Evan Klaus - Be The Professional With Leap - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Evan Klaus from Leap. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro/Outro: Welcome to Roofing Road Trips With Heidi. Explore the roofing industry through the eyes of a long-term professional within the trade. Listen for insights, interviews, and exciting news in the roofing industry today.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Hello, everyone. Thank you for being here. We are back on the live sound stage at the Western Roofing Expo. My name is Heidi Ellsworth. We're talking about live, all weekend, and this sound stage is being sponsored by Everroof and General Coatings. But we today, right now, we're going to talk about Be The Professional.

Evan Klaus: Oh, yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And I have Evan here from Leap. I'm so excited. Thank you for joining us.

Evan Klaus: Thanks for having us. It's exciting. It's been a long day, but I'm glad we can top it off with this.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I know, this is kind of a nice way. And to be able to share, what an important message, Be The Professional. I love that. Let's start out with introductions. If you could introduce yourself, and tell us a little bit about Leap.

Evan Klaus: Yeah, so my name is Evan Klaus, based out of Baltimore, Maryland. I'm one of the sales managers at Leap. Been here for coming up on two years. It's been a lot of fun.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Very fun.

Evan Klaus: And the Be The Professional, it's a newer branding thing for us.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh, okay. Yeah.

Evan Klaus: And it's not be a professional-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: No, the.

Evan Klaus: ... because that's kind of offensive, the professional. We want to just empower all of our roofing contractors out there to be the person in mind. When somebody's like, "Oh, I need a roof," they've got someone in mind.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Evan Klaus: We want you to be the professional.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And what's interesting is, through no fault of our own, sometimes roofing contractors have not had the best reputation.

Evan Klaus: Yep.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: When you think about what roofing does, it protects families, assets, businesses, everything. So we really are, I think, the most important trade. I don't want to upset anybody, but I'm just saying. So really when you think about that, it's up to all of us to bring the level of this industry up, and that takes everyone being the professional.

Evan Klaus: Yep.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So talk a little bit about this initiative, and how you... I just love the idea that you guys think of this and said, "Hey, let's be the thought leaders here, and really talk about this important topic."

Evan Klaus: Yeah. I mean, roofing is a tough trade.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Evan Klaus: I used to do it over the summers. My mom was an office manager at a roofing company-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: There you go.

Evan Klaus: ... so I was the helper.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Evan Klaus: I can't pretend to understand everything that goes into roofing. But, when it comes to being the professional, it's about delivering quality work, and doing it in a professional manner, and getting things done on time and under budget, or on budget at the very least.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Evan Klaus: Because I mean, just picture doing a beautiful job, and it getting done two weeks delayed. You're never going to get that referral.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right, right.

Evan Klaus: So that business is gone.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Evan Klaus: That's a one-and-done job right there.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: You know how it is in neighborhoods, or even in business, it doesn't matter if it's commercial or residential, people talk. Right?

Evan Klaus: Everybody talks.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: They'll say, "Who have you used? Who do you like? How's it working?"

Evan Klaus: Yep.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: If you are not leaving that good reputation, of really being the professional and putting together everything the customer needs, you're losing business, long term business.

Evan Klaus: You really are. Yeah. I mean, just go to Google, start looking at reviews, you see people complaining on there or you see them sing your praises.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Evan Klaus: Just having a solid process in place from the time you get a lead to the time you close out the job is so important.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It is so important.

Evan Klaus: You handle the roofing, let's make sure your softwares are empowering you to do your best work.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Okay, so since we're talking about software... I like it. That's a great transition. Yeah. Tell us about Leap. How does Leap help contractors, roofing contractors be the professional?

Evan Klaus: So Leap as a whole, we've got two products now. Our core product was the sales tool, so that's now called SalesPro. So your sales process, we make sure there's guardrails in place, make sure that sales process is super slick. Make sure that there's guardrails put in place to make sure that the roofing contractors aren't under bidding jobs. Making sure that everything's professional. And digital.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. And digital.

Evan Klaus: Because honestly, I bought a house pretty recently, didn't even meet the loan officer, everything was done online.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Geez. Okay.

