Insights from a Roofing Manufacturer

Summary

CertainTeed's Larry Sernick has been selling shingles for almost 30 years, and he's watched the industry shift right in front of his eyes.

This episode, Pete and Larry discuss slower storm seasons, class 4 shingles going mainstream, and solar creeping into roofing's territory — all from a manufacturer's perspective.

Larry also shares his thoughts on retail sales, credentialing, and where the manufacturing side of roofing is headed next.

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In this episode:

• Why retail sales skills matter when storm season goes quiet

• Referrals are jobs to lose, not jobs to win

• How a 25-year-old contractor built a business on repairs

• What CertainTeed's credential program actually requires

• The 150% jump in class 4 shingle sales

• Why "good, better, best" is backwards for retail sales

• Where solar fits into roofing's future

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Transcript

00:00:00:01 - 00:00:10:10

Speaker 1

I never thought in 30 years in this business that I'd be selling a rubber shingle. The biggest thing is to got to learn how to sell retail.

00:00:10:13 - 00:00:26:04

Speaker 2

You're listening to The Roofer Report, the ultimate podcast for roofing professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs. Get insider access and hear about the highs, lows and tales of triumphs from thriving business owners. Brought to you by roofer, hosted by Pete McKendrick.

00:00:26:06 - 00:00:48:08

Speaker 3

All right. Hey, everybody, welcome back to the Roofer Report. I'm your host, Pete McKendrick, and we are back with another great episode here today. Trying to start to mix it up a bit for a while. You know, we had a lot of our roofer of the month, and we're still going to, you know, feature that, but we're trying to mix in some other industry experts and even some folks from outside the industry just to kind of keep some fresh topics and give you guys some, some other insight.

00:00:48:08 - 00:01:07:08

Speaker 3

And so excited to jump into it today with one of our partners, you know, a great organization that we've been working with, last couple of years. And I know that our team has been traveling all over with their team. And, you know, it's been a really good relationship. So very excited today to be joined by Larry Cynic of Certainty.

00:01:07:11 - 00:01:08:12

Speaker 3

So welcome, Larry.

00:01:08:16 - 00:01:16:12

Speaker 1

Thank you very much. I appreciate this opportunity and we enjoy working with your company.

00:01:16:13 - 00:01:35:03

Speaker 3

Yeah, I really appreciate it. I know that, you know, our our team has been traveling with you guys doing the the stadium tour that you guys do for the last couple of years. And always speak very highly of your team. And, so really excited to kind of dive into it with you today. Give it folks a little bit of background, Larry, on what you do at certainty.

00:01:35:03 - 00:01:39:09

Speaker 3

And, you know, kind of like your background in the industry a bit.

00:01:39:11 - 00:02:09:19

Speaker 1

Sure. So I've been with certainty for almost 30 years. I'm a senior territory manager. Basically, it's a glorified, title for a sales guy, but we don't look at it as a sales guys. We look at it as more partnerships with our contractors and, and mentors. You know, not you know, obviously we're trying to sell a product, but we're trying to help them with their business and grow their business.

00:02:09:19 - 00:02:37:20

Speaker 1

So I did this for 25 years in Michigan. I covered Western Michigan, retired because we were going to become grandparents. And, after a year sitting on the sideline, I got bored. And certainty had a position here in southern Minnesota. And so I've been back to work for five and a half years and enjoying myself working with contractors and distribution.

00:02:37:22 - 00:03:00:17

Speaker 3

I love it. I'll tell you, we did a couple of years ago, we did our own tours called rise, and we traveled all over the United States. You know, East coast, central, West coast, all over and speaking and doing, holding an event. And one of my one of the most surprising places for me because I'd never been and like, pleasantly surprising places, was visiting Minneapolis.

00:03:00:19 - 00:03:02:23

Speaker 3

I was so impressed. Great.

