

Speaker:

But no, they're good, good company and, uh, good products.

Speaker:

So, uh, that's great.

Speaker:

Um.

Speaker:

Kind, kind of curious.

Speaker:

So I, I read a statistic the other day that I really kind of struck me.

Speaker:

It said that, you know, with the advent of our Amazon culture and

Speaker:

everything online, that by the time a consumer actually calls a home

Speaker:

improvement contractor to their house.

Speaker:

They are already about 80% of the way through the buying cycle.

Speaker:

Um, you know, in terms of, you know, their decision making and they

Speaker:

know what they want and so forth.

Speaker:

Kind of curious, how do you coach your sales team to, um, connect with homeowners

Speaker:

in that environment who may already think they already have it all figured out?

Speaker:

Yeah, that's, that's a great question.

Speaker:

Um, I think the biggest thing that we have to do in that sense

Speaker:

is hear them out, let them talk.

Speaker:

Right.

Speaker:

Listen to what they have to say.

Speaker:

They're gonna express concerns or their opinions.

Speaker:

Right?

Speaker:

And I feel like so many salespeople make the mistake of.

Speaker:

to combat that right away or give them the information that they want to give them.

Speaker:

Like, you'll have your time for that.

Speaker:

I think it's really important to take the time to listen to the

Speaker:

customer and maybe there's some validity to what they're trying to

Speaker:

say, even if you don't agree with it.

Speaker:

Right.

Speaker:

Um, so I, I think understand and understand where their sources

Speaker:

are, where they're getting that information, and, and making sure

Speaker:

we're educating them around, um, what.

Speaker:

We experience.

Speaker:

So I think another thing I like to do in those situations if you've been in

Speaker:

the industry long enough, you're gonna have a similar type of customer that

Speaker:

you've dealt with in the past, right?

Speaker:

That has the same kind of issue, same concerns, whatever it may be.

Speaker:

And I always like to tell stories.

Speaker:

Tell stories of, Hey, I had a customer just like you had the same concern.

Speaker:

This is how we took care of him.

Speaker:

Love.

Speaker:

This is, yeah.

Speaker:

And this is my recommendation on what we do and here's why.

Speaker:

And so it just kind of puts them at ease.

Speaker:

It doesn't make them feel like a, a victim almost, right?

Speaker:

It's like, Hey, we're other people think just like you.

Speaker:

It's perfectly okay.

Speaker:

Like this is how we take care of those people.

Speaker:

that's a great way to put it too.

Speaker:

It's kind of reframing it from, not like a conflict, you know, but like you're

Speaker:

not trying to sell them something versus them trying not to be sold to versus,

Speaker:

know, here's what we've experienced.

Speaker:

We can help you out.

Speaker:

We can solve your problem.

Speaker:

You know, reframing it definitely goes a long way.

Speaker:

It certainly helps to build that trust without a doubt.

Speaker:

And I'm kind of reminded of something that Rodney Webb teaches and you know,

Speaker:

he teaches techniques for making every customer into almost be like a referral.

Speaker:

And I think when you talk about those other jobs you've done and.

Speaker:

They start to put themselves in the place of your former customer, it

Speaker:

starts to give them the mindset of being a referral, even though maybe

Speaker:

that lead wasn't actually a referral.

Speaker:

So

Speaker:

And I, I come from a Rodney web system,

Speaker:

do you?

Speaker:

Yeah,

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

So, um, a lot of, I don't, didn't take everything from

Speaker:

sure.

Speaker:

like I kind of made it into my own, but there's so much

Speaker:

good stuff in, in Rodney Web.

Speaker:

That's where a lot of my learning and stuff comes from in terms of kind of

Speaker:

the, the psychological part of sales, which is just fascinating to me.

Speaker:

We've never had him on the show.

Speaker:

We need to add him to our list.

Speaker:

Ethan.

Speaker:

I love to do that.

Speaker:

Cool.

Speaker:

Um, so the riffing industry, you know, it's kind of interesting.

Speaker:

I mean, I've been around.

Speaker:

Since dirt was three days old, they tell me.

Speaker:

But, uh, a long time and, you know, I'm, I'm seeing more change

Speaker:

probably in the last five years than I'd seen in the previous 40

Speaker:

years of my time in this industry.

