Gary Cohen - Join CCN at Their RENOVATE Spring Conference! - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an live interview with Gary Cohen of Certified Contractor Network. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Speaker 1:
Welcome to Roofing Road Trips with Heidi. Explore the roofing industry through the eyes of a longterm professional within the trade. Listen for insights, interviews, and exciting news in the roofing industry today.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Hello and welcome to another Roofing Road Trips from RoofersCoffeeShop. This is Heidi Ellsworth, and I am here today with Gary Cohen. And I have to tell you, Gary and I just met, honestly about a week ago and I feel like I've known him forever because he works with Certified Contractor Network and all the great people over there. He is leading that team. Scott Siegal, as many of you probably know out there is working with Gary, is still leading it much more of a mentor. And I have worked with Scott for years. So I was like, yes, we have to do a podcast. Gary, welcome to the show.

Gary Cohen:
I'm so happy to be with you, Heidi. Thank you for having me.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I have to tell you, it was. When we met, it was just like instant. Like, okay, here we've got some great stuff going.

Gary Cohen:
It was an instant connection.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I know. I loved it. Okay. For everybody else out there who maybe isn't familiar with Certified Contractor Network and everything, Gary, I would love it if first, you would introduce yourself and then talk to us about Certified Contractor Network and its rich history.

Gary Cohen:
Great. Well, first of all, I'm Gary Cohen. I'm Vice-President of Certified Contractors Network. And I've been with the company since this past October. And I'm really happy and excited to be here. And CCN is a membership of business leaders that aim to enhance the professionalism and the performance and perception of the construction and remodeling industry. And our network really provides the resources that support our fellow contractors so they can achieve the highest potential in the industry.

Gary Cohen:
The company was founded a little over 25 years ago by a gentleman named Richard Kaller. And during those very early days of CCN, Scott Siegal, in 1997, who's our current CEO became a member of CCN to help grow his roofing company, which is still here today in Washington, DC in the metro area. And his company's called Maggio Roofing. And Scott still owns Maggio today. And Maggio enjoyed so much success and growth that Scott attributed to all that he learned through his membership in CCN, that he actually bought the company in May of 2009.

Gary Cohen:
And Scott really grew CCN. And a couple of years ago, John Martindale, another CCN member with a very large contracting company called Brothers Services in the Baltimore metropolitan market bought ownership into CCN with Scott all because he also had enormous success as a CCN member. And as a result of all these trainings and everything we do, which we will get into, they became partners. And what I love about Scott and John is they've been incredibly successful with their own contracting companies, but they have such a passion for helping contractors coming up behind them, who are looking to find ways to grow their business and become more profitable. This is just a passion for them.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I love that. And like I said, at the beginning, I've known Scott for many years. I've been to your conferences in the past. He has such an amazing business, both with Maggio and Certified Contractor Network. And now to have John involved, those kind of things have... For too many years, there were contractors out there who didn't want to talk to each other or share best practices. And now you see that change and it really has taken the respect and the professionalism of the roofing industry to a whole new level. Gary, I would love to hear what is happening today? What does CCN look like today and what is that contractor experience?

Gary Cohen:
So let's talk a little bit about that. So first off, our goal at CCN is simply to help the independent contractor build better processes in order to build a better business, achieve a better life as a result of all these efforts, right? So we share knowledge and skills in an effort to maximize profits for our members. We also encourage ethics, education, leadership, innovation, and all to benefit the construction industry, the independent contractor, and the community they serve. So CCN assists its members in becoming the best in their industry by offering best practices and processes that enable them to provide a higher job quality, superior contracting experience for their clients, because at the end of the day, it's all about customer delight. That's how we grow our businesses.

