Tag: <span>CRM Technology</span>

Tag: CRM Technology

RT3 member AccuLynx named FrontRunner for construction project management software

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AccuLynx, the leading business management software for roofing contractors, announced today it was named a FrontRunner for Construction Project Management Software by Software Advice. FrontRunners is designed to help small businesses evaluate which software may be right for them.

“We’re proud to be a FrontRunner in our software category,” said Katie Badeusz, Director of Marketing at AccuLynx. “AccuLynx is trusted by many of the top residential roofing contractors in the U.S., and this recognition reflects our continued commitment to making our software the best choice for roofers looking to grow their businesses.”

FrontRunners is published on Software Advice, the leading online service for businesses navigating the software selection process. FrontRunners evaluates verified end-user reviews and product data, positioning the top scoring products based on Usability and Customer Satisfaction ratings for small businesses. FrontRunners for Construction Project Management Software can be viewed here.

About AccuLynx
AccuLynx is the leading cloud-based software application for roofing contractors. Since 2008, AccuLynx has helped thousands of contractors—from rapidly-growing start-ups to multi-location operations—streamline their processes and grow their businesses. AccuLynx’s all-in-one solution includes easy-to-use business management tools, such as estimating, production management, aerial measurements, material ordering, photo sharing, custom reporting, unlimited document storage, field applications, and more. AccuLynx is a preferred vendor of CertainTeed, GAF and Owens Corning, and has direct integrations with QuickBooks, ABC Supply, EagleView Technologies, SkyMeasure by CoreLogic and others. For more information, visit our website.

Disclaimer: FrontRunners constitute the subjective opinions of individual end-user reviews, ratings and data applied against a documented methodology; they neither represent the views of, nor constitute an endorsement by, Software Advice or its affiliates.

5 ways contractors screw up when hiring their first salesperson

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By RT3 member Ryan Groth.

So, you are about to hire your first salesperson. Here are the top 5 ways you will screw it up.

As I’ve been working with company owners in the contracting and building materials industry, there comes a time when an owner asks themselves “do I want to keep this company as a lifestyle business, or do I want to build something bigger than myself?” When people come to me and inquire about how to go about taking the next steps, I offer my advice. Sometimes the owner listens and gets results, sometimes they ignore the hard pill that I just gave them to swallow and they end up hiring someone who was never set up to succeed. Unfortunately for them, the salesperson is gone in three to six months primarily due to underperformance. There are several variables that can be the cause of this, but one thing is certain – it’s the owner’s fault that the first sales hire wasn’t a success. Here are 5 ways you will screw it up when making your first sales hire for your business.

Screw up #1 – Hiring early & not putting a system in place that you digest first.

Typically, owners are good sellers themselves because they have their backs against the wall and have the decision-making ability to dictate prices. Owners are motivated enough to sell deals and take action because they know that they’re working themselves out of the job and passionate enough about what they do to take the deal to the finish line. However, most owners don’t have a good process that they follow themselves, they wing it. They rely on their instinct and knowledge, but it’s almost impossible to translate into a person’s mind in a short period of time. However, even technically gifted, operationally oriented owners can “learn” the fundamentals of sales.

I make this point for two main reasons – if the owner invests in themselves with a solid sales plan, process, and coaching, they may not feel the need to hire a salesman at all for a little while longer because they’re more productive. That’s the ideal situation, right? After all, who needs overhead and distraction just for the fun of it?

The second reason for an owner to digest a strong selling system before hiring a salesman is this – the owner is going to have to be the sales manager! A huge part of wearing the sales manager hat is coaching, motivating and holding people accountable. If the owner doesn’t have an approach to sales that they’ve incorporated themselves, there will be a strong disconnect and it won’t be authentic. Worse than that, the selling system won’t stick, and your salesperson will fail. Hiring should be born of necessity, so optimizing the right habits, leads, disciplines, and approaches should occur first.

