Sam Beiler and David Beiler - Brand the Equipment for Success - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Sam and David Beiler of Equipter. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro: Welcome to Roofing Road Trips, the podcast that takes you on a thrilling journey across the world of roofing. From fascinating interviews with roofing experts to on-the-road adventures, we'll uncover the stories, innovations and challenges that shape the rooftops over our heads. So fasten your seatbelts and join us as we embark on this exciting roofing road trip. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Hello and welcome to another Roofing Road Trips from Roofer's Coffee Shop. My name is Heidi Ellsworth and  today we are going to be talking about one of my favorite topics and  that is branding and marketing and  how you really can stand out in the roofing and construction industries. And so, of course, we had to bring the experts, folks that I have watched for a long time, who have done some amazing branding and marketing with their equipment. And that is Sam and David Beiler with Equipter. Hello, gentlemen. How are you? 

Dave Beiler: Hey, Heidi. Thanks so much for having us on here. 

Sam Beiler: Heidi, great seeing you. Yeah, thanks for the invite. Looking forward to this. 

Heidi Ellsworth: It is so great to have both of you. I mean, well, I kind of feel in some ways, now I'm a little bit older, but I feel like we've all grown up in the industry together. I watched you guys a long time. 

Dave Beiler: I know, I know. 

Sam Beiler: Totally feel the same. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Working with your dad for all those years and  I'm just like, "Oh yeah, this is great." 

Dave Beiler: We can legitly say we've grown up. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yes, you have. 

Sam Beiler: We've always been there, but... 

Heidi Ellsworth: I know, legitimately. And when you think about what you two and  obviously your dad, Aaron, have done in branding the Equipter brand, the name, the equipment, I mean, everybody knows it, everybody sees it. You guys have amazing trade show presence, it's great. And now you're bringing a lot of that to the contractors to help them. So let's start out with some introductions and then let's just dive into that. So Dave, can you start and introduce yourself? Tell us a little bit about what you do with Equipter and overall just a little bit of history. 

Dave Beiler: Yep, yep. Well, like you said, I'm Dave. Dave Beiler. I am VP of sales and marketing. And so, I take care of the customer facing side of Equipter. So that involves the sales and marketing, along with customer care, the support, anything customer facing. And so, I'm involved in a lot of that, those transactions and the big picture oversight of Equipter. So yeah, as far as an introduction to Equipter, obviously we do the roofing equipment is what we specialize in. We've had the 4000 for goodness over 20 years now. And so, already mentioned, Heidi, you mentioned dad. He's the one that, he was a roofer since the '80s and designed the Equipter 4000 and  that's what we've been building, manufacturing for the last 20 years, selling all over the US, Canada, all over. So yeah, we're super excited. Thanks again, Heidi, for having us on. And Sam. 

Sam Beiler: Yeah, so my name's Sam Beiler, also one of the Beiler brothers. So it's a family business as while. Those you are not familiar with kind of like the Equipter story, our dad started the company from having his own roofing company. He's like, "Hey, I think there's a better way of doing roofing." 

Started this company, has this cool invention. And then, Dave and myself were two of the four brothers and  we have two sisters as well. And so, we had the opportunity to grow up with this company here and took roles in the organization as it continued to grow. So it went from this grassroots, an Amish country type of company to a national brand that we were able to have had the privilege of being a part of building Equipter into a national brand that's wildly recognized. Kind of like my passion is marketing. That's where I've influenced, made most of my influences with Equipter. Right now, I also run a tech company, co-founder and CEO of a tech company, Boostpoint, that helps with solving the hiring problem in different industries. But I'm still fairly involved in Equipter as well and  influencing sales and marketing. 

Heidi Ellsworth: That's cool. That's cool. And for as long as I've known you guys, I'm going to say right here, I said your name wrong at the beginning. It's Beiler, so forgive me. I'm like, "Oh my gosh." 

Dave Beiler: It's interchangeable at this point. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah, right. It's a Friday. Here we go. But so, as we really look at this marketing, I've been around for quite a while and marketing has gone from yellow pages or just word of mouth or  different things to really, it's a science. It's a science. And Sam, I mean your businesses and what you've done in the marketing world and  Dave have been incredible. So let's talk a little bit about the importance of jobsite branding, because it seems like I almost feel like it's come back around it. For a long time, first it was job site and it was Yellow Pages, stuff like that and advertising. And then it went and it had radio and  TV and stuff kind came in and  then it was all digital. All digital. That's all you have to do is digital. And now everybody's coming. It feels like and  I want your opinion, it feels like they're kind of coming back around and going, "You know what? It's a combination. It's a combination." And that jobsite branding is so important. So Sam, let's start with you. Sam. 

