The Importance of Learning from Contractors

By Karen L. Edwards, RCS Editor.

It’s not often that you hear about contractors training manufacturers but Sashco embraces it.

The more common scenario is the other way around with contractors attending trainings on how to install specific manufacturer products. When we came across a Sashco Facebook post with photos of their team members being trained by Heritage Roofing & Contracting, we needed to find out the full details behind the training.

I had the opportunity to speak with Les Burch, Sashco President, and Sabrina Rothfuss, Business Development Manager, Building Materials Sector, to find out the story behind the unusual training.  

Les said that it all started with Sabrina who is focused on roofing in her role at Sashco. “Sashco is a little unique in that we are always trying to dig in and see if our products fit the market and how our customers are using it,” explained Sabrina. She knew it would be important for her to talk to contractors.

Sabrina was introduced to Casey Colvin at Heritage Roofing & Contracting in Centennial, Colorado. “Casey was using a lot of Through the Roof and when he explained to me all the different ways he was using it, I knew there was more there than I needed to understand,” Sabrina said. It was then she decided to take her research one step further by learning and understanding how a roof is built. Casey has taught many classes for the Colorado Roofing Association on proper roofing techniques so she was confident that he would be able to help her.

Sabrina took the idea of having a reverse lunch and learn where the contractor teaches the manufacturer back to her leadership team at Sashco. Les said that they were immediately on board with the idea.  “When she mentioned it to me, I thought ‘wow this is a great opportunity’,” Les said.  “We never really had the chance to understand how a roof is built from the bottom up.  We brought employees from the lab, marketing, salespeople, research and development and had all five leadership team members there.”

He spent a couple of hours with the Sashco team teaching them how they build roofs and what their quality standards are.  “It was really nice to have a one-on-one training to help us understand and be able to ask questions in real-time,” Sabrina said.

In addition to educational opportunities, the Sashco team is very interested in hearing from contractors.  “We want to learn where and how people are using our product,” said Les. “We tell contractors to use it for a specific reason, but we want to know what they are really doing with it. Ultimately, we want to watch customers in action to see how they actually do stuff. Part of our goal is to watch them and see if there are opportunities to make their jobs, better, stronger, faster and safer.”

How are you using Sashco’s Through the Roof! product? Send your feedback to info@sashco.com.

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