Screw up #2 – Having the wrong expectations

Nothing is worse than unmet expectations. Emotions will come up like anger, disappointment, anxiousness, and even panic. Owners shouldn’t expect their first salesperson to be the sudden replacement of all your productivity. If you imagine a Major League Baseball team – there’s big leaguers and minor leaguers. Your new salesperson is essentially a new minor leaguer that needs to prove themselves productive to be able to contribute on a larger scale (think bigger jobs, clients, etc.). Being realistic with the ramp-up time for a salesperson to becoming a strong producer is important. If you’re taking a laborer from the field, or a college hire or someone from a different industry, you should expect it to take about one-year until they’re an average producer, then three to five years until they’re a Rockstar producer. Anything faster than that should make you tickled pink.

What does this mean? This means you’re going to have to remain focused, keep your eye on the ball and produce – all while mentoring someone else to eventually take more responsibility with leads and accounts. Expect them to fail, make mistakes, screw up, forget something, not know something and must take their kids to the doctor’s office and miss the meeting.

Screw up #3 – Not tracking your own selling activity

I’ve tried this myself and it’s impossible to effectively and objectively manage what’s not being measured. Owners should already be adopting a CRM program and tracking their own selling activity and numbers to achieve the goal. If an owner doesn’t have a vision, mission, goal and game plan in place for the company then the weeds of life will get all up in the garden and kill the plant. It takes saying “no” very often to remain focused and to keep from all the distractions that come to a business owner. Therefore, adopt a CRM and track the activity first. This way, the owner can have a good set of data to work with for appropriate expectations for the salesperson. A salesperson will often tell owners what they want to hear, not what they did wrong or avoided doing. Therefore, make measuring their activity and results in something that’s already part of the culture and expectation from the onset. Of course – after the owner(s) do it themselves.

Screw up #4 – Hiring from the outside first before looking from within

I’ve seen owners hire salespeople from the outside and from different industries and fail, even when they had people, not in sales that were already contributing in different ways and loving being at the company. This is the construction industry, not pharmaceutical sales. Salespeople don’t have to look like GQ and Victoria’s Secret models and speak eloquently like politicians to sell and make a strong contribution. I’ve worked with many companies where we promoted a field worker, a surveyor/inspector or service coordinator and because they had the desire and commitment to grow and help people – they learned the mindset and fundamentals of selling and have made wonderful contributors. A huge part of having a successful first hire in sales is chemistry and trust. Be sure to see if this exists in your company or personal network before looking outside.

Screw up #5 – Not having a Sales Talent Acquisition & Ramp Up Plan

Let’s pretend the owner found a candidate (either from within or outside) and is excited about seeing them become a strong contributor. Be sure that the company uses a professional sales report to see where their skills measure up against the best in the world and objectively determine what skills need to be worked on for them to grow. Don’t do this one alone, use a tool for this! Then, interview them on their previous track record of overcoming obstacles.

A career in professional selling is different from most, it takes serious focus, discipline, grit, determination and the ability to learn constantly. If a person isn’t conditioned to function this way, they’re going to be overwhelmed in this role. However, if they pass these and have earned their stripes, they are bought into the unique DNA and company direction and are ready to be part of something bigger than themselves, pitch them and keep the momentum. How does one do that effectively? Go through the sales training system with them that was already adopted. Don’t leave them to their own devices, why? A huge part of their knowledge is what they learn from the owner and having discussions about the content is hugely valuable.

Could you imagine a new player in a minor league organization that doesn’t receive coaching and instruction? Could you see an organization not providing them a uniform, equipment and a structured learning environment for them to practice and apply to game-time performance? We can learn quite a bit from sports and other performing teams – bring these best practices into your organization. Salespeople should be self-starters, yes, they should be. But they’re not going to build the company for the owner, that’s the owner’s job. They will thrive with a strong company vision, good systems, selling tools, accountability, coaching, direction, and training.

I hope this helps with hiring your first salesperson – hopefully, I convinced you not to and become a stronger one yourself!

