Being Upfront and Honest With Customers

RCS Influencer Rae July says that honesty is the best policy when communicating material shortages with your customers. 

Editor’s note: The following consists of a conversation between RCS Multi-media Manager Megan Ellsworth, and Chinook Roofing Director of Steep-slope Operations Rae July. You can listen to the podcast or read the transcript below. 

Megan Ellsworth: Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Megan Ellsworth, here at Rooferscoffeeshop.com. And today, I am back again with Rae July, from Chinook Roofing. It's January, new year and this month's topic is how are you doing with and what is your advice concerning material shortages. I'm really interested to hear what you have to say, Rae, because you are right in the thick of it.  

Rae July: Hey, Megan. Thank you for having me. Well, let's see. This has been going on, I would say since probably summer of 2020. Fortunately, we've been able, in some aspects, to manage that. Because of our buying power, we're able to, I guess, get first dibs on product. And the volume, the sheer volume in which we buy product, especially shingles, we're able to stay pretty stocked. But, there are specialty projects where we've had an issue where we couldn't get product. We just had a circumstance last summer where we couldn't get nails.  

Megan Ellsworth: Wow.  

Rae July: We were trying to buy nails from Arizona. Literally sitting there and clicking refresh in the cart, hoping that it doesn't disappear before we put the credit number in. It's hit or miss.  

But quite honestly, what we've been doing to manage this is to tell the truth, to be honest with our customers. Your customers will love you for being honest. And nobody wants to hear that they want a product and can't get it. But, whenever we're in the bidding process and we know we're bidding a project that's specified for a product that isn't readily available, we make sure that we let the customer know. "Hey, this product isn't readily available. We need to know when you plan on starting your production." The other part of it, too, is the price increase. Because by the time they start the production, the price has gone up. So making sure we put price increase escalation clauses in the contracts and just being transparent with them.  

You don't want to be pushy. You don't want to say, "Okay, I need to sign the contract today, otherwise you won't get your materials." But, it's just trying to show them straight up, "Hey, you've got to make a decision, because if you don't make a decision especially on what color or what product you want, by the time you do decide to make a decision, it will not be available."  

I would say it's being honest with your customer. Plan ahead, as much as you can. And, just looking at the market a little closer and staying on top of things. Again, talking to your other colleagues, because the thing about the roofing industry is we're all dealing with the same problems.  

Megan Ellsworth: Right. 

Rae July: So if you've got a colleague that you know might be doing the same kind of work that you do, ask them. Say, "Hey, where are you buying this thing from?" Be prepared to maybe spend extra money. You might have to spend an extra $1 a square for your shingles, if you can't get it from your regular distributor. Diversify in your distributors. So if you are single source, not a good time to be single source. 

You want to look to have at least two or three points of distribution that can provide you with materials when you need it. Thinking outside the box. Sometimes, you might have a job that you need to do and unfortunately, you might have to go to retail to buy some accessories to do that job. 

There's a lot that goes into it, but I guess would encourage our contractors to think outside the box and realize that nothing lasts forever. This is just one of those things that it's a chink in the chain and it's going to go away.  

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah. I was hearing from some other influencers that have responded this month that they're seeing that this probably won't resolve until next year. Are you seeing the same thing?  

Rae July: Yeah. Based on conversations I've had with some manufacturers and distributors, they are saying the same thing, too, many in the next year or so. There's a lot of things that happened this year, from the pandemic to climate issues, where there was a lot of inclement weather that occurred that wasn't expected. That caused things like the rail line to get flooded so trains couldn't bring granules in, or the asphalt in to make shingles. There were all these little, weird things that happened.  

You can never plan for that. How do you plan for inclement weather, if you don't know when it's going to happen?  

Megan Ellsworth: Right.  

Rae July: How do you plan for a pandemic that you didn't know was going to happen?  

Megan Ellsworth: Precisely.  

Rae July: While you can't plan for these things, what the last two years has taught us is to always have a contingency plan.  

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. Yeah. You said it spot on. Multiple distributors, different sourcing avenues. Yeah. Just hunker down and keep spirits high, as much as you can.  

Rae July: Yeah. And again, be honest with your customers. Do not over promise and under deliver. Don't promise something you know you can't deliver because they're going to hold you to it.  

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.  

Rae July: And quite honestly, again, everyone knows the state of our economic system right now. We're all aware. If you are living and breathing and you have a job, you're well aware of what's going on with our economy today. A customer isn't going to get upset with you if you don't have a product available because they know, they watch the news, too. They read the newspapers. They know what's going on. Just be honest and saying, "Look, I know that ..."  

The other thing, too. A customer might specify one type of product and you go, "Look, I know you want this product but it's difficult to get this product. However, there is a comparable product that we can get without issue."  

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely.  

Rae July: "This is what it costs." Providing alternatives for them.  

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, that's some really great advice. Well, thank you so much, Rae, for your influencer response. And, thank you for being an influencer again this year. We're so happy to have you. 

Rae July: Thank you for inviting me back. I appreciate it.  

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, absolutely. We love everything you have to say and everything that you're doing for the industry. And, can't wait to see you at IRE. 

Rae July: Yes. See you in a few weeks.  

Megan Ellsworth: All right. See you then. 

Rae July is an Estimator at Chinook Roofing & Gutters in Fife, Washington. See her full bio here.