Sam Beiler: You're absolutely right. And for me, it all comes down to, for marketing to actually have a positive impact, it all starts with having a good product and  a product or a service that you're actually providing an above tier service. That's the privilege of marketing Equipter over the past decade. It's like, we've had a solid product and  so it's like you have a good base. So to me, that's kind of the number one is your roofing company out there. Make sure you're focusing on the product and the service you provide and  trying to be the best in your market in that. 

And that we feel a lot of that happens at the job site, the day you're actually replacing that roof. At the end of the day, okay, there's a lot that goes into the project of getting roof replacement off the ground. Marketing, sales, admin, logistics, all that. But really, where the rubber hits the road is the day you're actually taking those thousands of pounds of shingles off the roof and replacing it. So that is kind of the core of what we really believe in is providing the best job site experience. You're not ruining people's landscaping, you're not throwing tons of debris on landscaping, but you're keeping the job site neat and clean. And so, having that as the base of, you're providing a better service than maybe the next guy down the road that doesn't have an Equipter. So to me, that's kind of the base of provide the best service. 

But then where marketing really comes into play is how do you leverage that? And you've done the hard work, now how do you leverage that and include that in your messaging? And so, that's where it's a lot of our customers now are looking at, "Hey, how can I use this Equipter to make a huge impact in a neighborhood that I'm like, hey, everyone knows I'm doing a roof, because I have an Equipter." 

They're starting to brand it and we're really leaning into that as well. It's like, sure, turn it into a moving billboard. And so, bringing that around, it's like, okay, this traditional media idea, again, it's like, yeah, people that are literally driving by in a neighborhood, how can you capture their attention on top of maybe all the social media stuff, digital stuff. It's like, hey, people that are actually driving by your company doing the work, what's your message? How are you capturing their attention? 

Heidi Ellsworth: How are you getting it? And when you think about the combination that is coming together, because when you have your equipment on site, your trucks, your Equipter, even your dumpsters branded and wrapped and  then you use QR codes. So now all of a sudden you've brought the digital and the tactical together in the field. And so, Dave, as you're looking at that, you talk to a lot of contractors every day and  as they're doing it, what are they saying about that branding of the equipment, that wrap that really can make a difference in their business? 

Dave Beiler: Yeah. Well, I think you have this idea in marketing first impression is everything. And I think what you're saying too is you're leveraging that or you're meeting your expectations throughout the process. You're selling a job obviously, but then you're meeting that with the right system, processes, equipment. And to show up as a company well branded, you could say it this way, well-dressed, dressed for the occasion,. And it's like, why show up in just unbranded clothing or equipment? It's like, brand it up and yeah, we've heard it all over. Obviously you see you brand your trucks, it makes a difference. The impression. Brand your equipment, brand your guys, all of that can make a huge difference from just that, taking that marketing, sales and the whole way through, taking it the whole way through. That way the customer fuels, yeah, it just takes the experience to the next level from selling the job to the job, the process of getting the job done, to obviously collecting the check at the end of the day. You're meeting, well, should I say exceeding expectations the whole way through, is really the idea. 

Heidi Ellsworth: And that's what Sam was saying just a minute ago. It's about the performance, it's about the product. Are you providing a great product? And when you really think about it, if you were to have two job sites, one with Equipter, one without. Neighbors notice that. They look at that and they think, "Wow, that yard is really clean. Look, what is that machine? What are they doing? They must be a really high end, great company." 

And I just kind of look at that and  I think that is a subliminal marketing that gets lost sometimes and  really how well the job site looks, how well you're protecting that house. And then, obviously the great job that you do. And Sam, kind of talk more about that, having the right product from a contractor standpoint and really that presentation and  then branding it. 

Sam Beiler: It all comes out as we all want the edge. It's like, how do you gain the edge? And because you're providing a roofing service, a new roof to a homeowner and  it's like, "Well, what's really going to differentiate you from the competition?" And so, we feel our product is a very practical way of doing that, whereas you're not just showing up and giving a better sales pitch or  being more convincing than the company next door. Again, I'm a big believer in educating your sales teams and making sure you show up with the best representation for your organization, but at the end of the day, it's like you really need a core service that you can leverage for all that. Sales and marketing is just leveraging an already hopefully good product. And so, the better you can make the core service, what you're providing, making that better than the competition next door, now you have something to leverage that's new and that's different. 

And that's where we hear time and time again, stories of our customers where it's like, hey, I show up into a neighborhood and I can own the neighborhood, because I'm just providing a better roofing service than the other guy. It's pretty "easy" to do that. And then, the branding element. Right now, we allow a product, a new feature to the Equipter 4000 product is you can now get your Equipter ordered from the factory with your brand on it. So custom billboard type of thing on the aluminum box. I mean, this came from, honestly the last 10 years. 

