The Relationship Still Rules! - Midwest Roofing Contractors ...

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marketing roofs in a green world Marge O’Connor In the last 10 years, the green market has shifted from alternative to mainstream as building owners and developers realize that sustainable measures help create more energy-efficient buildings. And the market is set for even greater expansion. According to statistics from McGraw- Hill Construction, the green market will be valued between $120–$135 billion by 2015 with a majority (65%) in education, healthcare, government, and offices. Step Lightly With the opportunities come some words of caution. Rick Davis, president of Chicago-based Building Leaders, Inc., says roofers should carefully evaluate the situation. “Everyone talks about how they can leverage green. The fact is any construction changes the landscape, and what every roofer should do is be as environmentally conscious as possible. Be efficient in your operation, in recycling materials, and in disposal of used product. Help the home or building owner gain the most costeffective measure to improve energy efficiency, 6 www.mrca.org — Midwest Roofer and become passionate in understanding how your products pour into the building’s long term operating costs. Then you are proving sustainability and real return on investment for the client,” Davis says. After that, he suggests thinking about your marketing. “Green is not a black-and-white issue. It is relative, and your marketing should reflect the gray areas that exist so that people can make wise, informed decisions. For example, reroofing an older home is actually greener than replacing the home and creating massive waste and destroying the landscape.” During his 26-year career in the construction industry Davis has been in sales management for product manufacturers and suppliers. As president of Building Leaders, Inc., for the past 12 years, he has worked with trade organizations, manufacturers, distributors and contractors on sales, management, and marketing needs. Opportunities With a more in-depth look at the sustainability Chicago’s City Hall was the city’s first major building to feature a vegetative roof and helped launch a citywide green roof movement. Legat Architects was Architect of Record. Photo credit: City of Chicago. market, Dave Harrison, managing director, Harrison Management Consultants, Boonton, NJ, says roofers can benefit from three main areas—recycling, solar installations, and garden roofs—and they need to know the value of each and how to use that in their marketing strategy. Contractors generate the majority of recycling as a way to cut disposal costs, yet only occasionally do contractors correctly use this as a marketing tool. “Contractors should not make the mistake of using recycling as a primary benefit; it is best used as a secondary benefit. First, recycling reflects on the company’s values and helps enhance trust. As a result, clients are more likely to believe the core reasons to buy as presented by the contractor. Second, clients feel good about the fact that their roof is being recycled. When clients feel good, they are more likely to refer the contractor to friends and family.” Solar The solar industry provides a tremendous longterm opportunity, says Harrison. “Solar is at the earliest stage of a traditional marketing life cycle—the early adopter or on-ramp stage. In this phase, the buyer is willing to accept more risk that the technology will work. In making a decision, economics often is not the primary motivator or even that attractive.” He believes early adopters are purchasing solar for several reasons, which typically are a combination of (a) being technology junkies and always wanting the most advanced products available, (b) having strong feelings about the environment and wanting to demonstrate these, and (c) wanting bragging rights at the country club. Solar’s early adopter phase has been going on more aggressively for the last 5 years. The investment required for solar panels is rapidly declining. As a result, the industry may soon be entering phase two of the marketing cycle, where followers begin to buy. “My guess is that this will occur within 3 years and then volume will increase dramatically. We’re not quite ready for this stage because the economics haven’t yet achieved the level where the demand for solar will be tremendous. But when it does—look out!” says Harrison.