00:03:03:01 - 00:03:17:17

Speaker 1

We we love the city. We lived 25 miles or 25 minute drive from there, and my wife and I get down there at least once a week, either Minneapolis or Saint Paul. It's it's a great, great cities.

00:03:17:19 - 00:03:56:11

Speaker 3

Yeah. I was super impressed. I really liked it there. I still talk about it. I say like this, probably one of the nicest places that roofing has taken me, you know, great in my years of traveling all over the place so. Well that's fantastic. I mean, I love that you guys are taking that approach, right? And I think it's literally a conversation that I just had with some folks in the industry and even internally the other day about, you know, this, this idea that I think the future kind of of, of these roofing relationships between folks like yourself, us and the contractor is more of like a mentoring coaching kind of approach.

00:03:56:12 - 00:04:14:01

Speaker 3

Right. And I think, you know, like we were even talking about our software. Right. And the idea that our software has always been, you know, we've always sort of like CRMs and things like that is just another tool in their tool belt, and you sell it to them and then they do what they want with it. And I think the days of of that are a bit behind us.

00:04:14:01 - 00:04:31:11

Speaker 3

And I think this idea of like, okay, how do we mentor them, coach them, how to effectively use it. And that's something that I think you guys have done a really good job with. You have an incredible program and stuff like that, and we'll dive into it in a couple of minutes here. But let's talk a little bit about the industry, kind of the the state of the Union here.

00:04:31:12 - 00:04:52:12

Speaker 3

Sure. You know, obviously a lot of conversations about how slow things have been. You know, I know a lot of contractors that I talked to have just been like, you know, hey, it's the last whatever year and a half, two years have been kind of really slow for them. And, you know, I have some contractors up in Minnesota and a couple here where I'm at in Kentucky that are just like, man, it's it's been slow, you know?

00:04:52:13 - 00:05:01:18

Speaker 3

So what have you guys been doing in that time? You know, kind of help guide contractors or, or help them with that type of situation? Sure, sure.

00:05:01:18 - 00:05:32:14

Speaker 1

So, you know, like I said, I've been back back to work for five and a half years. And when I was in Michigan, I didn't depend on storms. It was it was mostly retail. And so what I've been trying to do the last couple years since there hasn't been any storms, is work with my credential contractors, and young guys coming up on how to do not insurance work, not, you know, chasing a storm.

00:05:32:20 - 00:05:59:21

Speaker 1

And, you know, and that's a challenge to, but I think some of them are doing okay with it. The people that have been around, you know, their reputation precedes them are doing maybe two weeks worth of work they have out and other guys are going day to day. So, basically the biggest thing is they got to learn how to sell retail.

00:05:59:23 - 00:06:30:10

Speaker 1

And also with that, it gives them the opportunity to send higher. Excuse me, sell higher end product as I'm sure you know. Pardon me. Certainty has a huge variety of shingles. And we have what's called a luxury line. So when they're selling retail they can talk about, you know, our, our luxury shingles such as grand man or presidential along with, you know, our go to landmark shingle.

00:06:30:15 - 00:06:42:00

Speaker 1

So I think that's the biggest thing we have worked on the last couple of years is, is working on teaching them how to do retail.

00:06:42:02 - 00:06:49:21

Speaker 3

Yeah, I love that. You know, it's funny, I said, I remember someone saying, you know, insurance might make you rich, but retail will pay the bills, right?

00:06:50:02 - 00:07:19:15

Speaker 1

Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Again, this is all new to me. The the storms and everything. And because like I said, in Michigan we didn't have that. So it's it's a change. It's a change. So I'm glad I had the experience of basically retail for 25 years. You know, we got lucky with a hailstorm here or there. But, hopefully my experience can help these guys in my territory.

00:07:19:17 - 00:07:21:18

Speaker 1

Sell some roof.

00:07:21:20 - 00:07:36:12

Speaker 3

Yeah. And, you know, it's a big thing that we push on our side, too, from a software standpoint, is this idea. I like that you touched on the variety of shingles that you guys offer because we often, you know, guide refers to use our product and what we call it, we like to call it a best better good.