To learn more about my online sales course and group coaching program, visit here.

To your success,

Ryan

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10 best technology tools for a successful roofing contractor

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By Anna Anderson, Art Unlimited.

Recently, I met with some of our tech-savvy roofing contractors from across the United States.
Using technology allows each of these businesses to have a strong, seamless integration with clients and team members. So what are the top tech tools these guys use to help further their success?

The contractors I sat down with include Ken Kelly (owner of Kelly Roofing in Naples, FL), Juan Reyes (owner of Pro Roofing & Siding in Marietta, GA), Brad Mosakowski (operations manager at Straight Line Construction & Roofing in Placerville, CA), and Taylor Yarbrough (owner of Quality Roofing in Austin, TX).

The common thread I found between these companies was they use technology as a tool to enable their staff to work smarter! They use technology to streamline business processes, empower staff with a strong backbone of technology at their fingertips, and also to engage with clients remotely. If you are looking at increasing technology usage in your roofing company, check out these options!

1. RoofSnap

RoofSnap is the top pick for Ken from Kelly Roofing when it comes to requesting detailed measurements for a roofing estimate. Reports can be automatically created to easily measure and estimate right on location. It works with Ken’s CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) and is optimized for use on mobile or big screens. RoofSnap allows for fast reports which in turn enables proposals to be created automatically. His sales reps simply review and customize proposals before sending them to clients.

2. Asana

Asana is a cloud-based project management solution which helps companies organize their tasks. It can also connect with countless applications through its robust API connection! Pro Roofing & Siding harnesses the Asana tool to help organize meetings and internal project management. Using the power of Asana, Juan is able to keep on top of internal business goals from anywhere!

3. Contractors Cloud

Contractors Cloud is a full CRM solution used by both Pro Roofing & Siding and Quality Roofing for their clients’ scope creation and project management. It enables team members to connect with client files, manage jobs and automate systems. Working with Contractor Cloud is a great solution for Roofing Contractors who are larger than 3 million in sales.

4. Skitch from Evernote

Skitch is a sweet tool which allows the team to highlight elements within photos that clients need to be aware of. Text and graphic elements are easily added to photos. In the past, Juan’s team at Pro Roofing & Siding would have to write out descriptions of problems. Now, by using Skitch, their clients immediately see what they are talking about through images! Tyler and the Quality Roofing team, like Juan’s team, use the Skitch platform when presenting clients with roof failures. The ease of use is astounding.

5. Dynamic BPM

Brad at Straight Line Construction & Roofing has worked countless hours refining their Business Process Management system with Dynamic BPM. They have custom workflows and automated systems propelling the team members through jobs much faster. Customers also receive the white glove pampering which owner, Jack Borba, knows is a vital reason why their company is growing by leaps and bounds.

6. OneDrive

Having a photo bucket system which integrates with the office, estimators, and project managers is critical. The Kelly Roofing team turns to OneDrive to store all of their job images, which are then connected to the clients’ profiles within the CRM.

7. GoldMine CRM

Every business needs a powerful CRM such as GoldMine CRM to manage hundreds of thousands of customer data. The entire StraightLine team uses the GoldMine platform within their day to day activities. All of the vital business data is in one place, enabling the team quick access to countless files.

8. SketchUp

SketchUp is a 3D modeling tool allows the Quality Roofing team to model a roofing job for clients and general contractors. It’s a must-have tool for the office staff!

9. Excel

Brad and the StraightLine team are not alone in using Excel. This is a common business tool referenced by multiple contractors when speaking about managing a thriving business. Excel is used to run countless jobs and business metrics.

10. Surface by Microsoft

Being able to connect to your files is critical so many teams turn to the Surface by Microsoft to power their business. The Surface is a lightweight, high powered computer that can be used on the job site or in the office. It’s a must-have tool for many of the Roofing Contractors our Art Unlimited team works with.

I hope you had fun reading about the available technology for roofing contractors which have ignited a portion of the success these 4 companies have earned.