Speaker:

And, you know, there's things changing with technology, sales, tools, materials.

Speaker:

Are there any innovations you're seeing out there right now that have

Speaker:

you particularly excited, um, you know, to see where that's gonna lead?

Speaker:

I think on, on the sales front of things, it's super exciting.

Speaker:

Um, just some of the technology we have for takeoffs and for, um, putting bids

Speaker:

together, proposals together, um, I've.

Speaker:

Shifted.

Speaker:

When I first got here diversified, we used old Excel files that, you know,

Speaker:

you put your estimate together and you take off numbers all into that

Speaker:

and it spit out a number for you.

Speaker:

Um, and we've adapted to a whole new system where I can a takeoff and get

Speaker:

a proposal written in 15 minutes.

Speaker:

And a, a nice professional looking proposal with, product information,

Speaker:

with warranty information, all of that.

Speaker:

So it's just made, online Now.

Speaker:

Customers can sign online.

Speaker:

They open up their email, look at the proposal, and they just click sign right

Speaker:

then and there, send us a check or pay credit card over the phone for a deposit,

Speaker:

and they're set up and ready to go.

Speaker:

You know, so, uh, that's, that's really changed the game.

Speaker:

Like, I just remember thinking back at my starting the, uh, painting company.

Speaker:

Everything was old school, pen and paper with the carbon copies.

Speaker:

You know, like, it's like things have changed, uh, immensely since then.

Speaker:

Um, so it's, it's cool to, uh, to see that component of it.

Speaker:

Um, I mean, just last year we.

Speaker:

Um, launched a, we call our instant estimate tool on our website, so

Speaker:

a customer can go to our website and get a, a ballpark estimate

Speaker:

for their home in under a minute.

Speaker:

Oh.

Speaker:

so they can get it.

Speaker:

They just put in their address, put in a few informations, they can

Speaker:

select the products they want, and it'll give them a ballpark price.

Speaker:

Say, Hey, this is what you should be budgeting for, for your, for your roof.

Speaker:

just little things like that that just make such a huge difference

Speaker:

for the customer experience, you know, and in today's day and

Speaker:

age of instant gratification, everybody wants things right now.

Speaker:

It's such a huge tool.

Speaker:

Well, and it, and it differentiates you from the guys that

Speaker:

haven't figured that out yet.

Speaker:

And you know, it kind of goes back to the things that, uh, another

Speaker:

previous guest, Marcus Sheridan.

Speaker:

A lot about, um, you know, they ask you answer, you gotta give 'em the answers

Speaker:

because if they don't get 'em from you, they're gonna get 'em from somebody else.

Speaker:

Well, I'm, I'm curious, what are you guys seeing in your market right

Speaker:

now in terms of interest in solar energy efficiency, sustainability?

Speaker:

Are those.

Speaker:

Picking up any steams at all, steam at all.

Speaker:

And of course, you know, now with the solar tax credits going

Speaker:

away, we're not quite sure what the impact that's gonna be.

Speaker:

But can you reflect a little bit on what's happening in that regard?

Speaker:

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker:

On the solar front.

Speaker:

Um, yeah.

Speaker:

Exploding right now, right.

Speaker:

Right.

Speaker:

panicking trying to get their solar before the tax credit.

Speaker:

It's, um, like Arizona, it's, it's been a pretty big deal out

Speaker:

here for a handful of years now.

Speaker:

Um, and it's not something we really dive into much on our side.

Speaker:

Like we work with, we partner with some solar companies that take care of

Speaker:

our customers when they come across.

Speaker:

But yeah, it's not something we wanted to take on.

Speaker:

We did look into some of those like solar shingles and, you know, some of that

Speaker:

stuff that's out there on the market now and uh, we just didn't feel confident

Speaker:

in it yet to kind of take that on.

Speaker:

Um, you know, I think they got some work to do on that front before, uh, I think

Speaker:

that's ready to really, um, but I do think it's a really cool concept and I think it

Speaker:

actually looks pretty decent compared to just these ugly panels up on your roof.

Speaker:

But, um.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

So, uh, the other component though of like energy efficiency, that's

Speaker:

obviously a big thing here in Arizona.

