Creating a Culture of Contractor Success

By Karen L. Edwards, RCS Editor.

The team at SRS is always open to exploring opportunities that can add value for contractors.

SRS Distribution’s John DeRosa joined RCS Partner Heidi J. Ellsworth for Coffee Conversations this spring and it was an illuminating conversation about how SRS and John work tirelessly to add value and support success for their contractors. John shared his background in the industry, coming to roofing after having worked on the window side of home improvement. His first foray into roofing came when he moved into a regional management position with IKO. After a few years working on contractor development and success programs and having learned a lot about the roofing industry, John shared that he knew he wanted to work in distribution – specifically SRS Distribution.  

“I remember when I first talked to our President and CEO Dan Tinker, and we discussed me coming on board with SRS I said ‘I don’t really want to be a guy that's traveling around the country with an SRS sandwich board, talking about your services and our products’ and he said ‘no, that's not what we want’,” explains John.

Dan explained to John that SRS has a vested interest in the success of its customers. “It's not completely selfless because if we help customers succeed, we capture a larger share of the market,” says John. By helping customers succeed, it’s a win-win situation for both SRS and the contractor. 

The culture of support for contractors has really shown itself when the pandemic hit. “A lot of people are really stepping up and saying ‘okay, now's the time I can either stick my head in the sand and wait for this thing to end, or I could figure out, how can I proactively get better’,” shares John. “My phone is ringing off the hook. I'm busier than I've ever been and it's really about people just wanting help to develop their company story or shore up their presentation to adapt to the new way of doing business.”

Roof Hub, a technology tool that SRS developed specifically to support contractor success, has been exploding according to John. “We're seeing that not only are people embracing Roof Hub and utilizing it as a productivity enhancement tool but also a tool that allows them to practice good social distancing and maintain a strong productive business relationship with SRS.”

Contractors are sharing with John how Roof Hub has helped them in their businesses. A contractor in Dallas said that after they were hit with a hailstorm, he pulled up the hail map on his desktop version of Roof Hub. Once he added “show past orders” the map populated the locations of every order that was delivered over the past five years in the area. This gave the contractor the ability to reach out to those past customers and set up seven appointments for the following day without ever knocking on a single door.

John also talks about the power of technology and how roofing contractors can leverage technology to not only survive but thrive in the new normal.

Listen to the full conversation here.