Yesterday was day 1 of the Western Roofing Expo and we talked to quite a few people yesterday. One conversation really struck me more than any other I had yesterday. I was speaking with a gentleman from San Diego who is a
contractor. As we spoke more about the construction industry I was able to find out that he was a roofing contractor using asphalt and shingles as his primary supplies. Of course I turned the conversation towards metal roofs and why he doesn’t sell them or install them. His answer to me was “THEY DON’T SELL IN SAN DIEGO.” I found that quite hard to believe to be honest so I then asked him a series of questions:
1. Have you worked with metal? The answer was NO
2. Do manufacturers or distributors show you the benefits of metal? The answer was NO
3. Do manufacturers or distributors show you how you can increase your business’ income with metal? The answer was NO
4. Do consumers know about the benefits of metal? The answer was NO
Ok so it is quite evident that this contractor is not educated on the benefits of metal. I am not doubting that he was not knowledgeable about the construction industry but the fact remains that there is a rift between manufacturer-contractor-consumer in terms of how metal helps grow their business, and how metal is beneficial. So how do we resolve this and take contractors out of their comfort zone to learn about the benefits of metal? I think there are many ways to go about this and I will talk about those in a separate post this week. I will say I am a bit disappointed with manufacturers and distributors in this case, but I am also disappointed with contractors. The problem is you might have manufacturers that don’t want to educate contractors and you have contractors that don’t want to learn. It’s a lose lose situation for the industry. It’s time we educated more to show the income benefits and business growth involved, at the end of the day that is what contractors care about right?