The Importance of Strong Technical Support - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Jimmy Akins from Polyglass. 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 long-term professional within the trade. Listen for insights, interviews, and exciting news in the roofing industry today.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: This is Heidi Ellsworth, and I'm road tripping east to talk to one of my longtime friends, Jimmy Akins with Polyglass. And we're here today to talk about technical support, I mean, the backbone of the industry. It is so important, and no one knows this stuff better than Jimmy. So Jimmy, welcome to the show.

Jimmy Akins: Hey, thanks Heidi. Thanks for having us and entertaining Polyglass.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh, love you guys so much. I mean, everyone knows in the industry what an amazing job Polyglass does. But before we get started, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Polyglass.

Jimmy Akins: Sure. My name's Jimmy Akins. I've been with Polyglass... Boy, I'm going into here over 23 years, as you well know.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Jimmy Akins: Crossed paths several times over the years. And Polyglass has been great. When I started here, we had two manufacturing facilities. I started as a technical service rep in-house in our [inaudible 00:01:10] facility. Since then, in those 23 years, we continued to grow. We have four MINOFINE asphalt plants, and we also have two coating facilities, one in Phoenix, one in Winterhaven. So we have all four corners of the country pretty much covered with the manufacturing. We have both Friendly, Nevada, Hazelden, Pennsylvania, Winterhaven, Florida, and Waco, Texas.

Waco's been open now about three years, and coincidentally, we've been growing so fast, we're already adding a second line into Waco. We're adding a second line into Florida. They've made modifications to the second line in Hazelden to try and continue output. So we continue to grow. It's been a rocket ship. It's been phenomenal. In 23 years, I've been blessed. I've worked in technical service. I worked in R&D for a little bit where I was the codes manager.

I did five years as a production manager in our Hazelden facility. Back into the codes element. And the last five years, I've been the national technical services manager overseeing tech and warranty, and most recently our poly [inaudible 00:02:14]

Heidi J. Ellsworth: You know, I just look back, and I think about when you and I were working together, both even before Hazelden, but when we were up there in Hazelden and how much Polyglass has grown.

Jimmy Akins: Great.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: You're right. Rocket ship.

Jimmy Akins: Yeah, it's absolutely insane. We've been blessed over the years. [inaudible 00:02:36] and Kenneth family, the leadership, the vision has was phenomenal. And we were lucky enough to have the same influence, the same type of outlook when the Swinsey family had purchased Polyglass and put us under the MAPEI umbrella, and the support financially, they gave Polyglass for the capital expenditure projects to help grow the business, and the support they continue to give us us and push us and the initiatives into... We moved into the coatings world about 15 years ago, and then more recently, in the last year, we've really taken on the initiative of a building envelope, waterproofing and air [inaudible 00:03:11]

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Jimmy Akins: And so, that branch is continuing to grow. We've actually started... They went live midyear, and they've already been pushing their success already. They're showing up profitability. So it's been taking off. It's crazy.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. It is. That's wild. I love it. And you have always been... I mean, Polyglass overall and you have been on the forefront of training, technical. I mean just, I think you... Nanolino and family and team and everyone there, you've always given the contractors what they needed for success. And I'm really seeing it, I mean, even more than ever, with what you're leading right now, which is the technical support. So tell us a little bit about that.

Jimmy Akins: Sure. For us, why is technical important? For us, it's... And most manufacturers, you set a standard. Right? The support is there to help set a standard [inaudible 00:04:10] contractor. It's an attainable standard, one where they continue to work on their practice, their applications. So we want them to follow general application standards published by NRCA and by the separate manufacturers. Each product itself comes out with a different application type.

And there's various roofing products out there. Right? There's a lot of single [inaudible 00:04:29] from EPDM Roberts, to PVC, to the modified asphalted roof products like we offer. There's liquid applied solutions. There's foams with spray coatings on top of that. So it can eat your lunch, if you will.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Jimmy Akins: Pay attention to your specific application types and what you want to specialize in. So the technical service portion that helps support that, helps train the contractors and teach them the pitfalls with the workforce, especially with the various applications and all those changes.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah, I mean it's so important to... Because contractors want to do it right. I mean, the last thing you want is a callback, right? Or problems. And so, you need that partnership with manufacturing to really make sure you understand the product, how best to install it, how to take care of it, maintain it, I mean, all of that.