Our customers have been doing this already and we're like, "That's a great idea." We didn't have the capability to do it internally. It was like, all right, a lot of logistics. But we were finally like, "You know what? Let's make this happen, because it is an awesome first impression that you can create." 

And that's another thing with amazing advertising and marketing, is creating trust with that first impression. You show up on a job site with a great piece of equipment that's branded with your company's brand. There's an immediate trust. Before you ever start a conversation with a homeowner, you've just elevated your trust in their mind. Which is the whole, that's what we're trying to do in marketing, right? It's like, hey, we increase the trust of the client. 

Dave Beiler: And then, I think taking back right onto that is also you leverage that and then you make it a great experience for your customer, that ultimately will come back in referrals. And so, we all know that's the best marketing at the end of the day is, "Hey, how about you go tell five of your friends about how well we did?" 

And so, referrals, plus the idea of owning a neighborhood. You're in the neighborhood, your truck is wrapped, your Equipter is wrapped. Talking to roofers over the years, I've heard stories in the afternoon when they're installing the roof, they'll set up their Equipter 4000, lift it up to 12 feet and  it's in the front lawn. So everyone driving by knows that something is happening and it's this billboard sitting up all day while you're doing the roof. 

Heidi Ellsworth: And then all of a sudden you have these neighbors walking by and people walking up, "Wait, what is this? How does this work? I need that," right? "I need a new roof." 

What are some of the things that contractor, okay, so actually I'm going to back up, because first of all, I love the idea of it being wrapped in the factory and being delivered that way. And Dave, on the last podcast, you and I talked about how cool that is for employees too, because a lot of your marketing is also internal and  how do your employees feel and how proud they are. And to have this already show up wrapped, I mean, that is totally morale builder right there. 

Dave Beiler: Yeah, I mean, we've had time and time again where it's like employees feel like it's Christmas all over again. For one, they see that you're taking, as a business owner, they see that you're taking the job site, the process seriously and you're willing to invest in the right equipment to empower them to do the job well, to do it safer, cleaner, more efficient. Just things like that, that we've heard time and time again, it's a huge morale booster. At the end of the week, the guys aren't as tired. Literally, we've heard that time and time again, where the crews... And we've had different, we talked about this last time, Heidi, as far as employees versus subcontract labor. Either way, if it's a subcontract labor, we've heard they're more loyal to you, because you've provided the right equipment or you've helped them invest into it. So there's different ways to integrate it into different business processes and methods of whether you have employees and  literally you're enabling them to get the job done safer, cleaner, more efficient. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah, I agree. I think marketing comes to that, because your employees are also your brand ambassadors out there and  you want them to be proud. And when they're setting that up at the end of the day to have a billboard as everybody's driving home, you want that pride. Sam, you've done this for so many people I know on so many different levels. What are some of your advice to contractors on what they should have on their wraps? So when they're wrapping, let's start obviously go with the Equipter. What is some of the key elements and  some of the look and the feel that they should be thinking about as they're designing and ordering this wrap? 

Sam Beiler: Yeah, messaging is one of my favorite things and  the biggest thing is clarity. Clarity over clever is always a big thing for me. I don't necessarily care how clever your messaging might be. It's like, if I don't understand at a first glance what you do, you've wasted that impression. You're wasting the consumer's attention. So to me, that's the biggest thing, is think of a person you're driving down the road, you have your Equipter wrapped, you have maybe your truck wrapped. A normal person, most people, Heidi, don't live and breathe roofing like we do. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Right, you don't love it. 

Sam Beiler: I think you sometimes forget that. And so, we just have this assumption that, "Oh, people of course know what I do." 

But no, you're in a truck. You're towing this piece of equipment. People aren't going to naturally know that you're even a roofing company. So making sure, okay, the clarity of what do you provide is the main thing that you need to communicate. Again, think of like, okay, if you're thinking about getting your Equipter wrapped, think about it like a billboard, basically one statement and a call to action. Of course, your brand, your logo and things like that. But think probably no more words than one message and  maybe your website and phone number. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah and  maybe a QR code. I know that there's a lot of [inaudible 00:17:54] off their phones that are doing QR codes, yeah. 

