It’s time to talk about manufacturer relationships! Andy Near of Empire Contractors, our beloved host, sits down with Matt Cullen of Castagra to discuss why it’s vital to have close relationships with your manufacturers and suppliers.
Matt is the Vice President of Business Development for Castagra and works closely with contractors, oftentimes meeting them on the roof to ensure his products are the right solution for the contractors’ and building owners’ needs, providing a better, faster roofing solution.
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Since every business is run in its own unique way, the way a contractor selects a manufacturer can vary greatly depending on what each contractor is looking for. Some search based on cost, performance, relationships, and even the quality of the products – some even search based on a mix of these features. However, it’s important to remember why the manufacturer exists and how they can help you. Contractors cannot all be knowledgeable about every product available on the market. By establishing a trusted relationship with your manufacturer, you can tap into their direct knowledge of the product. This will be the base for building a trusting relationship between the manufacturer and the contractor.
When you have a relationship with trust, it opens up the door for both parties to do their job and allows the contractor to be a consultant for their customer. It is the contractor’s job to find out new products that are better, faster, and innovative to bring to their customers.
It’s also important to remember that size doesn’t always matter when it comes to trusting a manufacturer. Just because one is bigger, it does not mean it’s better. Smaller manufacturers provide attention to detail that larger manufacturers can’t provide. Unless you’re a multimillion or billion operation, you likely won’t get the attentive service from a large manufacturer, like you would from a smaller, specialized one.
How Working with a Manufacturer Can Help with Warranties
Establishing good relationships make you work hand in hand with each other. It likely starts well before you have the job. Quite a few manufacturers would rather work alongside contractors to make sure that their products are a good fit before the product is applied. Personally, Matt works alongside his contractors and does tests on roofs to determine if their product will resolve the client’s issues. That way, the manufacturer can be confident before application. They know their product will serve the needs of the building owner, and a full NDL warranty can be provided.
When you have a great relationship with your manufacturer, if you do come across a warranty issue, you tend to have more clout than someone who just started working with them. The manufacturer will know that you have always followed the guidelines outlined, gone through the steps, and all the right processes. Warranty claims and issues will be handled rapidly, usually with little question, with the manufacturer doing everything they can to make it right.
On the flip side, if you bounce around from manufacturer to manufacturer, and do not have an established relationship, warranty claims can get more complicated. If there’s a problem or failure with the roof, the manufacturer’s immediate reaction isn’t necessarily to trust you, but instead to figure out what went wrong, including questioning if the contractor did something to apply the product incorrectly.
Another important step for contractors is to understand your warranty’s fine print, not just for yourself, but for your clients. Some manufacturers have 20-pages worth of exclusions and fine print that you should know deeply. If you’re unsure about any part, ask your manufacturer to explain so you’re thoroughly well-informed with the warranty inside and out. But it’s also important to note that warranties are just words on paper. As long as communication and trust is there for the building owner, contractor, and manufacturer, most issues can be resolved without having to worry about the legal language.
Final Thoughts on Manufacturer Relationships
There are numerous contractors who order their supplies last minute. To keep your relationships with your manufacturers in good standing, it’s important to try to give enough notice for the manufacturer to truly perform how you need. Two weeks’ notice can get you a lot further than a 24-hour turnaround. Stay on top of your material ordering. If you continue to give your manufacturer short notice, you could burn the bridge and see problems with relationships in the future. Although let’s be honest. No company is perfect. There are times when things slip through the cracks, but as long as those times aren’t a regular occurrence, you’ll be amazed by how quickly your manufacturer will bend over backward to help ship material as quickly as possible.
When it comes to ordering products, many contractors choose based on cost. That is where volume rebates can come into play. When a roofer is talking to a manufacturer, a volume rebate not only helps develop relationships, but it speeds up timeframes to develop the relationship. We all know that and everyone is out there to make money – not burn calories. So the juice has to be worth the squeeze. That’s why manufacturers want their contractors to have a leg in the race. When they are doing well, they want their clients to do well. That way everyone gets a piece of the pie – financially speaking.
And while we’re on the topic of cost, there are some contractors that don’t understand why someone would go with a higher cost manufacturer. Personally, Andy prefers going with manufacturers who are higher cost, or at least middle of the road. When people ask him why he uses them, he always explains that it is because the higher price establishes a better relationship and open communication. He is not afraid to admit he feels a little bit more love from the more expensive options.
His final bit of advice is for contractors who dance around from manufacturers based on sales and incentives, never really committing to one product. He wants to remind them that this way of operating doesn’t allow a door to establish a relationship with a manufacturer that will work hard for them. Relationships are everything. Invest in relationships.
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