Jimmy Akins: Yeah. You're in the trenches. It's frontline risk management, if you will. It's reducing the overall reliability. You're reducing the liability for the contractor, you're supporting them because you're helping them understand what they want to do. You're training their team and their squad, which helps them in this ever changing world of retaining employees. And on the back end, as you work with your manufacturers and you develop them, they're putting down your products properly, and you're covering your liability end on your long term warranties as the product goes down in the sustainable method.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And you are partners with those contractors well after the job's complete.

Jimmy Akins: Correct. We really are. I mean, what's happened is, the industry's evolved. Technical service is part of customer service. We become the touchpoint. The sales rep does a great job going out, finding the projects, and get them sold, and run with the distribution, et cetera. And then, the tech guy's out there maintaining those relationships. And we're helping the contractor through their pitfalls. We're helping them land jobs. We're helping them write specs, teaching them how to write specs, why a modified membrane works a little better than maybe some of the other options, as your single ply or a foam sprayed out west. So yeah, we really do. It is a partnership.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. It's so important. So important for them. Okay. Let's talk about Polyschool. It's just, you were some of the first manufacturers to offer this type of education, continuing education, training, installation. Tell everybody what Polyschool is, and maybe a little bit of a history and where you're at today.

Jimmy Akins: Sure, absolutely. So going way back as you know, Polyglass was... We invented [inaudible 00:07:00] asphalt at Rolled Roofing.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Jimmy Akins: With our [inaudible 00:07:02] flex, and our PolyFlex products, with our SAP products. And then, they rolled into our [inaudible 00:07:08] our entire PolyStick line. So as we're evolving those products and their various applications for tile [inaudible 00:07:16] for metal [inaudible 00:07:17] for low slow briefing, steep slope roofing, we'd come to realize that they had their... Even though it was commercial modified asphalt roofing, they still had their intricacies, if you will. So we found that we had to get out and do more hands on training. And so, what better way to get that hands on training and create the larger audiences was we were able to put a facility in, a training facility down in Winterhaven.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Jimmy Akins: And as that grew, and with the partnership with MAPEI, we were able to actually put in a school, a classroom with indoor and outdoor training. We have a full blown, which you've seen if you've been down there-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Jimmy Akins: We have stadium seating. We have multiple decks outside. And so, it gives an opportunity for contractors, architects, et cetera, because we do different versions of Polyschool... We have Polyschool Evolve. We bring architects and specifiers, teach them about our products, how they get specified in different applications through our torch down APP, through our mop down, torch down SBS products, as well as our self [inaudible 00:08:21] And then, we spend day one on doing that. And then, day two rolls into the coatings and the liquid applied where they can work with our adhesives and our sealants and our primers, and then our silicons and our acrylics.

So yeah, it's really evolved. Now, we've been able to take that on the roads. We do those trainings. We try to do them regionally. I think we probably did about 32 Polyschools nationwide last year, not to mention the in-house trainings that our tech reps do with the contractors. We'll go visit contractors to do the hands on application training. This year we're currently budgeted for about 48 Polyschools.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow. Wow.

Jimmy Akins: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: 48. Well, and Winterhaven's kind of a nice place to go too.

Jimmy Akins: Yeah. The snowbirds really like coming down and taking the winter trainings.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Jimmy Akins: But we try to work regionally. We try to work with the different aspects. The Southeast and Southwest, in the month of August, maybe they want to break for some training. So we were able to work with that as well as not only use sunny Florida to bring [inaudible 00:09:24] from the North and the Northwest down, but and regionally, we make it work. Like I said, we have the facilities in Arizona and Waco that we're looking to also put Polyschool facilities into those as well. So we're expanding the curriculum. We're expanding the floor space, if you will.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It's so impressive. I've seen it. I've been down to that plant, and it is just so cool. And I think to take... Let's talk just a little bit from a contractor's position. How important is that continuing education and continuing training? Because we know nothing stands still.

Jimmy Akins: Correct.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Nothing stays. I mean, I know some of the basics maybe, but so much is changing. How important is it for those contractors to take time out to do this kind of training?

Jimmy Akins: Well, god bless the world we live in today. I think post COVID, I think they recognized the opportunity to retain employees.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Jimmy Akins: A lot of folks were out of work, or they come in now, and they're learning a skillset, and they want to jump somewhere else. So by coming in, and the investment that the contractor puts into their trainees, if you will, running through Polyschool where they get the hands on, and they walk out with a certificate, did the training. And not only do they get certified with Polyglass as a trainer, we work hand in hand with ARMA. We work with [inaudible 00:10:42] at times, we work with NRCA, and we're certified trainers. So we're certified trainers. So we'll train them on torching applications, if you will. We'll train them on the self adhering. We'll review the intricacies of cold applied and hot mop, et cetera.