Gary Cohen:
So CCN now has home improvement contractors across the US and Canada. We definitely offer the best training in sales process, sales management, financial management, production, marketing, operations, and administration. And we even teach KPIs, which is managing your business by the numbers. But training is only a part of what we do, Heidi. We have also created a very powerful and cohesive network of contractors. And these contractors, as you mentioned, are all willing to help each other, which is just such a beautiful thing to see. You might have a contractor in Oregon who has tried something and been really successful for it. And then they're in a mastermind meeting with our CCN group and they share what they've done and other contractors embrace it. And they also share failures so that others can learn from their mistakes.

Gary Cohen:
But when you ask about the contractor experience, I think the best way to share the results of our contractors' experience is with data. And if it's okay with you, I'd actually like to share some data with you because I'm a big believer in data. I really like hard data.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I would love that.

Gary Cohen:
So here's what happened. A while back, we commissioned a qualified remodeler and guild quality to do research for us. So this is primary research done. And in that research, we came back with lots of very interesting statistics. So are you ready?

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes. Ready. Ready.

Gary Cohen:
Okay. Here we go. So here are some questions that were asked in the survey. Number one, was the job site clean and safe? The results were 96% for CCN contractors and 65% for non-CCN contractors.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. Wow.

Gary Cohen:
Yeah. Well, let's listen to more. Was there clear communication from the contractor to you as the homeowner? The results were 93% for CCN contractors and 77% for non-CCN contractors. Then we asked, was the construction of high quality? The results were 96% for CCN contractors and 66% for non-CCN contractors. We asked if any problems along the way were satisfactorily resolved. The results were 94% for CCN contractors and 66% for non-CCN contractors. Only have a few more to go. Was the contractor professional and organized? The results were 96% for CCN contractors and 63% for non-CCN contractors. Here's a really important one. Would you recommend this contractor to a friend or neighbor? The results were 97% for CCN contractors and 55% for non-CCN contractors.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's amazing. Wow.

Gary Cohen:
Two more. Was the work completed on schedule? The results were 92% for CCN contractors and 58% for non-CCN contractors. And last but not least, was the price fair and did you get your money's worth? The results were 94% for CCN contractors and 67%-

Gary Cohen:
... percent for CCN contractors and 67% for non CCN contractors. So now, Heidi, I'm a really big believer in data. And these numbers tell a very powerful story about the positive impact that CCN has on our contractor members. Numbers don't lie. And our members have had great success in increasing their top line sales and gross profits as a result of our training, our network, our community, our coaching.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Just the fact that you would do that kind of study, too, says so much about CCN that you care. You want to know what the results are for the contractors who are participating. And I do want to point out too, and we kind of said this, but this is all types of home improvement contractors. So this is windows, doors, roofing, exteriors. Across the board, you're really working with, so when you hear these numbers, that isn't just, oh it's just roofing. It's no, this is for people doing windows and doors and everything else. That's impressive.

Gary Cohen:
Thank you, yeah, and interior remodeling.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And interior.

Gary Cohen:
I would say roofers are our biggest population in our membership, but we certainly service all of those functional categories.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And it also helps roofing contractors who want to expand their bid because now they're able to talk to other successful companies that are also doing interiors or full exteriors or all of that.

Gary Cohen:
Well, that's exactly right. And here's an interesting point about that, Heidi, so John Martindale, our other owner ...

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes.

Gary Cohen:
Brothers started as a roofing company. It was Brothers roofing. But then John expanded it and he started, started doing a lot more on the exterior and then got into interior remodel. This is really powerful because when you can learn how to expand your business beyond one type of work that you do, you can increase your customer lifetime value.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Oh, yes.

Gary Cohen:
Because if you did a great job for someone and on their roof, and now they need windows at a later date, guess what? If they know you do windows and they had a great experience with you, they're going to call you to do their windows because they already know you and trust you.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Exactly.

Gary Cohen:
This is a really important point you made.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, and as a consumer, I want to go back to the same company that I trust. I don't want to have to go through that learning, that whole, all that stuff to try to find somebody new. And so yes, we talk about that all the time, diversifying your business and then taking that back to your current customer base, so powerful. So for that, on that lines, what are you seeing on the type of ongoing education and networking that is really helping those contractors? You mentioned a little bit before sales and marketing, but what are some of the greatest needs that you're seeing?