If you have questions or are looking at using additional technology within your roofing business I’m sure you will find a new tool or two off of this list!

Source: Art Unlimited

Use technology as leverage to grow your roofing business

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RCS Influencer and RT3 member Wendy Marvin says that when considering technology, ask around.

Technology is the leverage we use in our roofing businesses. It can administer tasks faster, store data, provide calculations, and so much more. Technology and all the changes and headaches that it can bring, is necessary for a growing business.

We live in a world of information. Where names, details, numbers, and data are just plain too much for our brains to hold and still remain functional. Ever have someone say, you have too many balls in the air and you’re dropping some? Technology can be a handy helper to eliminate this problem.

In business – technology is necessary. You need an accounting mechanism, even if it’s an excel spreadsheet, to assess the health of your business. We started with the standard accounting software that’s available online and desktop. It’s robust for reporting and keeps accounts payable and accounts receivable updated. You can balance your checkbook here too. Problems arise however, as you grow with data growing exponentially with your company growth. Slogging through all that data to give you daily information takes a robust backend program. Most starting programs just can’t handle the load. Moving to a new system means hoping you chose an old system that allows exporting of data in a manner that’s usable by your new system.

All in all, although difficult and frustrating, I recommend that when choosing technology for your business, you consider your future growth and try to head off the frustrations of working with multiple systems that don’t talk to each other. Currently, my office has three places they have to place information before a bid can be processed. The process is inefficient and costly. We are designing our own system, to hold massive amounts of data, and then add apps around that data to allow us to run our business with efficiency and exceptional customer service.

In operations – technology is also necessary IF you want to remain competitive and grow your business.

  • Distribution: We work with an app that confirms time and site of deliveries, show us pictures of the load and gives us the ability to pick up additional materials and add to the PO for a current job. Most larger distribution companies now produce such apps for free.
  • Estimating: We use satellite-based apps that gather accurate information for us. Our program notifies the customer when we’re on the way, it gives our estimators a GPS map to follow, and sends and receives notes and pictures live. We are also currently in working towards our Drone pilot certification. We see drones as a “get going or get left behind” type of technology in our industry.
  • Payroll: We’re moving to an app for payroll. Instead of messy, water spotted and poorly written time cards, our data will now be supplied via geo-fencing (address is gathered when they’re on site) and show that the roofing professionals has done the “clock in, clock out” onsite. Yes, we still have to verify data, but it won’t be ten hours of trying to get the information we need to process payroll. Again, efficiency and cost savings for our company.

When considering technology, ask around. Identify the needs of your company (ask employees), and then find a company that meets most of those needs. Expect customer service, as you’ll need help setting up your company with whatever they offer. Technology is expensive and choosing incorrectly can be frustrating. Most of all, be patient with yourself, and with your employees. We all have barriers to learning new things, but by sharing the payoff, and savings of technology, our employees often become advocates and assist us through the process.

Wendy Marvin is CEO of Matrix Roofing. See her full bio here.

Source: RoofersCoffeeShop®

Technology stacks need to be able to communicate and integrate with each other for success

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RT3 member Charles Antis interviews Antis Roofing Chief Operation Officer to share more about the technology stacks that she has implemented within the company.

Charles Antis of Antis Roofing loves technology but when it comes to implementing it, he trusts his COO, Karen Inman to put the solutions in place. In this interview, he talks to Karen about what is happening at Antis Roofing. Watch it here, or read the transcript below.

CA: This month’s question is: What is your technology stack, and how does it work together? Karen, you get to answer this question for me because I can’t.

KI: Well, and this is what I do. This is part of why I came to Antis. So, at Antis our application stack includes the Microsoft Office Suite of tools along with SharePoint and Teams for our collaboration. And then in the past year, we’ve actually switched over to an ERP system. We use Salesforce.com along with Accounting Seed. Both from the field side as well as the office on customer service. And then of course with our accounting team.