So they get the employee retention. They get to walk away with that. Again, it ensures that they're putting the product down the right way. And you touched on it. Innovation, the way it's evolved, I mean, look at self adhered market's changed. It's not only gone from the asphalted products, it's into the single ply. You're seeing butyl based products all the time. We're seeing butyl based solutions with tapes, et cetera, adhesives. So technology does change, and they need to work on those applications.

You're seeing the growth of PMMAs, in polyurethanes, if you will, for liquid flashings and different pipe penetrations, drain penetrations. So it's funny. I used to work... When I first got out of school, I worked for a civil engineering firm, and they used to always make a joke when we were out doing survey, and you wanted to be kind of accurate. But they're like, "Hey, we're not building watches. We're not building bridges." [inaudible 00:11:45] with it.

And that kind of correlated into roofing for a little bit. You could afford to not be so tight on your tolerances, whatever. Boy, that's changed. You've got to be tight. We've all seen... Anybody involved in roofing, you've seen water go uphill.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Jimmy Akins: You've seen it climb high and over, and you've found a roof which has found a way to vacuum it in. So there are some techniques, and it does take a little bit of a skillset set, and you do got to hone it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right. Well, and it's just like what you're talking about too. Just think about it. Architects are coming in and training with you at Polyschool, right? And you probably are getting some building owners there. You're probably getting some roof consultants. And so, the contractors need to know, I mean, just that consumers or the design community continues to research, and to be so much more hands on than it used to be.

Jimmy Akins: Oh, absolutely. And they're even learning their market. There's reporting out there. There's lists. They knew who the contractors are in specific regions. And so, if they're putting a project together, and they're going to award a handful of projects throughout the year, they're looking at the list. Who do the manufacturers have on their list that's trained, as you're a higher tier? That's a nice thing too. A lot of manufacturers like us have a tiered contractor program.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Jimmy Akins: Our highest level is Quantum. So when they know, they look at those lists, they're looking at our Quantum, they know those folks have come through Polyglass training. They know that they have a dedication to maintaining that training throughout the year. And we grade them on quality. They get a quality report that goes hand in hand with that. And if we see a slip in the quality, it's a relationship thing with us. Polyglass is, as you know... For me, it's been like a family.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right. Right. Yeah.

Jimmy Akins: Not only on the employees. We treat our customers like that. So when we see the family slipping, they need some help with training, we just pull them aside, and we work it out. We find a way. And we're unique in that we've been able to do that. Currently, I have 18 tech reps nationwide now.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow. Wow.

Jimmy Akins: [inaudible 00:13:42] about five in our warranty department. Marketing has created a customer success team. There's about four or five of them that offer white glove service to the customers and the contractors. So we've continued to evolve. That relationship's gone hand in hand with our relationship with our customers.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. And you know, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the manufacturers' reps you have out there too. And so, many of them are friends, right?

Jimmy Akins: Yes.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And they've been with Polyglass forever. I mean, such loyalty in the manufacturer rep thing. And so, I'm guessing they're very responsible for keeping your schedule pretty full too.

Jimmy Akins: Yeah, really it is. And again, I attribute that to leadership. And I already named dropped [inaudible 00:14:30] once before, and the guy's a magnet. But just the camaraderie and the relationships and everybody wants to... It's hard to leave. We're not necessarily the Hotel California, but you don't want to leave. You want to come in, and everybody's treated well. And that goes with our customers and those relationships. They keep coming back to us, because of the relationships. We also manage the claims in the tech and warranty department.

And Polyglass has always, since I'm here, gone over and above. Somebody's had some installation instruction, not only do we help them out with some products, but we'll actually show up and show them how to put a product down the right way so that it doesn't happen again. And that's built a great rapport, and a great relationship with the contractor and Poly Glass, but also with the distribution.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Jimmy Akins: Come to us, and we've had to go out. We support the distribution. And sometimes we'll do those Polyschools or some of those hands on trainings at their facilities if they have the room and the space. So-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's excellent. So you make it easy. You make it easy for people to get the training.

Jimmy Akins: We really try to. We really do. And knock on wood, we've been able to pull it off.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Okay. And I think I'd be remiss... Obviously, the training's covering, like you said earlier, all your coatings lines, your self adhered, which I mean, the growth of self adhered membranes has been off the charts.

Jimmy Akins: It's been crazy.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Jimmy Akins: I remember coming in, and... Like I started in our Hazelden facility in '99, and they were starting to run a lot of that product. And then, we were also setting up products for our friends in Florida for their coat standards, to try and meet high wind uplift. And we were obtaining ridiculous wind uplifts. To this day, some of that original testing that I had the opportunity to be involved with still stands.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow. Great.