Gary Cohen:
Well, really each contractor has unique needs. Some are stronger in some areas than others and so forth, but here's what I'll say, the home improvement contracting industry is really no different than any other when it comes to being committed to lifelong learning and continuous improvement. We all have to be about continuous improvement each and every day. That's true for CCN. I know, Heidi, that's true for Roofer's Coffee Shop and that's true for everyone listening to this podcast today. So you just have to remember that contractors, they may have years of experience in the work that they do, but most of them do not have formal business management training and most of them don't have mastery in financial acumen because they didn't go to school for that. They weren't trained in that. And they also may not have the leadership training as they scale their businesses and have larger teams and learning how to lead a larger growing organization. So whatever success they've achieved without CCN, we know we can help them improve to the next level and beyond with CCNs training, network of successful contractors and coaching and so forth.

Gary Cohen:
So getting back to the first part of your question, we teach in every functional area. So contractors have the ability to focus on areas that they need the most help in. Now when someone becomes a member at CCN, we actually have them go through what we call our 90 day onboarding program. So when we go through that onboarding program, we start with something called a comprehensive health check, and we have the contract fill out a very detailed questionnaire that covers every functional area of their business.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow.

Gary Cohen:
We get that back from them, and of course everything's strictly in confidence. It's really for the purpose of helping them. And either John or Scott, our two owners who have all these 30 some years of experience growing monster businesses, sit down with them and give them a strategic plan based on what they've given back. And so that strategic plan will be customized just for them. Then it's passed on to our member services department and they put together a whole plan for that member based on their specific needs, focusing on areas where they need the most help. So I love that we do that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah, I do too. That makes so much sense, too. And because you're right, everyone's different. Everyone's at a different point in the journey in their own business.

Gary Cohen:
Absolutely, absolutely.

Heidi Ellsworth:
So, okay. Speaking of that, and this is something I personally struggle with as a business owner, but finding the time. You know you should be doing these things. You know you should be involved. You know you should be getting there. But it's like, "How am I going to fit that one more thing into my schedule?" What are some of the best practices and what you're seeing from the contractors as they are finding the time and understanding how important it is to do this type of training?

Gary Cohen:
So that's a great question. And the first thing you hear from not just contractors, but anybody in any industry when you come to them with something is, "Oh my gosh, I don't have the time." But here's the challenge with saying I don't have the time. There is a real issue with that. And the issue is we all know the definition of insanity, doing things the same way as we did before and expecting a different result.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes.

Gary Cohen:
If you want to make positive change and you want to affect positive change in your business, then you have to make the time. But here's what I'll add to that, Heidi, this isn't just about the owner of the business, because our training is for everybody in their company. So of course we do a lot of owner specific training, but we also do specific production training for installers and production managers. We do sales training for the sales team. We do sales management training. We even do administrative and operational training for the people in the office. So it's not just the contractor who's going to be spending all the time with CCN, it's their team.

Gary Cohen:
But getting back to your question about how do they do it, it's all about managing your time. And I think some people are better time managers than others, but I think it safe to say that we can all do a better job with time management. I think you would agree, right?

Heidi Ellsworth:
Oh yeah.

Gary Cohen:
We could all do a better job. So if something's that important and what could be more important then the success of your business or further growth of your business, which could hopefully offer the owner and family long term comfort and financial security, this is something you don't want to ignore. So you make the time and it's very doable. Obviously we have so many contractors across the US and Canada who are doing it today and the people listening to the podcast today, they're no different than those contractors. Right?

Heidi Ellsworth:
Right.