Speaker:

It gets 110 degrees out here during the summer.

Speaker:

ACS are constantly running.

Speaker:

Um, so energy efficiency has been a big proponent, especially in our custom homes.

Speaker:

They're always looking for that r value or looking for, you

Speaker:

know, a specific type of, um.

Speaker:

Regulations on, on their home.

Speaker:

And we've started to implement a lot more what we call cool roof systems.

Speaker:

So I know in shingles they got like the cool roof shingles, but even in

Speaker:

tile today, there's cool roof systems for tile roofs where it has, um,

Speaker:

like raised or arched battens where airflow can go through like a vented

Speaker:

bird stop to a ridge vent at the top.

Speaker:

Um, so it's cool to see how the industry's adapting to, um.

Speaker:

Accommodate all types of different roofs for that kind of system.

Speaker:

Well, it's been about a year and a half since I was last in Phoenix,

Speaker:

but I remember when I was there, I was thinking it was so hot.

Speaker:

I, I swear I could have baked cinnamon rolls on the hood of my rental car.

Speaker:

I'm, I'm pretty sure of it.

Speaker:

Yes.

Speaker:

Well, tell us, you, you had kind of alluded to it earlier, um,

Speaker:

AI and various digital tools.

Speaker:

Um, how do you see those, uh, continuing to impact, uh, your company, you know,

Speaker:

in terms of how you do business, how you sell, lead gen, all that type of stuff?

Speaker:

Ai, just like anything else has taken over the world at this point.

Speaker:

It's, um, it's, I had a meeting with, uh, one of our marketing companies

Speaker:

that we utilize and they're just kinda sharing the information of

Speaker:

how like AI has been impacting.

Speaker:

SEO, like SEO is a whole different ball game now, and I am no expert in it,

Speaker:

so don't ask me any questions on that.

Speaker:

But I, this is like, I know it's, uh, it's a completely different ball game.

Speaker:

Um, you know, you go to Google and type in sono and hotdog, right?

Speaker:

It's not gonna pull up where you get 'em.

Speaker:

It's gonna give you like a little list of, what a snoring hotdog is.

Speaker:

All from AI generation, right?

Speaker:

Same thing.

Speaker:

When you type in roofers, it's gonna give you an AI answer.

Speaker:

And most people are just reading that AI answer and not even scrolling

Speaker:

down to look at the different websites or blogs or whatever it is.

Speaker:

So it's, it's interesting to see how that's kind of affecting SEO.

Speaker:

Um, but I do think there's also.

Speaker:

Some really good uses for it.

Speaker:

Like we've looked into actually, um, using AI as a takeoff system

Speaker:

to where on our custom homes.

Speaker:

'cause as you alluded to earlier, the, uh, those custom homes get, man, those get

Speaker:

very, very difficult in the details, in the scopes of work are very, very, uh, So

Speaker:

we have to, I mean, sometimes it takes.

Speaker:

2, 3, 4 hours to get a takeoff done for a custom home.

Speaker:

And we've actually looked into automating it through AI where

Speaker:

it creates a takeoff for us.

Speaker:

We're still a little ways from that.

Speaker:

If we've been working on it.

Speaker:

I think it's gonna take some time to kinda get it dialed in.

Speaker:

But things like that, like think about.

Speaker:

Saving four hours of your time at a day to do one takeoff, I guess, is

Speaker:

gonna really increase our capacity, what one person can accomplish.

Speaker:

So, um, so I, I do see it as being an effective tool, um, that's will

Speaker:

help our industry in the long run.

Speaker:

Cool stuff.

Speaker:

Yeah, we're playing with that with AI also.

Speaker:

And you know, another thing we have kind of thought about is, okay,

Speaker:

how can we use AI to even help us predict what would be the most

Speaker:

efficient way to install that job?

Speaker:

I mean, you.

Speaker:

Know, if you got a four person crew, two are experienced, who aren't, you know,

Speaker:

how would you arrange them on that job to be absolutely as efficient as possible.

Speaker:

And, uh, so I, I think there's cool stuff.

Speaker:

It'll definitely get there here, uh, sooner.

Speaker:

Sooner rather than later probably.

