Differentiating a Coating in a Market Full of Options

By Karen L. Edwards, RCS Editor.

This coating system manufacturer is a true partner for your business.

I’m sure you’ll agree that there are a lot of coating choices in today’s market. Coatings are a great, environmentally friendly choice for roof restoration and for keeping waste out of our landfills. But how do you know which coating manufacturer’s products are going to be the right fit for your business?

I reached out to Kyle Ziebarth, business development manager, to learn how the ASTEC® Re-Ply™ Roofing System sets itself apart from the others. We started our conversation talking specifically about the product, which is a high-end acrylic that utilizes Dow’s premium polymers to deliver extra waterproofing characteristics.  

“We are the number one purchaser of Dow’s premium roof coating polymer,” said Kyle. The Finish 2000 acrylic can be used on most commercial substrates because it adheres to our substrate-specific base coats. The premium polymer in the Finish 2000 provides powerful waterproofing protection.”

From my marketing perspective, I was more impressed with the lead generation that ASTEC does for their contractors. They have a team of dedicated outbound calling agents that make phone calls all day to small business owners, building owners and facility managers. “We have three call centers and our biggest one has 19 people on the phone making phone calls on a full-time basis,” Kyle explained. “The call centers identify roof details and problems, then send the lead to us. We have another quality control team in house who listens to the recordings and uses Google maps to get a sense of the roof, condition and size.”

Unlike most typical lead generation companies, the qualified lead does not get sent to three contractors, but rather is exclusive for one ASTEC-qualified contractor in the area.  “The thing that really sets us apart is our lead-gen program. Some of our more significant contractors, they keep coming back to us for more leads,” said Kyle. “We generated 300 leads a year just in North Carolina and one of our contractors there applied over 50,000 gallons of coating over the last three years.”

“We make sure that the leads are highly qualified because one of our promises is that we don’t want to waste your time,” explained Kyle. “We also won’t send a lead for anything that is under 5,000 square feet.” 

In addition to the lead generation support, contractors can be confident they are installing a premium system that will provide years of protection. “We offer 10- and 15-year product and labor warranties that are backed by the manufacturer,” stated Kyle. “If for some reason the contractor is no longer around, we will cover the cost of sending another qualified applicator for any needed repair.”

Once the initial warranty runs out, the owner can have the roof checked, recoated and secure an additional ten years.  Kyle said that the long-term analysis of the roof systems just keeps getting better. “We have several clients who are on their third 10-year warranty.”

Learn more about ICP Building Solutions Group.