Gary Cohen:
They're all doing the same kinds of things. But at the end of the day, if you want to be better, you have to learn to be better and you have to make that time for learning. So I would say this isn't even about contractors. This is about all of us. We should all be about continuous improvement. We should all be about lifelong learning. And we should all be carving out a little bit of time in our schedules every week for that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes, I agree. I agree. 2022, I'm on it. I am working on it and I have to tell you, so this is an opportunity for everybody out there listening to this podcast, too. CCN ...

Heidi Ellsworth:
... out there listening to this podcast too. CCN is bringing an opportunity to help you be able to take this next step. So let's talk about the upcoming Renovate conference, Gary, and the fact that our contractors, roofing contractors, anybody in exterior contractors can attend this first conference basically for free.

Gary Cohen:
That's right. And this is something really unusual, but we decided this year that we want non-members. We want contractors who are not members. Maybe they never even heard of us before.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Right.

Gary Cohen:
Okay? We want them to experience what it's like to be a CCN member without having to sign up to be one right out of the gate. Okay. We want them to see it and feel it. And coming to one of our three conferences each year for non-members does just that. They will hear from expert speakers on various topics of interest, they will receive training, and they will network with current contractor members from all over the US and Canada.

Gary Cohen:
And this is an opportunity to talk with current owners, understand the value of being a member in this community, and it's an absolute game changer. And there's nothing better than hearing about this from fellow contractors and not from me. Okay?

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Gary Cohen:
Because there's obviously more credibility hearing it directly from another contractor. And that's why it's so important for them to come. So here's what we did. Our conference is April 28th to April 30th. It's going to be at the beautiful Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. I'm very excited about that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Awesome.

Gary Cohen:
And when contractors who are not members register for the conference by March 31st, they can do it for just $297 per ticket, which is a huge discount off of our standard non-member price of $1,050 a ticket.

Gary Cohen:
But it gets better. Once they arrive at the conference and check in at our desk, we will immediately refund the $297 that they paid. So the conference ticket's actually free.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Gary Cohen:
Imagine experiencing everything a CCN member experiences at the conference for free. And contractors do have to get to Scottsdale on their own. That's the one thing. And we have blocked rooms at a very attractive room rate. So there's very little out of pocket cost for them to experience this. So we're really excited about this opportunity, and we're looking forward to lots of contractors who want to learn more about the power of being part of CCN will do for their business. And there's no better way to know than to come to the conference.

Heidi Ellsworth:
I've been to the conference. Now, it's been a number of years.

Gary Cohen:
Right.

Heidi Ellsworth:
But I've been to the conference. I sat, and the thing I loved is we were ... It was when I was with Eagleview and we had our table out there, but then I would be able to go and sit in on and listen to the classes and what was going on. And I was blown away. It was so good. Plus, I've heard Scott speak at other conferences many times, different things. We've actually spoken together at different conferences.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And so I have to say to be able to do this at no cost for the conference. And Arizona, it's not hard to get airline tickets. And it's also to have a beautiful hotel like that at a great rate. I don't know. I think it's worth taking the time. And I know it's always scary for contractors and any business owner to do this, but this is a step. This is the moment that I think is worth taking. I've seen it. I highly recommend that people think about it.

Heidi Ellsworth:
And so the one thing I'm excited about is that you are also offering something a little bit free. Not a little bit. More. An added bonus. I want to say, "And there's more." The day before the conference, and what is that?

Gary Cohen:
Right. So our conference kicks off, as I mentioned, on April 28th at 7:00 PM with a really nice welcome reception, which is a great way for them to mingle with other contractors and meet them and so forth. But that day, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, we will be delivering our first ever contractor marketing bootcamp. And the conference agenda kicks off, again, like I said, that evening.

Gary Cohen:
So the marketing bootcamp will be interactive, and we will take contractors through experiences to take their marketing to the next level, learning how to build their brand, how to build the awareness of their brand, how to improve their reputation, how to drive more leads into their sales funnel. We will actually be doing exercises together. They will be doing a SWOT analysis right there. We're going to teach them about a SWOT analysis, we're going to teach them how to create a good one, and then we're going to do breakouts and they're going to create their own SWOT analysis.