00:07:36:12 - 00:07:58:06

Speaker 3

Right. Like always put your your best one forward. You know everybody says good, better, best. But we kind of flipped it and said you know present the the highest level shingle first and then work your way down from there instead of work trying to work your way up to it. And but having those options, I think are a great way to sell retail and, you know, and kind of put the power back in the, the customer's hands.

00:07:58:07 - 00:08:13:21

Speaker 3

Right. Or at least give them the idea that the power is in their hands to make an educated choice because homeowners are changing a bit, right? They're doing their homework more. It's the information is a lot more readily available to them. So it's a lot easier for them to understand what they're doing before they even talk to you.

00:08:13:21 - 00:08:14:23

Speaker 3

So you're right.

00:08:15:00 - 00:08:39:09

Speaker 1

And you make a great point there. I don't mean to interrupt, but again, I'm telling my contractors that when you go in there that they're going to expect you to be the expert, but they've been online, they've been reading this. So you have to be solid in your approach to them and tell them, hey, I've been doing this for X amount of years.

00:08:39:11 - 00:09:06:05

Speaker 1

This is how we've done it, how we've been successful. This is why you called me. And, you know, you can. That's very important that you again, you know, we're talking about mentorship and stuff that that contractor walking in the door has to think to himself that he or she is the expert, and they're going to be teaching this homeowner something.

00:09:06:07 - 00:09:28:00

Speaker 3

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we we often joke about it, but it's a huge part of what we try to push is, my, my co-host Nick on, on our webinar, always jokes about, transparency, transparency and education. Right. And like, those are the two big things that are going to buy you success when you go into the into the house with the customer, you know, is they want to be educated.

00:09:28:00 - 00:09:49:07

Speaker 3

They want you to essentially say to them, like, I am the expert, you know, let me answer any questions that you have. And like you said, they they've done some homework. They at least have some knowledge now probably, you know, enough to be dangerous. Right. So and have a conversation with you. But you being able to answer any questions or, you know, potentially guide them in the right direction of what's the best options.

00:09:49:08 - 00:10:04:06

Speaker 3

You know, those those things are going to go a long way. I mean, obviously the trust factor is a huge, huge part of the selling process. And so, you know, being able to be professional and knowledgeable is a huge part of gaining that street cred, right? That trust me.

00:10:04:08 - 00:10:32:06

Speaker 1

Absolutely. But you know, in, in, in the retail world, you know, most of these are coming from leads, from neighbors or whatever, or just, knowing their name around their community. So once they, those kind of contractors get in the door, they just have to be able to, like you said, educate, you know, and and be knowledgeable about what they're doing.

00:10:32:10 - 00:10:33:20

Speaker 1

So.

00:10:33:22 - 00:10:39:14

Speaker 3

Yeah, contractor told me once, he said, if you're getting referrals, those are essentially your jobs to lose.

00:10:39:16 - 00:10:46:01

Speaker 1

100%. That that is a great line, that that's a true statement.

00:10:46:03 - 00:11:02:18

Speaker 3

So yeah, it's yeah. And you got to think of it that way, right? Like it's you just have to go in there and establish your credibility and establish, you know, that little bit of trust because these people, they've come to you, especially if they've come as a referral. Right? They've come probably recommended by, like you said, a neighbor or someone else in the community.

00:11:03:00 - 00:11:26:01

Speaker 3

You know, they're they're expecting to go with you. Like the only way you're going to lose that job is if you essentially talk to them out of it. So, you know, and you got to kind of take that approach. So talk a little bit about, you know, obviously, I think that's great. I think one of the things that we talk about here a lot of times too, is repairs, which is highly overlooked a lot of times, and how repairs can help carry you in a time like this.

00:11:26:03 - 00:11:47:20

Speaker 3

I've seen more and more contractors that are new to the industry really starting heavy in repairs and then parlaying that into a reroutes down the road, which I think is a great entryway. I think it's a great way to learn roofing, as well as, you know, take on much smaller ticket jobs. So you're not getting a little overwhelmed in the beginning.