Evan Klaus: But when it comes to getting your roof done, they're still coming out with paper.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Evan Klaus: So we got rid of that with SalesPro. But then just recently, almost a year and a half ago I think, we bought JobProgress, acquired that company, which is a CRM, and now we're really focused on roofing companies. We want to make sure that they have a really great process in place from start to finish.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I think the adoption of technology has been difficult.

Evan Klaus: Yep.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: We are a very hands-on craftsmanship industry. But now when you see the roofing contractors and the companies out there who have really brought technology to the next level, it's companies like Leap who have enabled, have made it easy enough and intuitive enough for them to really start putting that in the process, which then now you start seeing adoption.

Evan Klaus: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, adoption is tough, for sure, but you've got to just lean in and get everybody on board. All these companies that I talk to, I manage a sales team, so I get to listen to a lot of calls, and talk to a lot of roofers, so I hear it all the time, you got old dogs on your team, you don't want to teach them new tricks. But over time, once they see it work for them, it just changes everything. The old school way needs to stay where it is, just because it's a digital experience, it's what your customers want, it's what they demand. And then on the inside of your business, it just helps you run more efficiently.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Exactly. And you know what, we can learn.

Evan Klaus: We can.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: As Gen Xers, we can learn.

Evan Klaus: Absolutely.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And we need to, because that is the future. And you're going to be left behind if your company isn't using technology in the cloud. And I mean, when I think about the [inaudible 00:05:24] experience in the home or business with using SalesPro, that's pretty incredible. I mean, right, easy.

Evan Klaus: Bada bing, bada boom.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Evan Klaus: Get an estimate right there.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Evan Klaus: I mean, I'm just trying to put myself in the shoes of somebody who's looking to get a roof. It's a stressful situation. Nobody's excited about that. No one's like, "Oh, can't wait to get a new roof this year." And the buying experience, it needs to be just flawless. It needs to be as simple as possible. You know on average, that person's probably going to get three estimates. If you're the one laying paper on their table, you're at a disadvantage.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. Because the other ones they're looking at on satellite imagery or airplane imagery, they can see the measurements are exact, not just wondering, you have pictures from the inspection and what you're doing.

Evan Klaus: They're giving people the warm and fuzzy.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Evan Klaus: They're selling the steak, and making sure that their product delivers.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes. And it really, I mean, that's how you take your business from old world to professional in the new world.

Evan Klaus: Absolutely.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And I think that's the most important. And when we're looking at that, let's talk about the project management software too. We talked about the SalesPro, but when you're really looking at your project management, now you're really able to show your customers that everything is... there's not going to be duplication of numbers, that things are going to be accurate. Talk a little bit about that.

Evan Klaus: Yeah. So once you get that job, the job is awarded, it's time to order materials, that's where the ball could potentially be dropped, and those timelines just get spread out, or you're not ordering the right things at the right time. So just having a CRM in place to manage all of that. And also, there's probably 10 different people involved in that situation. You order materials from here, and from here, and make sure that the crews are ready to go.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: You're seeing the same thing over and over, yes.

Evan Klaus: Yeah, over and over. And then, honestly just having a process in place that you can analyze, and then over time be like, "Oh, we're kind of dropping the ball here. Let's make this better." We have that tool where you can analyze it and say, "We need to do something here and do better."

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Well, we're all about analytics at the Coffee Shop. We love our analytics. And you want to know who's doing well. I mean, I think that's one of the things I love too, is that the transparency of the technology, from the owner to the sales manager across the board, this is really, you're able to help your sales team, and your production teams, be the professional.

Evan Klaus: Yeah. Yeah. And I keep going to keep going back to that.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I know. It's so true. Okay, so let's talk about, really quick, you mentioned it earlier, but from the very time that lead comes in, so the lead comes in, and then you [inaudible 00:07:52], and then to complete that, and through the warranty. I always say, from the lead to warranty, right?

Evan Klaus: Everything. Whatever that process is for you, you can customize it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. How does the software help the contractors really be the professional all the way through, from the very beginning to the very end?

Evan Klaus: Yeah. So I mean, it allows you to take... Usually the owner whomever's running that thing, they have it in their head. They know exactly how every job should run. But as you start to-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I understand that.

Evan Klaus: Yeah. As you start to scale, you have to trust more people, bring more people in, so you kind of lose it. So you can put that into a software, make sure that there's tasks set up, there's reminders set up, so you can't take a job from this disposition to this disposition without something happening.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right, right.