Gary Cohen:
Then, we're going to teach them how to create a one-page marketing plan for their company. Okay? A total marketing plan on one piece of paper. Okay? And then once we teach them how to do that, we're going to do a breakout and they're going to create their marketing plan right then and there. So this is really powerful, and anybody who registers for the conference can attend this bootcamp for free. But they do have to register separately for it.

Gary Cohen:
And I guess I would say, Heidi, this is just such an unbelievable offering. But beyond that, I suppose a great testimonial to the power of our conference is that RoofersCoffeeShop is a sponsor. And I don't think that RoofersCoffeeShop would've chosen to be a sponsor if you didn't believe in what we're doing. And Heidi, you will be there.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes.

Gary Cohen:
You're going to be there as well as several executive directors from several roofing associations. I don't think all these people would be coming if they didn't see the power in it. And my guess is a lot of the roofers listening to this podcast belong to some of these associations.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes.

Gary Cohen:
And a lot of these executive directors are going to be there. So it's just a great meeting of the minds and the roofing industry. And it's just going to also just be a lot of fun.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Yeah. No. And I think, as people are out there listening to this, thinking about, "Should I attend or not?," just I saw it and I saw the type of classes that you had. Really, I remember one class in particular taught by another contractor who was an exterior contractor, did a lot of windows and siding, and he shared what he was doing for leads and for just branding his company out there. To this day, I remember it. It was so well done. What are some of the other things besides marketing that they'll be learning in these classes throughout the conference?

Gary Cohen:
Well, we're going to have a session on embracing technology in your business. We will have a section, a portion on recruiting, which has been a big challenge for a lot of folks out there. And we will have breakout sessions that they can choose what they want to go to. It could be a storm restoration breakout we're doing, which we are doing. We're also doing an interior, interior remodeling breakout. We're doing an exterior breakout. So it's just going to be chock full of all types of...

Gary Cohen:
And we have a great keynote speaker. Our keynote speaker worked in the West Wing of the White House for 11 years.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow.

Gary Cohen:
He was the first Director of Quality Management for the White House. And he has gone on over the years, and he served. Here's what's really interesting about this guy. This speaks a lot to the quality, right?

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Gary Cohen:
Usually, when someone is elected president, a new president comes in, they clean house, and they put their own people in these positions. They're presidential appointed positions. This gentleman, his name is Dr. Gerald Suarez. He was the first Hispanic American to serve in such a high leadership role in the White House, and he served in the Clinton administration for eight years. And then when George W. Bush came in as president, obviously going from a Democrat to a Republican, President Bush asked him to stay. And he stayed on.

Gary Cohen:
And he's an incredible leader. He's going to talk about teamwork. He's going to talk about leadership. He's going to talk about total quality management. They don't want to miss this.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah.

Gary Cohen:
He's also authored a phenomenal book called The Leader of One, and he will be doing a book signing there. So they'll be able to get the books. And it'll be fun. We'll have a great time.

Heidi Ellsworth:
That's great. Well, The Leader of One, I'm going to read it ahead of time.

Gary Cohen:
You should. It's a great [crosstalk 00:26:56].

Heidi Ellsworth:
That'll be great. Yeah.

Gary Cohen:
It's a great book. He's a phenomenal human being. I've actually known him for years. I did spend 11 years in-

Gary Cohen:
... known him for years. I did spend 11 years in academia after my 30 years in corporate life and before I came to CCN, and that's how I know him. We were colleagues at the University of Maryland in business school.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. Very cool.

Gary Cohen:
Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Wow. I'm even more excited than I was before this podcast. This is going to be great.

