The unexpected benefit of roofing maintenance

AskARoofer Expert Will Lorenz discusses how maintenance calls can build trust in client relationships.

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Will Lorenz of General Coatings. You can read the interview below, listen to the podcast or watch the recording.

Lauren White: Hello everyone, my name is Lauren White and I'm here with Askaroofer.com for our Askaroofer Expert Answer for the month of July. And I am joined by Will Lorenz of General Codings. Will, thank you for being here.

Will Lorenz: Thank you, Lauren. My pleasure again. always glad to to be a part of the Roofers Coffee Shop Network.

Lauren White: Yes, we love having you here. So this month for AskARoofer for July, our topic is roof lifespan maintenance and inspections and helping owners understand longevity and proactive care for their roofs. So what advice do you have for them?

Will Lorenz: Well, I always believe that you first start off by having a close relationship with your clients. You know, most people do business with people over and over. They have multiple properties, and you're a partner with them on a long term basis. So it's having that open dialogue and then as a as a roofer, you have the skills to be able to get up there and give them a good evaluation of their roof. And and I think many times it depends on the roof itself. If you get up there and you find that there's a lot of mechanical damage happening, you'd need to tell your customer, "hey, this is going to affect its its service life and longevity, and you need to do those repairs." As a good roofer, you can go up there and do that for them for a fee. If you get up there on a on a routine basis, whether it's once a year, twice a year, and you do things to to look at and evaluate the roof, you can give them an insight as to whether the roof is is performing well or whether it's got extraordinary wear going on.

But the bottom line is getting into partnership with your clients. And particularly in low slope roofing, you know, things tend to happen slowly over time, as far as you know, damage or wear. And so you have plenty of opportunity to get up there and talk with them and and let them know. whether you fly the drone over there and give them some heads up that maybe the drains look, you know, look dirty or, you know, you get up there and say, look, you've got some things going on with regard to some of your other trades that are up here. It's about that dialogue. And you know, longevity can be extended with good repair. And ideally, you should talk to your clients about a maintenance program rather than just selling them a new roof or selling them an annual maintenance. You should talk with them about consistently being up there and partner because it's a valuable asset for them to to try and keep waterproof. And so the more you can be in partnership with them, the more they'll trust you, the more you'll get that opportunity in the future. And the successful roofing business you'll have because you'll have a happy client.

Lauren White: Yeah, absolutely. That maintenance is key for keeping that roof living a full long life.

Will Lorenz: And many times it just depends on the conditions. You know, if you come out of a winter season and you're up in the north, you know, winter can wear hard on it. Or if you're down in the summer and you've had things with high wind or, you know, hurricane type conditions, it's good to get up there and see what's going on. So you know, keep in mind that those are variables that you know, should get you back up on the roof. And you know, if there's a hail that might have occurred, perfect time to go up there and and give them an observation as to what's going on up there.

Lauren White: Absolutely. Well, amazing. Will, thank you again for all of your insights and we look forward to hearing what you have to say for August.

Will Lorenz: Thank you again. Appreciate it.