00:11:47:20 - 00:11:56:05

Speaker 3

But talk a little bit about that and like what you're seeing with that. Are you seeing more guys starting to add repair text and take the repair?

00:11:56:07 - 00:12:24:02

Speaker 1

So that's it's funny you say this. It's almost like we set you set that, question for me because literally, literally last week there's a young man, he's about 25 years old. He's been doing some roofing with another company. And, he called me and said, hey, I, I'm going out on my own. I've been out for a couple months and can you meet?

00:12:24:02 - 00:12:49:01

Speaker 1

So I met with them and he goes, all I'm doing right now is doing repairs. I'm letting people know that getting repairs. He said that he'll go up, take a look at a roof, repair it. And you know, if contractor, another contractor said, oh, you need a new roof. He's telling these homeowners, no, you got another five, ten years or whatever.

00:12:49:03 - 00:13:18:13

Speaker 1

But he said that by doing these repairs from either referrals or like family, friends. His name's getting out there. He's making decent money. He has no overhead right now. And, you know, and he's building, he's putting all his money back into his business. But you're right. Repair work can make you a lot of money either if you're established.

00:13:18:13 - 00:13:37:05

Speaker 1

But even more importantly, like you said, if you're just starting out, this is a great way to get your name out there. So yeah, whether it's roofing or siding or anything in the building, you know, of the house, you know, repair work is a great way to start.

00:13:37:07 - 00:13:56:06

Speaker 3

Yeah. And the thing about it is, the piece that a lot of people don't realize is that repair work, like for a guy like that right now, he's just exclusively doing repairs. But come two years from now, all these people that he's doing repairs on, when that roof starts to when they know they need a roof, right. Like he's saying to them, oh, you get another five years out of this.

00:13:56:07 - 00:14:20:21

Speaker 3

Well, guess who they're probably going to call five years from now to do that roof, right. Well, they feel like treated them right, you know. And so in the moment and so yeah. So I think that that's a missed piece. Right. Is that a lot of the times you're you're laying the groundwork for much larger jobs. And the thing about it is when those people that he's repairing now do get to the point where they need a new roof, his company will probably also be mature enough to then handle those Re roofs.

00:14:20:22 - 00:14:22:21

Speaker 3

Right. So it all kind of works together.

00:14:22:23 - 00:14:48:20

Speaker 1

Exactly. In the light of my, larger contractors actually do still, and this is pretty obvious, but they have a, an actual repair department that will take care of roofing and citing, repairs. So but again, not knowing how they started, I wouldn't be surprised if they started out just doing repairs.

00:14:48:22 - 00:15:08:03

Speaker 3

Yeah. And it's great for if you have if you're in an area like where you are, where it's fairly seasonal too, if you have employees that you're trying to keep busy through, that you know, through that time frame and maybe, you know, things are starting to slow down. Repairs are a great way to kind of carry the business through that slower time to we don't like to stay off season here like there's no off season, right?

00:15:08:04 - 00:15:08:12

Speaker 3

No.

00:15:08:12 - 00:15:12:06

Speaker 1

There really isn't there's no no.

00:15:12:08 - 00:15:28:20

Speaker 3

Talk a little bit about. So you know obviously we're talking about the education piece kind of heavy here and and how important that is from the contractor educating the homeowner. But what are you guys doing at certainty to educate the contractors and help them to be better prepared?

00:15:28:22 - 00:16:05:08

Speaker 1

That's a great question. So we have, credential programs, just like our competitors do as well. But one thing that I believe we stand out against our competitors are that to become credentialed with certainty, you have to go to a class, take test. You know, we educate you through these classes, through these tests. We do hands on training as part of the credentialing program.