Evan Klaus: So it puts those safeguards in place. Whatever's in your head, please put it into the software. Please.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes, please. You know what? And I'm going to say, this is for everyone out there, we went through this. I mean, as a company, and we're a digital platform. But we went through, "Okay, how can everyone see it? How is it all in one place? What are the processes?" And I know your team of customer service, they really help people put this all together. They help the companies. It's not like, "Just get the software and take off." You do full trainings to really help them during that journey.

Evan Klaus: Yeah. I mean, our excitement level when we bring in a new client, a new roofer, is up here. But if we're real with it, that roofer might have been burned in the past, or they've tried something in the past, and they're just a little bit hesitant, or they're not sure how it's going to work for them.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. There's some cynicism out there.

Evan Klaus: Yeah. So I mean, we level set with that. We've got great onboarding to make sure that everything's built out the way that they like. And then over time, you have that customer success manager, a one on one relationship, to make sure that everything's actually working the way that you want. Because there's going to be roadblocks, there's going to be things that get in the way, but just having that partner in our company to be your ear that you can complain to, or set up some trainings for it really helps out.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I like the name you just used, customer success representative.

Evan Klaus: Yep.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: We might steal that from you.

Evan Klaus: Yep.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I really like that, customer success. Because that's what it's all about.

Evan Klaus: It's all about, yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, all the time. Okay, so how can contractors... I mean, obviously, you're here at the show. Your booth, do you know your booth number?

Evan Klaus: I do not.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It's there, but they're here.

Evan Klaus: We are here.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Leap has a beautiful booth here at the show, so you can go find them. But if they're not at the show and they're watching this, which a lot of people are, and listening to it on podcast, talk to me about, how can they get started? What's kind of that journey?

Evan Klaus: Yeah. I mean, the journey really, it's about figuring out where they are first, go to LeapToDigital.com.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: There you go.

Evan Klaus: We've got all kinds of schedule a demo links, we've got a lot of resources. If you're not ready to talk to a person yet, watch some videos, watch some webinars, some of our different blogs.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Different things.

Evan Klaus: Kind of get a feel for what we do. Once you get in touch with a salesperson, someone that I manage, our goal is to just figure out where you are, where you want to be, and see if we can fill that gap.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Perfect.

Evan Klaus: So yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. And of course, Leap is on Roofer's Coffee Shop, on Metal Coffee Shop, and on Coating Coffee Shop, so you can go in there through the directory, get all the information, plus a bunch of good articles, webinars, podcasts that we've done together. So a lot of great ideas. And I really like that you started that way, like, "If you're not ready, research."

Evan Klaus: Yeah, check it out.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Which is really part of a trade show, right?

Evan Klaus: Yeah. Walk around [inaudible 00:10:59] people.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It's all about research.

Evan Klaus: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, and talking to other contractors and see what they think.

Evan Klaus: Absolutely.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So, last thoughts on Be The Professional.

Evan Klaus: I mean, it's a state of mind, for sure. I'm just trying to picture, if I had a successful business, and I wanted it to scale, you can't go keep buying customers.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Evan Klaus: You've got to have that reputation in your town. You want to be the local hero. If somebody's roof is messed up, and they go to their neighbor, you want to be the name that they think of. So in order to do that, you have to do good work, you have to have good systems, you have to have good people on your team. So we're one part of that. I can't even pretend to say that we're the most important part, but we'd like to be a part.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: A little bit of the glue.

Evan Klaus: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: The glue that brings it all together.

Evan Klaus: We'll just be the glue.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. That's a good place to be.

Evan Klaus: Absolutely.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Well, thank you so much. This is-

Evan Klaus: This was great.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: ... great. And good luck with the rest of the show. It's been good for you so far?

Evan Klaus: It's been a great show for us.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. Very busy.

Evan Klaus: Yeah, very busy.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Really good.

Evan Klaus: Out here in Vegas.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, out here in Vegas.

Evan Klaus: Yeah. I'm having fun.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So, we're coming back. We have two more interviews today here on the sound stage. Be sure to join us, and we'll be right back.

Intro/Outro: Make sure to subscribe to our channel and leave a review. Thanks for listening. This has been Roofing Road Trips with Heidi from the RoofersCoffeeShop.com.