Speaker:

Well, what do you think are some of the biggest challenges right

Speaker:

now facing, uh, residential roofing or, uh, companies like your own?

Speaker:

Yeah, I think, I mean, I think we've been talking about a big challenge

Speaker:

already and that's the technology

Speaker:

Mm-hmm.

Speaker:

of things.

Speaker:

Um, I think.

Speaker:

I, I hate to say it, but like, roofers are not the most

Speaker:

technology savvy people, you know?

Speaker:

And it's, um, uh, and it's ever evolving in that way.

Speaker:

Right?

Speaker:

And I think it's important for people to, not be afraid to look

Speaker:

into some of these systems to help you, uh, become more efficient.

Speaker:

And if you're not right, I think you're gonna be left behind.

Speaker:

You're leaving a ton of opportunity, uh, out there.

Speaker:

Um, so I think just.

Speaker:

The challenge of taking on that, um.

Speaker:

Adaptation of going with some of this technological advances and utilizing

Speaker:

it and being comfortable with it.

Speaker:

Right.

Speaker:

And it's, it's hard for a lot of people who've been in the industry for

Speaker:

a while to make such a big change in their business and how they do things.

Speaker:

And I think that's, that's a true and a real challenge.

Speaker:

and then the other one I think that's important, as we've already

Speaker:

alluded to, is a lead generation.

Speaker:

I think things are very, like, really changing on, How we can generate

Speaker:

leads because as we change to a new generation, right, and we're getting

Speaker:

more younger people that we're trying to sell to, um, some of these people

Speaker:

don't even like to talk to people, right?

Speaker:

They don't pick up the phone, they don't like we're moving to a world where I

Speaker:

think this is inter interesting concept and I think it's a reality where.

Speaker:

We could actually sell jobs without ever doing an onsite consultation.

Speaker:

'cause people don't want that.

Speaker:

Um, and uh, so I think that's an interesting concept that

Speaker:

I could lead towards that.

Speaker:

But I think the whole way we generate leads is gonna shift

Speaker:

between AI affecting it and.

Speaker:

Um, people not answering their doors when you go door knocking,

Speaker:

like it's, it's so tough out there.

Speaker:

I come from a world of door knocking.

Speaker:

That's how I generated most of my business.

Speaker:

When I first started, uh, my painting company, it was just door to door.

Speaker:

and it's just seeing how that's evolved over the past decade plus is just

Speaker:

astonishing how difficult it is anymore to find success on the door to door,

Speaker:

unless you're like in a storm market, right, where it's easy to sell like

Speaker:

a deductible versus a $20,000 reroof.

Speaker:

So to go along with.

Speaker:

Of new generation of customers, advice would you give to, you know,

Speaker:

a newer generation of salespeople?

Speaker:

You know, obviously you already kind of covered, you know, being driven,

Speaker:

not being lackadaisical and just kind of expecting it to all happen for you.

Speaker:

But what advice would you give, uh, you know, new people to the industry?

Speaker:

Yeah, I think, uh, for me in sales, it's, you gotta have an entrepreneurial mindset.

Speaker:

I think it can be so difficult when you labor yourself as like an employee.

Speaker:

Like kind of have to be willing to work after 5:00 PM or take those phone calls.

Speaker:

Like you have to have that entrepreneurial mindset.

Speaker:

Um, be, I'm, I'm a very goal oriented person, I, I think it's really important

Speaker:

to set smart goals, uh, but also have a plan of accountability around that

Speaker:

just for yourself or for your team if you're a sales manager, right?

Speaker:

Uh, so I think that's really important.

Speaker:

Note.

Speaker:

Uh, and don't be afraid to think outside the box.

Speaker:

Things are changing.

Speaker:

You gotta be able to evolve, like try new things.

Speaker:

It's, it's okay to, to give.

Speaker:

I mean, the two plus years I've been here, tried so many different

Speaker:

things just to see what sticks right.

Speaker:

And sometimes that's, that's what it takes.

Speaker:

Some trial and error.

Speaker:

And, um, don't be afraid to think outside the box and try to do things.

Speaker:

So much of what you've talked about today reminds me of something my

Speaker:

father told me years ago in business, and he always said, you know.