00:16:05:10 - 00:16:40:16

Speaker 1

So we're doing a lot of things where instead of just we're holding contractors accountable to use our products and to, you know, use our extended warranties, whereas our competitors, are just basically saying, okay, you can be this credential guy and you can be that credential guy. We're we are very serious about the education to these contractors because again, you know, when they go put a roof on, it doesn't say, certainty down there.

00:16:40:18 - 00:17:05:11

Speaker 1

It says roofer X, y, Z. It's his name or her name that's going on that roof. So we want to make sure that they're educated enough to know how to install shingles. Their safety. Yeah, we cover safety. We cover estimating ventilation, all that stuff all rolls in in into our our education.

00:17:05:12 - 00:17:25:07

Speaker 3

Yeah. I think you guys are one of the only organizations, one of the only manufacturers that does individual certifications as well as companies. Right. As well as my company I can have as an individual, like like you said, like that guy starting out, he could essentially as himself get certified correct credentials. Yes, yes.

00:17:25:12 - 00:17:53:13

Speaker 1

So, and again, I'm speaking mainly for myself, but I know my colleagues as well. When you get in our credential contractor program, you're basically protected because we don't add other people, because we want to take care of the guys who we know are going to do a great job. And, you know, we got to make sure we take care of them.

00:17:53:15 - 00:18:03:14

Speaker 3

So you're essentially, if I become a certified a credentialed contractor in a in an area more or less, I'm going to have that area right? I'm going to be that contractor for that area.

00:18:03:16 - 00:18:13:07

Speaker 1

Depending on the size, the way I, the way I work, it is depending on the size, how many credential contractors I can have in that area.

00:18:13:09 - 00:18:13:20

Speaker 3

Nice.

00:18:13:21 - 00:18:15:10

Speaker 1

So yeah.

00:18:15:12 - 00:18:40:22

Speaker 3

Talk a little bit about products. Right. Like let's talk a little bit about you mentioned you guys have a very wide array of products a certainty I know landmark obviously probably the most familiar for most people. But you guys have a good bit more products. And why the extensive line and why and what are some of the benefits of having that more extensive line and then just saying like, hey, you know, here's our shingle, you know, take it or leave it, right.

00:18:41:00 - 00:18:44:21

Speaker 3

You guys have developed a pretty significant line of shingles.

00:18:44:23 - 00:19:20:12

Speaker 1

Correct. So we've got everything from a slate looking, to a diamond shaped shingle. We've got would shake looking shingles. It's it's basically given the, the homeowner an opportunity to take a look at different, different things. They may want something different than just a regular laminated shingle. So again, we go from all the, the high end stuff, you know, grand man or Belmont Presidential carriage House.

00:19:20:13 - 00:19:33:15

Speaker 1

And then, the biggest thing I'm seeing right now is, and I don't know if you were going to bring this up, but class for shingles. Yeah. So okay.

00:19:33:17 - 00:19:38:01

Speaker 3

That was my next question. Okay. So so perfect. Perfect Segway. Yeah.

00:19:38:05 - 00:20:18:14

Speaker 1

So class four as most people know is a hail impact, not hail proof, hail impact shingle. And again, being in a a somewhat of a storm market, I probably have seen a 150% growth in our class for shingles. So, the two main ones would be Landmark Climate Flex. So it's basically the same colors as our regular landmark line, but it's an SBS shingle, basically rubber.

00:20:18:16 - 00:20:43:10

Speaker 1

And so a lot of guys are, are skipping past landmark and going to landmark climate flats. It's not a huge, cost wise. It's not much. Much more in labor wise is basically the same. And then we have one which I in my 30 years in this industry, I think we have the best shingle ever made.

00:20:43:10 - 00:21:17:09

Speaker 1

Northgate. And that's an SBS shingle as well. Max definition. Colors. Four bundles to the square. You know, it's a little bit heavier than the landmark Climate Flex. And, it I never thought in 30 years in this business that I'd be selling a rubber shingle and but my sales literally, are just jumping off the charts with landmark Clam and Flex and Northgate.