Jimmy Akins: And I've had friends at other manufacturers come up, "How'd you get that?" But it was through the uniqueness and the forethought to... We patented a lot of what we did early on.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Jimmy Akins: It was a blessing and a curse, because it blessed us. We were the ones who were able to make such a great product, and those products have been out and warranted for 20 years on some of those systems. What it did was limit the industry and the growth of self adhering, because nobody can do what we could do. And so, it became hard to mimic. And in hindsight, I don't know if we would've necessarily done it the exact same way, because we kind of suffocated the growth of self adhered. Now, those patents have expired over the last three, four, or five years. Now, you're seeing the onset and the growth and the confidence in those products by other manufacturers, and the spec writer world.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right. Yeah. Being the architects and the engineers and the spec writers-

Jimmy Akins: Yeah.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Those things. Okay. So let's talk about, I'm a contractor, and I want to get involved. Right? I want to go to Polyschool. I want to start working with the technical team. How do they do that?

Jimmy Akins: So it's pretty easy. We have a website, Polyglass.US. We're very well [inaudible 00:17:33] relationship with our marketing team. They're all over the place, through social media, through LinkedIn, through Facebook, through Instagram. We also have a Poly channel on YouTube where we offer trainings as well. They could could sit. You can watch application instruction. Every piece of literature we have has an 800 number. We have 800 numbers directly for technical service. We have email links for technical@polyglass.com. If you need warranty help, we have warranty@polyglasss.com. You hit our webpage up, just about every page has a link back to somebody in some department.

Not necessarily a name, but at least to the department.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Jimmy Akins: And we're focused on... You get contacted back, and the customers are contacted within 24 hours.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's excellent. Again, you're making it pretty easy for people to get involved.

Jimmy Akins: Again, we do try. A lot of effort. We're very conscious of our relationships and what we can offer for the customer.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. And I would strongly... Which probably everybody's already doing, but for those of you who maybe have not built relationships with their manufacturers' reps or their regional technical managers, or their regional sales managers, that's really... It's so important to have those relationships, because they also can help then. "Hey, let's get you scheduled. Let's get your crews scheduled into Polyschool," or, "We have one coming out into your area." And of course, we have all this information on River's Coffee Shop too, in the Polyglass directory.

Jimmy Akins: I've seen that. I get to like the LinkedIn stuff from time to time. I get to follow you on Facebook, and you guys are as active as we are, so congratulations and kudos to your efforts.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah. That's why we like working together. It's fun.

Jimmy Akins: Yes.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: We get a lot of stuff out there. Well Jimmy, thank you. Thank you so much for all you do. Thank you for coming on Roofing Road Trips. I feel like this is homecoming half the time. I get to see all my friends. It makes me pretty happy.

Jimmy Akins: Oh my goodness. So I'm going to go old school on you. I think back when Gianna Zanketa was still in [inaudible 00:19:33]

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Jimmy Akins: You had done one of your early Roofing Coffee Shops, and you actually had me call in.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes, I remember that.

Jimmy Akins: And I answered a couple questions for you way back. So it's nice to be able to circle back. And the relationships we build in this industry... You joke all the time. You see folks at shows, but it's... And again, post COVID, it was so nice to get back out there and see all the familiar faces and remember the relationships, because-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh yeah.

Jimmy Akins: At the end of the day, no matter what name's on the front of the shirt, everybody... It is kind of a family, and everybody takes care of each other.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yeah.

Jimmy Akins: [inaudible 00:20:06]

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Roofing truly is Hotel California. Nobody really leaves roofing.

Jimmy Akins: Absolutely. [inaudible 00:20:12] That is true.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh my gosh. Well Jimmy, thank you so much. And thank you all for listening. You can find all this information about Polyglass, Polyschool, everything that's going on on the Polyglass directory, on Roofer's Coffee Shop, and check out all of the podcasts that we've had. Polyglass has had amazing podcasts on Roofing Road Trips, so they're all listed in that directory. And of course, [inaudible 00:20:37] listen, watch under Roofing Road Trip Podcast. So Jimmy, one last time, thank you for being here. We'll see you soon.

Jimmy Akins: Thank you. Look forward to seeing you. We'll see you at the IRE.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: See you at the IRE. And we'll see all of you next time, so be sure that you are getting onto your favorite podcast channel, subscribing, getting those notifications, so you don't miss a single episode. We'll see you next time on 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.