E2 Roofing - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an live interview with Elizabeth Evans and Heather of E2 Roofing. You can read the interview below or  listen to the podcast.

Alice Reynolds:
Hello, everyone. My name is Alice Reynolds, back again from RoofersCoffeeShop, here with a Roofer of the Month interview. Thanks so much for listening. We are so excited to be celebrating our August Roofer of the Month, E2 Roofing. Thank you so much for being here for this interview, Elizabeth and Heather.

Elizabeth Evans:
Thanks for having us.

Heather:
Absolutely. Thank you.

Alice Reynolds:
Yeah. Can you both each introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about E2 Roofing?

Elizabeth Evans:
Sure, absolutely. My name is Elizabeth Evans. I founded E2 Roofing in 2017. I expanded the company. We also do custom homes on a different platform and water mitigation on a third platform. And we expanded to Nashville, Tennessee as our secondary market in early 2021.

Heather:
My name is Heather. I'm the roofing sales director at E2 Roofing. I've been here almost a year now, part of the team. I started out for the company as the account coordinator. I had zero knowledge of the construction industry, I had never been up on a roof before. And then kind of with my background in sales, I ended up in the sales department and it was really, for me, the education side of it that I was interested to get into. Native to Jacksonville, and I've been back a couple years from upstate New York.

Alice Reynolds:
Nice, cool. So, Elizabeth, what types of services does E2 Roofing provide and what's kind of the specialty that you lean into?

Elizabeth Evans:
Yeah, it's interesting because I've been in the construction industry my entire life, and one of my dear friends and mentors was like, "You need to get back into the roofing industry and get a company going with roofing." And we deal with a lot of hurricanes in Florida, wind and hail events. And I'm a bit sensitive to being in the construction industry, having survived the recession down here. And so, I wanted to make sure that I understood the insurance industry so that we could assist homeowners after catastrophic events with roof repairs, roof replacement.

Elizabeth Evans:
We're largely a residential roofer. We do some commercial work, but largely residential. I'd say that 98% is shingle roofs, though we do clay tile, concrete tile, and metal as well, as well as mud bit for some of our flat roofs. But largely residential. And we do retail roof sales as well. We're working with a lot of homeowners right now, where insurance policies are being threatened to be dropped if they don't have a licensed roofer inspect their roof and give an evaluation of the life of the roof and is it time to replace it? Is it suitable? And so, that's really what we've kind of branched into here recently in an effort to help our homeowners out.

Alice Reynolds:
Nice. Yeah. It sounds like you just really focus on your clientele, which is a specialized thing in itself, kind of each person gets their own specialty service from you.

Elizabeth Evans:
Absolutely. I mentioned earlier that our other business is building custom homes. I mean, it's all about the client. It's all about what can we do to help you protect the largest investment you'll ever make in your life, which is your home? And rarely does someone purchase something in life that is more expensive than their home. And the roof is what is protecting your financial investment and it's protecting your family. So that's the approach that we take that's a little bit different than maybe some of our competitors in the Northeast Florida market.

Alice Reynolds:
Yeah. Cool. All right. So, Heather, can you share something special that E2 Roofing celebrates?

Heather:
Yeah, I think E2 Roofing brings a lot to the table that a lot of other companies don't. One of the biggest things is a work-life balance. We're really big here, and I've always felt supported in making sure that... I work really hard and I make sure that we're growing and I'm hitting my goals, but it's also important to have that balance and take that time to step away to recharge.

Heather:
And I also think, just the personal and professional growth. I always feel like I'm important. E2 is very good about being inclusive and team-oriented and continuing to grow, even if that means in my personal life or whatever that position is that I might need a little bit of help in.

Alice Reynolds:
Nice. Yeah. That's so important. And you can kind of tell cultures of companies too, when people feel, like you said, supported and they have a balance of their work and home life.

Heather:
Absolutely. And the one last thing I'll say about the culture of E2 is it is very comfortable to reach out to my superiors in the management of the company. There is always somebody available over the phone, in person, a Zoom meeting, for whatever questions we may have or advice or direction. It's really important that it's not just the name on the door, that we have that mentorship as well.

Alice Reynolds:
Yeah, definitely. Awesome. All right. Well, Elizabeth, how do you, and E2 Roofing as a whole, define superior customer service?