Sam Beiler: Some sort of call to action like that. But again, don't overcrowd it. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I have to tell you, I just wrote this down and I'm going to post it. Clarity over clever. I have not heard that, but I think that is so true in today's marketing is there's so much noise, there's so much going on. And sometimes just even as we're developing things, I'll say, "Do you think people are going to really know what you're asking them to do? Does it make sense? Are we being so caught up either in our own world or trying to be so clever that people can be like, 'I don't understand.'" And I think that's so true. What you really want is you want those homeowners in that neighborhood to be able to get your information and get a hold of you, bottom line. 

Sam Beiler: Yep, yep. A hundred percent. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I know. 

Dave Beiler: Of where visually, with a wrap, you can do a lot with colors. Now I'm not saying multiple colors, but if you have a company color, I think that's huge, where you match the wow, the pop with the clarity. I think that is, yeah, that's really, really good, Sam. 

Heidi Ellsworth: You're kind of reading my mind right there when you just said that, because I was thinking after Sam, what you said is it is the color and  I'm thinking of the Equipter orange. You see that, you know immediately. Hopefully people know RoofersCoffeeShop red. That's who we are. And for contractors to be able to have those vibrant colors and that really stand out and  even if it's white with real vibrant colors in the words, I'm thinking of Broccoli Roofing. They have this beautiful blue that they put out there and  I think you're so right. That will catch people and  then they keep reading and they keep seeing what's going on. 

So how do you work with the contractors? So let's go through the process of when they're ordering their Equipter and  I know you guys have a lot of those going out the door right now. How do they work with you to order a wrap and  how do you help them with that? Do they just send in the design? I'm just thinking, because I know you two so well, that there has to be a little consultation there going and talking with the contractors. 

Dave Beiler: That's a good question. And so, we are really excited about this. It is a new product, like Sam mentioned. It's a new added on feature that we're offering. So super excited to see more of these Equipters roll out of Lancaster here with custom branded wraps. It's really simple. I mean, we're trying to keep it streamlined, so that you can get your order in place, your deposit for your 4000 and  we are working with a third party to facilitate the- 

Sam Beiler: Design. 

Dave Beiler: ... design. Yeah, so it's exciting, because it is simple. You'll get a log into, basically to a portal to upload your files if you got a logo and  then just upload the key information, phone number, any slogan, any type of thing that you got, upload that to a portal and  from there, then you'll get an email within a day or two with basically a module or a mock-up for your wrap. And so, it's really streamlined, fairly simple. We're trying to keep it to, it's not a drawn out process. And then, look for a mock-up. 

Heidi Ellsworth: A lot of contractors already have their trucks branded, so you should keep that consistency. 

Dave Beiler: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yep. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Let's talk a little bit about, okay, we've got this beautiful new Equipter, it's wrapped. It's ready to go, right? It's out in the field. Let's talk a little bit about how now contractors should be using that, because I think sometimes you get this and then some of the processes don't happen. Incorporating it into the sales, using pictures of your new wrapped Equipter within your sales presentation and really talking about it. Making sure the crews understand to lift it up at the end of the day, to make sure to have everything in the right place. What are some of the things that you're seeing and  let's start with sales and  Sam, let's start with you on what's some of your advice to contractors on really using the Equipter, using branding of what they're doing, wrapping the Equipter in their sales presentations to help close those deals. 

Sam Beiler: Yeah. So starting with, if you're using the Equipter to leverage that first impression, it's wrapped, it's in the front lawn. It's like, okay, a homeowner might have seen that. So it's like, okay, well, that question might be in the back of my mind. It's like, hey, what's that thing? But then actually in the sales conversation, we feel it's very important to really take a moment to focus on your roofing process and how you've invested in that as a roofing company, to really care about their expensive property, the landscaping that they probably invested thousands of dollars into. 

Most roofing companies will talk and spend most of their time on the roofing product, which is extremely important, whether you're using [inaudible 00:23:16], certain teed, what look do you want? Hey, what underlay, what quality of roofing system? Most roofing training, when you're actually talking about your product and stuff like that, a lot of that material revolves around the product that you're installing. And that's important, don't get me wrong, but we feel you can really get a leg up in your sales conversation if you also take a moment to talk about your roofing process and how that part of the product or service that the homeowner is buying is so much better than anyone else in the market. 

Heidi Ellsworth: That makes so much sense, because as a homeowner, okay, I'm going to pick my material. I'm going to try to really listen and care about the ventilation and the interlayment and  all those different kinds of things, but when it comes to protecting my roses, I'm going to have a vested interest. I'm really going to be like, "What's my lawn going to look like when you leave? How are my plants? How's my dog and kids going to," or I should say, kids and dogs, kids are more important, "kids and dogs going to be safe during this process?" So yeah, I think that is and  Dave kind of take that, because that I think is so important and really a differentiator. 