00:21:17:11 - 00:21:53:00

Speaker 1

And with that said, talking about the luxury shingles, a few of our luxury shingles are class four as well, but they're not SBS. So what's important and what I again talk about educating contractors and them the homeowner. When you use a class four shingle on a home, that homeowner is going to get a better discount on their insurance premiums because of being a class four shingle, a hail, impact shingle.

00:21:53:02 - 00:22:16:20

Speaker 3

Yeah, I think that, you know, obviously that seems to be like the trend right now right from any is to produce these these insurance class, these class for shingles. And so it'll be very interesting to see I think over the next couple of years, if that becomes essentially the standard install right on insurance job specifically, I would assume that eventually the insurance company is going to require that shingle.

00:22:16:22 - 00:22:49:16

Speaker 1

Yes, I, I can see that happening. I mean, again, like I said, in my sales, I can just tell that landmark is slowing down and Landmark Climate Flex and Northgate, are just are growing. I literally have three credential contractors, larger size guys that only will the the only regular shingle they will sell is Northgate and then they go up from there.

00:22:49:18 - 00:22:56:14

Speaker 1

If you come, you know, they say this is what I believe in. So they sell Northgate.

00:22:56:15 - 00:23:20:20

Speaker 3

Talk about a little bit about the selling advantages. If I'm a roofer. Right. And obviously like I'm looking at maybe I'm new and I'm trying to pick a manufacturer like what would be there, the best sales pitches for me to use, why would I want to go with, why would I want to present certainty, maybe over some of the other shingle manufacturers, as far as you know, what's going to give me some some things to, you know, some credibility, some selling credibility.

00:23:20:20 - 00:23:30:19

Speaker 3

And like, I know you guys do the fortified roof plant, you know, thing for homeowners and stuff. So, you know, talk a little bit about like some of those programs and how that gives me a selling advantage.

00:23:30:20 - 00:24:04:04

Speaker 1

Well again, a couple things. Just the shingle itself. We have third party certification that Underwriters Laboratories that come into our labs or excuse me, into our plants and actually take shingles off of the line and get them tested to make sure they're they're meeting spec. Whereas our competitors, as far as I know, every six months, will send in what they want to send in to you.

00:24:04:04 - 00:24:39:04

Speaker 1

L so we got that. We've got, you can get up to unlimited wind warranty with our product. We have what's called quadratic bond where we've got where the laminate pieces come together. We've got four, sealants to keep keep the shingle together. We don't have any, color issues because everything that's run can be mixed with something from a different, lumber yard or distributor.

00:24:39:04 - 00:25:07:12

Speaker 1

So, no, there's no, no problems with that. We're the only manufacturer. I believe that actually in the warranty covers, color on the roof if there's something wrong, wrong there. But to go back to another selling point, why would you want to be with certainty? Our credential programs offer a 50 year non-Pro warranty, just like our competitors do.

00:25:07:14 - 00:25:45:14

Speaker 1

But we also have, things that I can't, you know, really tell you. But unless you're in the program. But we have things that help these credential contractors with everything from marketing to education. And, you know, we cover their workmanship if you're in a certain program up to 30 years. So there's, and you got a company that literally will handle again, I've been doing it 30 years in.

00:25:45:16 - 00:26:01:13

Speaker 1

We take care of our claims. We're not perfect. We're we're going to have problems. Everybody does. And the most important thing about certainty and and again, I wouldn't have been here this long if they didn't take care of their, their problems.

00:26:01:17 - 00:26:24:06

Speaker 3

So yeah, that's fantastic. And I know that you guys have a fantastic partner program that we're a part of. You know, to, to help contractors with things like software and some of the other third party things that you guys don't necessarily deal with on a regular basis. And so, you know, we've been a part of that now for a couple of years.

00:26:24:06 - 00:26:38:06

Speaker 3

And, you know, that's been fantastic. And I know you guys have a good stable of partners, you know, to help with the education piece and to supplement what you guys are doing for the contractors as well.