Elizabeth Evans:
It's interesting. Being a parent of three little people, six and under, we work a lot on our manners. Saying, "Yes, sir" and "Yes, ma'am" and "No, thank you" and "You're welcome." Just those common courtesies that I think, as a society, at times, we've gotten away from. And so, it's very important to me that each of my employees... They're a representative of myself and a representative of my family. And so, we define superior customer service as having those customs and courtesies and being polite and being understanding of people's schedules and following up with communication and really seeing any issue through.

Elizabeth Evans:
And if we're not the solution for someone, I always tell my folks, "Let's make recommendations. We might not be the right fit for someone, but we might know somebody that is." So it's not a roof problem, you don't have a roof leak. It's an air conditioning issue or it's a gutter issue or it's a siding issue. We want to be informative and also help provide solutions, not just throw up our hands and say, "Sorry, I can't help you." So that's how I would define it.

Alice Reynolds:
I love that. And I have to thank you for raising your kids that way, because you're right, we do need more people in the world who look another person in the eye when they're talking to them and-

Elizabeth Evans:
Yes.

Alice Reynolds:
... like you said, use manners.

Elizabeth Evans:
Absolutely.

Alice Reynolds:
All right. And then, Heather, I know you mostly work with homeowners, but it sounds like sometimes, E2 Roofing also works with building owners. Why should homeowners and building owners work with E2 Roofing?

Heather:
Well, I think, to kind of piggyback off the last question, here at E2, we're big on the human interaction. When you call the office, somebody's going to answer the phone. A human's going to answer the phone. Now, we may not always have the immediate answer or solution, but we're going to be honest and say, "Hey, I'm going to take a few minutes, let me look into this." Or if they have a leak on a weekend and they reach out via the website or text, a person is going to call you or text you back and try and help you and get somebody out there. And I think, in today's world, technology has a place and it's definitely needed even in the construction industry. But when it comes to trusting somebody with, like Elizabeth said, your biggest investment, it really needs to be somebody that know is A, local, and B, easy to get ahold of.

Alice Reynolds:
Yeah, right. It sounds like you have a healthy balance of the new, up-and-coming technology world, or the technology world that we're already coming in. And yeah, and customer service, or just being there.

Heather:
And I think, too, being from a military-backed company and also a woman-owned company, we kind of have an insight into some areas where maybe some people aren't always comfortable making construction decisions. And we're able to really identify with some of those markets and say, "Listen, we get this." And it's not sales-based and margin-based and commission-based, this is education-based, and we want to make sure that you're getting the best-quality roof for your home and your situation. Roofing and construction is not cookie cutter. We don't want to show up on the job site and a roof is a roof. The homeowners need specific, helpful, accurate information. And I think that's really important, and the industry is really needing more of that.

Alice Reynolds:
Yeah. And it goes back to the first question that Elizabeth kind of answered with that specialty. It all kind of depends on the client, it sounds like, that you all are giving catered help. And whether or not that person knows exactly what they want and you're like, "That's either us or another company and we'll try to recommend you," or they don't know what they want and you, like you said, identify with them and make them feel heard.

Heather:
Correct.

Elizabeth Evans:
Absolutely. I think one thing I'm very proud of is that we are a Owens Corning preferred contractor. And with that, we can offer a 50-year roof warranty that's fully transferable if the homeowner chooses to sell the home. And so, we're always looking for ways that we can provide the best product for our homeowners. Now, that means that there's times that we aren't the cheapest. That's not our value proposition. Our value proposition is that you're working with a company that you can trust, is going to follow through on their word, and is going to provide you a product that now is bringing value to your home that is not only protecting you now while you own the home, but is also a value-add when you choose to sell your home.

Alice Reynolds:
Right. And that sounds important across the country, but especially in a place like Florida, where you definitely want a guarantee that your roof is going to withstand different winds or what have it.

Elizabeth Evans:
Yes, absolutely. We're right in the middle of hurricane season. We were fortunate last year in Northeast Florida, that was not a challenge for us. But it's certainly several years prior from Matthew and Irma. It's not long before we know that another hurricane will have its effects on Northeast Florida and we stand ready to support our customers who we have new roofs on, and for those that will come as a result of whatever that storm brings.

Alice Reynolds:
Well, that's great. Well, Florida's lucky to have you, Northeast Florida. Well, thank you both for being here and thank you for being RoofersCoffeeShop R-Club members. We really appreciate it. And we love E2 Roofing.

Elizabeth Evans:
Well, thanks for all you do. We really appreciate it. It's a great honor to be your Roofer of the Month and I appreciate all the support you guys have given us.

Heather:
I really appreciate it. It's been an honor to be part of the podcast. I've been listening for a while now, and it's really full-circle for me, so I appreciate that. Thank you.