Dave Beiler: Yeah and  we've heard it spelled out even like this practically where Sam said it well, like take a moment and talk to them about that. And one practical way is, "Hey, customer, you may not realize, but there's approximately about 10,000 pounds of debris that needs to come off." And so, make it real practical. From there, you can say, "Hey, we have this piece of equipment that lifts up, goes over the flowers and shrubs to catch debris before it hits your flowers, your landscape." 

And so, in other words, we didn't just go out and buy a blue tarp and lay it over your flowers and shrubs and  hope that it doesn't. We've invested. We've spent the money to invest in the right equipment to protect your landscape and  we were going to do our best to make sure that 10,000 pounds, 12,000, whatever that's coming off the roof comes off safely and  we dispose of that the right way. So there's some practical ways that we've heard and seen have worked really well. If you just take a moment, like Sam said, take a moment to talk about this, because not a lot of people are talking about it and we should be. 

Heidi Ellsworth: And it seems like even taking that one step, like we talked about, talking to the sales team, talking to the production crews obviously, but then even the marketing folks within these companies, what an opportunity to now use this branded Equipter in their marketing materials. Even ahead of time, whether that's obviously creating the sales presentation, but there's a lot of other marketing materials, whether they're doing billboards or they're doing their digital ads or  Google Ads, whatever they may be doing to show that difference of, "We have the equipment that will protect your home. We have the solutions to protect your home and the performance products to protect it for many, many, many years, decades." 

That is a new way of thinking too, because I think sometimes within this industry, we get kind of caught up in a lot of the same things, but this gives kind of some new fuel for the marketing teams to use in their marketing programs. 

Sam Beiler: 100%. That's one of the things that I've enjoyed most about being able to brand and market the Equipter brand, is the core fundamental. It makes every marketing idea just so much easier when you have a cool piece of equipment to show off. Say for example, say you're doing social media content, like video content, what do I show? And we've seen leveraging just naturally, it's more exciting to a viewer. Someone's scrolling through social media, where it's like, "Oh, wait, equipment videos tend to go viral on TikTok." 

Heidi Ellsworth: They do, yeah. 

Sam Beiler: I'm even a sucker for those sometimes, where it's like, "Oh, this is a..." And you just kind of sit and watch it. What am I watching? A cool piece of equipment, doing a thing on a construction site. Those are some of the things that you can lean into from a marketing perspective, because it's like, hey, you've got something cool. Show it off. And what's that moat, that unique thing that you're able to leverage? And especially on social, it's a great, great thing to leverage for social if you're looking for video content. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I agree and  I mean, I even just think about the stuff we have on RoofersCoffeeShop for you guys, watching the Equipter go up and down, the social media we do, the different things. It is so cool and  I mean even thinking about pictures of the roof that the crew can send back into marketing, just by being up there, being at that different level with the Equipter. I mean, you're right. There's so many different things and time lapses and  watching it work around the roof. It gets me excited, actually, I think about all the different opportunities- 

Sam Beiler: [inaudible 00:28:28] a roof right now, Heidi? Let's go. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I know. Let's go. Let's go out to the field. It's sunny. It's not raining. Let's just get out there right now. 

Sam Beiler: Let's go. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I know, I know. Okay, so we've got everybody all excited out there. They all want their own Equipter and  they want it branded, so, where do they go? What do they do? How do they get started? 

Dave Beiler: Yeah, equipter.com is the best place to go or give us a call. We love chatting with people. We have guys here. That's what we do every day. We're talking to people, shoot us a text. All of the common ways to get ahold of us. Obviously social media, there's tons of stuff. Like Sam mentioned, we have people sharing stuff all the time. How they're using Equipter, it's a great way to see, visualize, "Okay, how's this thing? How's it used out in the real world?" Yeah, equipter.com, will get you started for sure. 

Heidi Ellsworth: And go out there, check out social media. You'll be stuck in watching all those reels with all the fun in Equipter moving up and down. Thank you both so much for this awesome Roofing Road Trips. This has been so much fun. 

Dave Beiler: Thanks, Heidi. Thanks so much for having us on here. It's been good. 

Sam Beiler: Thanks, Heidi. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Thank you. That is awesome. Thank all for listening. You can find all this information about Equipter, of course, on the Equipter directory, on RoofersCoffeeShop. Check it out. It just can be such a differentiator for your business, your marketing, everything that goes along with it. And if you listen to past podcasts, safety, production, labor, savings, you name it's across the board. So check out their directory on RoofersCoffeeShop, along with all of our podcasts under the read, listen, watch navigation. Be sure to get on your favorite podcast channel, set your notifications, subscribe so you don't miss a single episode. We'll be seeing you next time on Roofing Road Trips. 

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