Speaker:

If in business you think you're holding your own, forget about it because

Speaker:

there's someone going around you.

Speaker:

Um, there is no such thing as holding your own.

Speaker:

And I think with the speed of change that's just increasing every year, uh, how

Speaker:

quickly someone else can go around you and you're doing all the great stuff, Jordan,

Speaker:

by being the one who's, uh, determined to go around all the competitors.

Speaker:

So Good stuff.

Speaker:

Well, uh, this has been great.

Speaker:

Is there anything we haven't covered today that you wanted to

Speaker:

be sure to share with our audience?

Speaker:

No, I don't think so.

Speaker:

I think we, we talked about a lot of like really cool stuff here today.

Speaker:

Um, I think, yeah, a lot of the stuff around the technology is interest.

Speaker:

Man, I'm, I'm excited to see where the industry kind of goes.

Speaker:

Um, I do see a big shift in kind of that momentum of how things are operating

Speaker:

and, um, I, just wanna continue to stay ahead of the trend best I can, you know,

Speaker:

and that that'd be another piece of advice to try to stay ahead of it and,

Speaker:

and explore those different options.

Speaker:

So, but no, I really, really appreciate you guys having me

Speaker:

on some, some good conversation.

Speaker:

Well, good, good advice you provided.

Speaker:

Thank you.

Speaker:

It's been great time together.

Speaker:

So before we close out and before I have you give your contact information,

Speaker:

I'm gonna ask if you're willing to participate in something we call.

Speaker:

Our rapid fire questions.

Speaker:

So these are just five questions.

Speaker:

Um, some are serious, some are not so serious.

Speaker:

All you have to do is give a top of mind response.

Speaker:

Are you up to the challenge of rapid fire?

Speaker:

Let's do, let's have some fun.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

You can ask the first one, Ethan.

Speaker:

What's a product or service that you've acquired recently

Speaker:

that was a game changer for you?

Speaker:

And it can be, you know, personal life or for work or whatever.

Speaker:

Air fryer

Speaker:

Doing some of that healthy eating that way, huh?

Speaker:

trying to, yeah.

Speaker:

Good for you.

Speaker:

Any particular brand?

Speaker:

I don't even know

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker:

what the brand is, man.

Speaker:

I,

Speaker:

That's fine.

Speaker:

That's fine.

Speaker:

Good stuff.

Speaker:

Well, question number two, what is your dream car or other vehicle truck?

Speaker:

Or maybe it's a flying spaceship.

Speaker:

I don't know.

Speaker:

What's your dream vehicle?

Speaker:

So I'm like a old school American muscle.

Speaker:

Oh, awesome.

Speaker:

yeah.

Speaker:

So I'm gonna go with GTO.

Speaker:

Love that.

Speaker:

Love that.

Speaker:

Yeah, that's a great one.

Speaker:

My, uh, parents between 64 and 71 owned three.

Speaker:

Laman never had a GTO though, but they, they couldn't afford that,

Speaker:

but they were still nice cars.

Speaker:

Cool cars.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

Okay, next question, Ethan.

Speaker:

I'm not a sales guy, but I've heard some very interesting stories

Speaker:

from some of our sales guys.

Speaker:

So what's a, what's the most unusual request you've ever had in roofing Sales?

Speaker:

my gosh.

Speaker:

I guess I'll just do like the most unusual job that I've had

Speaker:

to deal with here recently.

Speaker:

I'll, I'll tell this story.

Speaker:

Um, the guy had a putting green on his roof,

Speaker:

On his

Speaker:

so we had to literally create a roofing system.

Speaker:

That allowed drainage for his putting green that was

Speaker:

literally on top of his roof.

Speaker:

It was the weirdest, weirdest situation.

Speaker:

It was difficult.

Speaker:

It, yeah, it was not fun to deal with.

Speaker:

We had to do a TPO system underneath it and then landscapers came in, ruined

Speaker:

the TPO with all their stuff like it.

Speaker:

It was a disaster, but, uh, we gotta fix it in the end.

Speaker:

Taken care of.

Speaker:

The guy has a putting green on his roof now, so.

Speaker:

Now you can advertise your experience of doing.