“the vegetative roof concept is probably going to be dominated more and more by the roofing industry.” —Kelly Luckett, Green Roof Blocks, MRCA conference speaker He cautions that roofers will be in great danger when the solar market enters the more robust marketing stage, because electrical contractors and some plumbing contractors have jumped on the front end. Because of this, they are more likely to be the ones presenting the solar project to a client and becoming the general contractor for the project. “Roofing contractors are finding themselves in the role of subcontractors. Whenever you are a subcontractor, your margins are likely less. It’s a shame that the roofing industry is letting others take the lead, since 90% of what needs to be done to install a solar array can be done by the roofing contractor—and at a lower cost than electricians or plumbers,” Harrison notes. As solar hits the next phase in 2 or 3 years, the economics will become much more attractive and volume will increase dramatically. Harrison says that is when roofers may find themselves in the back seat because they are still the subcontractor. “Whoever owns the relationship with the client owns the business. So roofing contractors would be smart to get their feet wet with a few installations and be ready to act quickly to take the marketing lead with clients when growth starts to occur,” he says. Harrison also is concerned that the roofing industry is missing opportunities on the regulatory side. “Electricians especially have been aggressive with regulatory agencies and are convincing politicians and government officials that only electricians should be qualified to sell a solar system. In the next marketing phase, when the economics of solar make more sense, part of the selling proposition of solar by electricians is likely going to be getting a free roof with a solar install. That will put more of a squeeze on roofers and could eventually make roofing the loss leader in solar projects.” He suggests that as a collective industry, roofing contractors should be lobbying to ensure, from a regulatory standpoint, they are not squeezed out. They can do this locally, regionally, or by state. He recommends that contractors place solar test installations on either their property or that of their best clients. Then they can invite prospects and the press to see those installations and create awareness that the roofing contractor has an important role in the solar business. Another strategy used by some contractors is to buy a small electrical firm or to establish electrical as a division or self-standing unit in order to at least be in the business and be prepared when solar installations become common and an attractive business. Green Roofs Garden roofs are a marketing tool especially attractive to architects and some commercial property owners. According to Harrison, “In certain markets garden roofs are becoming a way for architects to differentiate themselves with clients. For property owners, it is a way of creating a special environment for tenants and/or employees. It is also a way for property owners to generate quality public relations within their community as a company that is concerned about the environment and doing the right thing.” Harrison provides strategy and sales and marketing solutions and has previously served as chief marketing officer and board member for GAF Materials Corp. He also founded CARE, a nonprofit training institute that develops curriculum and trains roofing professionals. Another perspective on the green or vegetative roof market comes from Kelly Luckett, LEED AP, GRP, president of Green Roof Blocks, St. Louis, MO. Kelly Luckett “When we started our business, marketing consisted more of education for designers, architects, and specifiers. For about 10 years, most of our information was disseminated through the Internet. The primary source for our customers, who are designers and building owners, had been search engines such as Google. In the last year we’ve seen a shift toward projects being listed through traditional means, such as Dodge Data Reports and Reed Information Services, the way the construction industry has done it for 20 or 30 years. Now green roofing seems to have become mainstream enough to fit into these services with a category called green roofing. So architects can search in their terms such as vegetative or green roofing. We hadn’t seen that even 5 years ago.” Green Roof Blocks’ original business model was to supply vegetative roofing materials and components to roofing contractors. “A decade ago there were few contractors involved in the install, so to get our business up and running we did the installs. Since we market nationally, we had to do installs in cities across the country, and it became quite expensive to send teams to each location. Now we are getting back to the model of just selling the product and using local contractors in the customer’s city.” He indicates this is working well because the green roof concept fits roofers better than any other contractor category, such as landscapers or carpenters. “When you look at the activities in the rooftop environment, it’s a good fit. Roofers are insured properly, trained with OSHA fall protection standards, and are compliant with equipment operation. They also have the wherewithal and training to do the material handling part of vegetative roofing components. It takes a certain expertise to move the components from ground to roof and across Midwest Roofer — www.mrca.org 7
Page 1 and 2: Green Times. Lean Times. The Relati
Page 3 and 4: MIDWEST ROOFER September/ October 2
Page 5: What they call a “breakthrough,
Page 9 and 10: stop bidding and start proposing Ri
Page 11 and 12: OSHA standard for fixed ladders. Yo
Page 13 and 14: Faithful Steward Through the years,
Page 16 and 17: Member Profile Meet Laurie and Tim
Page 18 and 19: continued from page 4 MRCA 62nd Ann
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The Relationship Still Rules! - Midwest Roofing Contractors ...

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