Service leadership starts with strategy

By Jesse Sanchez 

Ellisha Loftus shares how scalable processes, mentorship and focused improvements can strengthen roofing service departments. 

Strong roofing service departments are built through strategy, communication and processes that help teams work more efficiently. On this episode of Roofing Road Trips®, host Megan Ellsworth spoke with Ellisha Loftus, growth consultant at Service First Solutions, about the experience shaping her approach to service leadership. 

Ellisha has nearly 16 years of experience in commercial roofing and 25 years in commercial construction. Her career has included helping develop customer relationship management systems, writing standard operating procedures and leading a service department that managed 52 two-person teams across the country. Those opportunities gave her a close look at the systems, positions and relationships that keep a roofing business moving. Reflecting on the lessons that have remained consistent throughout her career, Ellisha explained, “The underlying themes to success are always the same and that is having those repeatable processes that are scalable.” 

She added that those systems must remain centered on the people a roofing company serves, noting, “Everything that you do, do that with a client-focused nature, always think how does that affect the client and continue to be innovative, stay up with the new technologies.” At Service First Solutions, Ellisha works with roofing companies at different stages of growth. Some may be building a service department around one truck, while others are developing financial skills, implementing software or expanding established operations. 

Her approach begins with identifying manageable improvements that reduce duplicated work and return time to the team. When evaluating daily operations, Ellisha asks, “What are some small tweaks we can make to your day-to-day that will give you your time back to focus on the client?” 

Service First Solutions also brings service professionals together through peer groups, giving contractors opportunities to discuss challenges, exchange ideas and support one another. Ellisha emphasized that the collaborative nature of the roofing industry continues to fuel her passion for the work. 

Ultimately, her goal is to help contractors achieve measurable progress, whether that means improving margins, reducing indirect costs, developing employees or strengthening processes. Describing the team’s commitment to those outcomes, Ellisha stressed, “Anything that drives your business forward, we're there for.” 

Listen to the podcast or Watch the conversation to learn more about how strategic planning, scalable processes and targeted service improvements can help roofing contractors strengthen their departments!