Speaker:

Putting greens on roofs, so,

Speaker:

to Arizona.

Speaker:

that's what I was thinking.

Speaker:

Uh, next to last question, do you have any hidden talent

Speaker:

that folks may not know about?

Speaker:

Uh, no hidden talents.

Speaker:

Um, I guess my like, interesting fact though, I'll give you that, is I had

Speaker:

six wisdom teeth pulled out of my mouth.

Speaker:

Six.

Speaker:

That's,

Speaker:

four?

Speaker:

yeah.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

had four on the bottom and two on the top.

Speaker:

that's my editor.

Speaker:

So I like to think, uh, you know, maybe I'm a little smarter for that.

Speaker:

I don't know, maybe they pulled all the wisdom out when they did that, so.

Speaker:

I think the fact that you could grow them means the wisdom must be there.

Speaker:

That's all I can think.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

But it was painful.

Speaker:

I would say.

Speaker:

I was out, I was down for the counter for like three days after that.

Speaker:

They did 'em all at once.

Speaker:

All at once.

Speaker:

They put me under.

Speaker:

Yeah, they put me under and pulled 'em all out.

Speaker:

Wow.

Speaker:

Crazy.

Speaker:

All right.

Speaker:

Last question.

Speaker:

Um, what would you hope to be remembered for like years down the

Speaker:

road at the end of your career?

Speaker:

I, I think remembered for always.

Speaker:

Being there for, for my team.

Speaker:

Right.

Speaker:

So always having the, like, somebody that my team could always count on.

Speaker:

Right?

Speaker:

I, I take leadership very seriously.

Speaker:

Um, so I would, I would always want to be remembered for, yeah.

Speaker:

I was the guy that my team could always count on if they needed

Speaker:

something, they needed help or they needed, um, support with something.

Speaker:

So I, I'd say that'd be the biggest thing career wise.

Speaker:

That would be my biggest thing.

Speaker:

Yep.

Speaker:

That's a great answer.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker:

It is good stuff.

Speaker:

Well, I am pleased to report also that we all got our challenge

Speaker:

words in, which was awesome.

Speaker:

Jordan, your word was.

Speaker:

Sonora and hotdog.

Speaker:

A no hotdog, which you worked in extremely well.

Speaker:

Um, I had the word cinnamon, which I worked in there.

Speaker:

And Ethan, you had,

Speaker:

Um, I had lackadaisical, which was, it was a fun one to fit

Speaker:

in, but I think I got there.

Speaker:

I didn't know if you were on make it, but you made it.

Speaker:

So.

Speaker:

Good deal.

Speaker:

Well, Jordan, thank you again for joining us today.

Speaker:

This has been great and very informative.

Speaker:

Great episode.

Speaker:

Uh, for someone who may want to connect with you, what are

Speaker:

best ways for them to do that?

Speaker:

Yeah, you can reach out to, uh, us on the website, reach out to directly

Speaker:

there at diversifiedroofing.com.

Speaker:

Um, or you can reach out to, to me directly, 6 0 2 8 8 5 7 1 3 3.

Speaker:

We'll put that in the show notes.

Speaker:

You're also on LinkedIn, if I remember right.

Speaker:

I've seen you out there.

Speaker:

Okay,

Speaker:

Yep.

Speaker:

Very good.

Speaker:

Well, thank you again, Jordan, for being with us today.

Speaker:

We appreciate it.

Speaker:

Thank you so much guys.

Speaker:

Appreciate your time.

Speaker:

And thank you to our audience for tuning into this episode of Construction

Speaker:

Disruption with Jordan Rueschhoff of Diversified Roofing in Phoenix.

Speaker:

Please watch for future episodes of our podcast.

Speaker:

We're always blessed with great guests.

Speaker:

Um, until next time we're together, though, keep on challenging, keep

Speaker:

on disrupting, keep on looking for better ways of doing things, and

Speaker:

don't forget to have a positive impact on everyone you encounter.

Speaker:

Uh, make them smile.

Speaker:

Leave them feeling encouraged.

Speaker:

Simple yet.

Speaker:

Powerful things you can do, so God bless and take care.

Speaker:

This is Isaiah Industry signing off until the next episode

Speaker:

of Construction Disruption.