How to Utilize Online Service and Training

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter. 

The next wave of trainings is here – and they are more accessible, affordable and constructive than ever. 

With the Read, Listen, Watch® (RLW) initiative, RoofersCoffeeShop® has made it easy for members of the roofing and construction industries to learn how they want, when they want. Whether you want to read a transcript, listen to a podcast or watch a webinar, the Coffee Shop has made it possible for you to learn your way. 

In a recent RLW, RCS President Heidi J. Ellsworth sat down with John Kenney of Cotney Consulting Group who shares a new way roofing contractors can buy training services online. Cotney recently launched ShopCotney.com which offers a variety of digital resources that make it easy to get the resources you need fast. Whether it is legal questions, estimating, HR or across- the- board training, Cotney has once again envisioned a new way of purchasing and consuming legal and consulting resources.  

This RLW talks through how you can make use of these new digital resources that have been expensive and time consuming in the past. John and Heidi also review new online estimating classes for beginner to intermediate estimators and the subsequent certification.  

“The construction industry, and the roofing segment of that, has always been behind in training. That's been my experience throughout the decades, working in the industry,” said John. “We never moved into a national apprenticeship program similar to other countries.” 

Instead, the roofing industry has stayed true to the in-house, in-person trainings that vary company to company and typically require travel and even a temporary hold on regular business operations. This has been the model, especially on the field side of the industry, for years. 

John and everyone at Cotney are crafting a different way of doing things, a cheaper and easier way of providing trainings. Plus, the online trainings can be broken down into segments and completed at the will of the person receiving the trainings. This way they can direct their learning to not only fit their needs, but match their skill level.  

“You don't have to shut down your entire operation to do the training. You may set it up so you can compensate employees on a Saturday to do it, let's say, or for an employee [if it] is not being sponsored through an employer and employees want to learn to advance themselves in a career, they have the availability to do this at will,” said John. “The biggest part is you're on your own time. So it works. I know I have always preferred learning on my own, over a classroom situation, mainly for the reason is that it can adapt to me.” 

Read, Listen or Watch the entire conversation on demand to learn more about Cotney Consulting Groups new online trainings.