Secrets to strengthening industry partnerships

By Jesse Sanchez. 

John McDermott reveals key strategies for successful partnerships in the coatings sector on this CoatingsCast™. 

In a recent episode of CoatingsCast, hosted by Karen Edwards, industry veteran John McDermott from KARNAK shared valuable insights into building successful partnerships between manufacturers and contractors within the coatings sector. The conversation focused on practical strategies aimed at fostering collaboration and improving efficiency in the industry. 

Listening to their contractor clients has been KARNAK’s strategy from the beginning. “If you went to one of our trainings, nearly everything we'd profess or teach or recommend or share with our contractor clients came from a contractor at some point in time,” John shared. “We listen to better ways to do things. We can have the greatest research and development and the greatest quality. It's the roofing contractor that will take that in real life situation on the roof and find better ways to apply it for better long-term performance and different things like that.” 

KARNAK understands that contractors are at varying levels of experience and have trainings depending on the contractors needs, especially those new to the industry. John highlighted the challenges newcomers face and stressed the importance of comprehensive training and support. "We don't start with a full day of training. Maybe an overview of our restoration coating systems and repair and maintenance," he explained. “We do an extensive presentation on just repair and maintenance, why it's important, why it saves the owner money, and it just gets them thinking about their client base. And yeah, I should be in this business because I can take this information KARNAK's providing and go to owners and share with them that this is actually the more cost-effective way to maintain my roof.” KARNAK understands the foundational knowledge needed by new entrants and how learning a little bit at a time is key. 

The discussion shifted to the critical role of consistency and reliability in vendor relationships, accentuating the industry's need for dependable service and support to build lasting trust and satisfaction. John explained, "They're searching for consistency. That just doesn't mean quality, but consistency in everything. They want the consistency in the representation, who they can call. Can they get their warranty administration done easily? Are we easy to do business with? Is our service great? And when we find each other, we're both looking for each other, we find each other, there's some great loyalties built immediately.” 

Their discussion also explored Karnak Corporation's loyalty programs, with John outlining the benefits of their Karnak Qualified Applicator (KQA) program. "There are loyalty rewards, including a cash incentive based on product purchases," John noted, spotlighting the tangible advantages available to qualified contractors. 

Read the transcript, Listen to the podcast or Watch the webinar to learn more about creating successful partnerships in this dynamic industry.