It’s common knowledge that communication is key between friends, spouses, and even between your son and his basketball coach. Communication and customer service is severely lacking in the roofing and construction industry as whole, and that includes Salt Lake City and surrounding areas. If choosing an attentive contractor is important to you, keep reading.
This void in the industry is actually what inspired me to start EZ Roofing years ago. After hearing all of the stories where homeowners were left on the back-burner, I knew that I could do better for my fellow Utahns. Some of the people I have talked to over the years had roofers that never got anything done and were just being strung along. Others had their roof fixed, only for their calls to fall on deaf ears when a leak or issue sprung up months or years later. Some customers even had a great roof installed that never leaked, yet still felt sour about their experience – just because of their roofers lack of responsiveness. If you’re reading this, you are probably like me and feel that awesome customer service is important to you too.
So I’ll get to the point: communication and customer service is key when choosing a roofer. From beginning to end, any question or concern you have should be addressed quickly to make the process as easy and comfortable as possible for you. Getting a new roof can be stressful, so you don’t want to ever be left in the dark. How do you know that a roofing company will have exceptional communication and customer service? There is no guarantee, but here are a few tips.
1. Analyze the sales person/roofers willingness to answer questions in detail.
This can be an early indicator of their enthusiasm and detail-orientation before you sign the contract. You’ll want the salesman handling your roofing project to answer all of your questions in detail, with a lot of energy and confidence! A roofer who isn’t enthusiastic and a source of information during your first appointment will likely not improve in these areas after you’re in a legally binding contract with them.
When doing it right, he should ensure that you understand every aspect of the roofing process whether it be insurance or retail, and invite you to call or text him at any time if you have any questions. One of my favorite lines is to tell my customers that they can call me anytime… even at 3am, because their customer experience is that important to me. I’ve only had one person take me up on that offer so far and I did answer! Because an attentive roofer is a good roofer.. right?
2. Check online reviews on Google and the BBB.
A lot times this can be a great indicator that a company gives good or bad service, period. Whether it is customer service, or quality of installation, these should be the first two websites that you visit to see if any ignored customers have left a bad review. A recent Zendesk Customer Service Study found that 86% of the time a consumer quit doing business with a company was because of bad customer service, you don’t want to be a part of that statistic!
3. Ask your roofer if their company has a system in place to make sure you will receive great customer service and have their questions answered promptly.
Not to minimize all of the great salesmen and roofers out there, but its the ‘not as good ones’ that you need to be able to spot! You need to make sure your experience as a customer doesn’t thrive and die with your individual sales person alone. This is more likely to happen during storm season, when It’s not uncommon for roofing companies to hire inexperienced and untrained salesmen.
These companies will expect the new guys to manage 90% of your project and be in charge of any questions or concerns you may have. Your sales person should be your main point of contact, but if that fails, it’s important that the roofing company you choose is involved in day-to-day operations and are staying informed of whether you (as someone expecting top-notch service) is being attended to.
Believe it or not, customers of some roofing companies can go weeks without a response from the salesman and the company not take notice until they see a bad review. This happens because when you call the office and let them know you haven’t heard anything, they will keep telling you that your salesman will reach out and when it doesn’t happen, they could be none the wiser. I know this information because before I opened the doors to EZ Roofing, I worked for a few companies that operated like this and this ‘hands off’ system is way more common than it should be. Madness!
4. Go with your gut.
If you read all of this information and still feel that your roofer is the greatest person in the world and you think they’ll give you great service, go for it!
Thank you for reading.