00:26:38:08 - 00:26:48:08

Speaker 1

Well, and maybe because of one of your coworkers at roofer Liz,

00:26:48:10 - 00:26:49:03

Speaker 3

Live.

00:26:49:05 - 00:27:36:10

Speaker 1

Liz made a great impression on a bunch of us sales guys, and she traveled with us. And now we have another gentleman here. That's covering. He he comes to my, distribution, cookouts and, and once they get away from our booth, they line up at, at your booth, and, and I tell my contract, I would say the majority of my contractors work with you guys, and, you know, to some extent, and, I, I push it and I know, I don't know if this is okay to do, but I, I think your program is great.

00:27:36:14 - 00:27:44:00

Speaker 1

It basically can do everything in one, one app with you guys.

00:27:44:02 - 00:28:01:22

Speaker 3

Yeah. No, it's been great. I know this has been a great relationship. And and, you know, my wife works for another company in this industry who's also partnered with you guys project map it. And so they travel. They travel a lot and do a lot of events with you guys. And I know that it's been a really positive experience for them as well.

00:28:01:22 - 00:28:19:07

Speaker 3

So, yeah. So it's been a I know you guys take care of your partners and, and it's been, you know, it works really well, I think on the contractors behalf. And so, yeah, I mean, so what is the future hold, what do you think the future holds for certainty? And, you know, what's next for you guys?

00:28:19:09 - 00:28:19:19

Speaker 3

Well.

00:28:19:23 - 00:28:47:05

Speaker 1

You know, honestly, you know, we talked about it just a second ago. I just I can just see the industry going to class for shingles. It leased in our markets in the Midwest here. You know, maybe South, you know, in Texas. But, I think that is one of the biggest growth things I, I see with our company.

00:28:47:11 - 00:29:22:14

Speaker 1

I'm sure they'll come up with ideas of other luxury type of shingles. I'm not too knowledgeable about it, but I think solar, we we were involved with solar, and I can't really speak of it as a, I just don't know that much about it, but, I get some interest here and, but a so I think certainty is going to be at the forefront of solar because a couple of our competitors have basically either left the market, or they're not going to be doing solar anymore.

00:29:22:14 - 00:29:41:08

Speaker 1

So, yeah. It's it's been a big push here, and it's just a matter of getting our contractors to understand it, to be knowledgeable about it. And but I can see solar being a, being a pretty big thing in the future.

00:29:41:10 - 00:30:04:13

Speaker 3

Yeah. And I think more and more we're seeing a consolidation or a merger of those two industries more so than ever before, I think, you know, obviously there was more or less a line in the sand between solar and roofing. It seemed like for a long time. And I think now you're starting to see more and more roofing companies take on solar as another offering, or even maybe like a second entity.

00:30:04:15 - 00:30:27:03

Speaker 3

You know, we have a brand. You'll be on our our webinar series on Tuesday and he he does both. He actually built two companies simultaneously. One does roofing, one does solar that complement each other. And, you know, and they sell a lot together and just they just work really well together. And so being able to potentially rely on, on one manufacturer to supply both would be huge, right?

00:30:27:04 - 00:30:41:12

Speaker 3

For the contractor standpoint, both from a training and education standpoint. But also, you know, just from a material sourcing standpoint, you know, not have to have a whole separate business to, you know, just to those products. So yeah. Yeah.

00:30:41:14 - 00:31:08:18

Speaker 1

There's I it's not part of my territory. But in Minneapolis there's a company that has a solar division and a residential division. And I think the biggest thing is and it's ironic, I just we just had to do a survey for our corporate, and, they asked about solar, and I said that we should get the the contractors who you think you can do it or that are interested.

00:31:08:18 - 00:31:31:01

Speaker 1

We need to get them hands on training. We need to get them, you know, to see how the products made, how how to estimate all that kind of stuff. And because, you know, the install, I guess is pretty easy. But it's all the matter of finding electrician. And, yeah, there's.