Gary Cohen:
Yeah, it's to be great. It's going to be a phenomenal event. I just hope that everybody listening would just give themselves a few days only to come to Scottsdale. It's a beautiful resort. It's sort of a working holiday. And they're going to get so much out of it and meet so many other contractors where they'll learn so much. So I hope everybody's listening and will come out and meet us.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, I really want everyone to think about this too. Like you said, a large number of your contractors are roofing, but there's also exteriors, interiors across the board. So this is your opportunity as a business, if you've been thinking, "I want to diversify, I want to add other things to my business." Not only are you going to learn about your current business and be able to get some excellent support and help that way, but you're also going to be able to learn about new business opportunities. So it's really a double hit for our contractors.

Gary Cohen:
That is so true. I mean, if they come out there and if they're roofers and that's all they're doing right now, they'll meet people who do sunrooms. They'll meet people who do decks. They'll meet people who do windows, siding, kitchen and bath remodeling. The great thing about our network, as I mentioned earlier, Heidi, is everybody in the network is willing to share. We've created this wonderful culture where everyone's willing to share with each other. So we're excited about that.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Had a little cough there.

Gary Cohen:
That's okay. So we're really excited about them getting that opportunity to talk to others and learning about, "Hey, maybe there's an opportunity for what we would call product line extension."

Heidi Ellsworth:
Exactly. Oh, I just love that, supporting and making your business that you have right now even better, but also extending it, the product line extension. That is great. Okay. So let's talk about how do they sign up.

Gary Cohen:
So the easiest way for them to sign up is simply to go right to our website. It's right on the homepage. There will be links to sign up for the conference and for the marketing bootcamp training the day before it starts. So our website is very simple. It's contractors, plural, contractors.net. So they just have to go to contractors.net, okay, and they'll be able to see those links to register and they're off to the races. The only thing I want to mention, Heidi, that I think it's important enough to bear mentioning to you is that the marketing bootcamp is going to have limited seating because of the room we're in. So when they register for the conference, make sure they immediately register for the bootcamp because that probably will fill up.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yeah. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And get your whole plan put together, because you want to get your hotels, you want to get your flights, get everything in place. And all of this is on RoofersCoffeeShop. So you can find it on the Certified Contractor Network directory. You can find it through ads. You're going to see it on Facebook. You're going to see it in the Week in Roofing. So if you're just like, "I heard this," or "I'm hearing it, how do I do this?" There's a lot of places to get connected. And if you do go straight to Certified Contractor Network, which I would say contractors.net, be sure to tell them RoofersCoffeeShop sent you, because we are excited to get all of our community to be a part of this.

Gary Cohen:
Absolutely. And you know what? On the registration page, we do ask them with a dropdown menu where they heard about us and RoofersCoffeeShop is on the list.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Awesome. Yay.

Gary Cohen:
Yeah. So they will be able to do that. And it's really going to be a fun time and I'm really looking forward to it. Obviously I'll be there. So I look forward to meeting all of your listeners and welcome them. And I'll also be deliver the marketing bootcamp the day before.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Awesome.

Gary Cohen:
So I'm looking forward to seeing all these new faces.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Well, I will be there also. I'm planning on coming for the marketing bootcamp, because I want to learn and I love that stuff. So I'll be there. We're very proud to be sponsors and we're very happy to have you as part of our community on RoofersCoffeeShop. So Gary, thank you so much. This has been an awesome podcast. Great information.

Gary Cohen:
It's my pleasure. I'm happy to be talking with you. I'm so glad we met. And I look forward to many more celebrations in the future.

Heidi Ellsworth:
Yes, me too. So remember everyone, March 31st, get registered before that date so you can get that great price, basically free, and we'll see you all there. And we'll see the rest of you and everyone else on the podcast. Please listen to all of our podcasts on RoofersCoffeeShop under the Read Listen Watch initiative, or on your favorite podcast channel. Be sure to subscribe and get notifications. We appreciate you being here. Have a wonderful day and we'll see you on the next Roofing Road Trips.

Speaker 1:
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.