00:31:31:02 - 00:31:32:16

Speaker 3

A lot more to it.

00:31:32:18 - 00:32:03:16

Speaker 1

Yes, there's a lot of moving pieces. But I think if, if there's, you know, opportunities for a couple contractors in your territory to go learn about it, you know, a three day educational thing and, and get them excited about it and not I think most of the people are most of the contractors are, intimidated by it, you know, or because they don't know how to sell solar, you know, how to price it and things like that.

00:32:03:16 - 00:32:06:05

Speaker 1

So, yeah.

00:32:06:06 - 00:32:21:22

Speaker 3

No, I love it. And I think, like you said, I think that that's a big are going to be a big push in the future. Like I think it's just a matter of time until that that whole thing becomes a major part of, of our space here. And so, man, I want to thank you, Larry. This has been fantastic jumping on today.

00:32:21:22 - 00:32:31:19

Speaker 3

This has been great information. If I'm a contractor who currently does not use certainty but is interested, how do I get in touch with you guys or how do I find maybe my local rep?

00:32:31:21 - 00:32:55:03

Speaker 1

Just go to certainty.com. So and you'll be able to figure that out. You know, another great way is just ask your where you're buying your shingles from, or you're going to buy your shingles from any, distributor or lumber yard will. I would hope they would know who the reps are. So.

00:32:55:05 - 00:32:55:21

Speaker 3

Yeah. Yeah.

00:32:56:01 - 00:32:57:20

Speaker 1

So yeah.

00:32:57:22 - 00:33:02:18

Speaker 3

You guys got any good events coming up in the future here in the near future?

00:33:02:20 - 00:33:38:16

Speaker 1

Nothing in the in the near future. I'm sure corporates going to do some of those big stadium things again next year. And you know I, I just do I do events at, at my distributors and and lumber yards, you know, you know, where you get anywhere from 20 to 200 people depending on where you are. And, so yeah, that's that's about our busy time, honestly, is in the winter doing all these shows and yeah, everything.

00:33:38:17 - 00:33:41:10

Speaker 1

So my busy time is coming up.

00:33:41:14 - 00:33:49:12

Speaker 3

Yeah, we're getting back into it. Show season is right around the corner. So sure it's on all the traveling starts. Yeah. Yes, yes.

00:33:49:12 - 00:34:01:17

Speaker 1

So. Well well thank you so much. This is a great opportunity. And, if you got any further questions. Yeah. Reach out.

00:34:01:19 - 00:34:18:16

Speaker 3

Yeah. I really appreciate it, Larry. I appreciate the time this morning. And like I said, great, great insight, great information. And, yeah, if you guys are interested in certain teed, or have any questions, you know. Feel free to hit up your local rep. And like Larry said, your distributor should be able to point you in the right direction.

00:34:18:18 - 00:34:37:13

Speaker 3

Or you can hit up their website if you need to find somebody locally to get Ahold of. But, you know, a great, great group of people and a great product over there. And we're happy to be partnered with you guys. You know, for the last couple of years, it's been a great relationship. And I know Liz talks very highly of everybody there and you as well.

00:34:37:13 - 00:34:47:12

Speaker 3

So it's been fantastic. And my wife, like I said, my wife travels with you guys quite often and speaks very highly to the team there as well. So, you know, I appreciate you jumping on.

00:34:47:13 - 00:34:51:02

Speaker 1

Yeah. Yeah. This is great. Thank you so much.

00:34:51:04 - 00:34:57:15

Speaker 3

All right. Well, thank you, everybody for listening. And we will talk to you next time on the roof report. Thanks, everybody. Hey, everybody.

00:34:57:15 - 00:35:08:00

Speaker 4

Thank you for listening. Check us out next time on the roofer podcast. But until then, be sure to like us, subscribe to us and check out all our other episodes on YouTube and Spotify.

‍

Additional resources

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Published on
October 14, 2026
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