Something special that we’ve done, which is really cool, is we actually worked with CompanyCam, who we’ve used for a little while to create an API that works with Salesforce. So, our techs can take photos in CompanyCam and it syncs with our Salesforce instance, which is really cool. Because then our estimators get to see that. And it’s all in one place.

And then the other piece that we use in our application stack is HarnessUp for our safety program. So, we used Tom Whitaker’s tool and it is phenomenal. It really has made a big difference for us out in the field. On the safety side, it’s been a game changer in our ability to see what’s happening out there and also educate the guys. So that’s our stack. That’s what we’re doing.

Charles Antis is the founder and CEO of Antis Roofing & Waterproofing. Karen Inman is COO of Antis Roofing & Waterproofing

Source: RoofersCoffeeShop

How to choose the right roofing software

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By Megan Brehm.

Whether you’re looking to streamline your business process or simply just wanting to get organized, a CRM or project management system has what you need to do both. But, no two CRMs are exactly the same. Here are a few things to know and look for when deciding on a roofing software company.

Roofing Software vs. Standard CRMs

Knowing the difference between a standard CRM and roofing software is important when deciding on what features work best for your business.

Standard CRMs allow you to manage customer information, track activities, look at project statuses, run basic reports, and view potential leads. Standard CRMs can be used by a variety of trades—meaning it is not roofing industry specific.
Roofing software can perform all the same functions as other standard CRMs. But, it also gets a lot more specific. Most roofing-specific software allows businesses to manage everything including managing production teams, ordering job materials, auto-populate aerial measurements for accurate estimates, tracking and reporting on sales performance, and more!

Areas for Improvement in Your Business

When deciding on what CRM software works best for your roofing business, it’s important to look at the areas you are wanting to improve. Whether it’s something broad like organization or more specific like being able to order aerial measurement reports, these things can help you choose the right software.

One way to get started is looking at areas where your business is lacking and if you notice trends where projects seem to hit snags. Is duplicate information being missed? Are estimates inaccurate? Wherever you’re noticing these issues, this can be a deciding factor on whether you should chose a standard CRM for basic needs or you need something with more detail like roofing software.

Know What Works for YOUR Business

While we’ve talked a lot about the functionality that is out there and where your business might need improvement, the most important thing to consider is what is going to work for your business.

Looking at your current business process and performance will help you decide what functionality you should look for. Let’s say you want different teams to be able to track material orders. With this, you’ll want to make sure the CRM you are working with allows for the ability to place and manage any orders right from the manufacturer.

Understanding the things that you want to help improve and streamline your current process is going to help with choosing the right roofing software.

Source: AccuLynx

4 Ways Software Can Give Roofers a Better Work Life Balance

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By Molly Stein, AccuLynx.

For roofers, it can be challenging to balance your busy work life and personal home life. When you’re busy at the job site all day or on the road, your evenings can be dominated by playing catch-up with your office work or reporting, instead of with your family at home.

Mental Health America encourages workers to develop a healthy balance between work and downtime, stating,

“While we all need a certain amount of stress to spur us on and help us perform at our best, the key to managing stress lies in that one magic word: balance. Not only is achieving a healthy work/life balance an attainable goal but workers and businesses alike see the rewards. When workers are balanced and happy, they are more productive, take fewer sick days, and are more likely to stay in their jobs.”

Luckily, advancements in cloud-based technology like those in AccuLynx roofing software can help contractors re-establish that balance by giving them access to the information they need, while providing time savings that they can invest back into their personal life.

Emails, Texts, Phone Calls – All in One Place

Maintaining communication with your office is a crucial part of running a roofing business. But when that communication is spread out over emails from your accounting department, texts from your foreman, and phone calls from your project manager it can all get a little distracting.

Activity feeds and production dashboards can bring together all of the correspondence and data that you need to run your business and collate it into one simplified location with everything you need to know and see in one place.

Eliminate Extra Trips to the Office

When you’re in the field all day, it can be difficult to find the time to stop and check on the status of your other projects, file your paperwork and catch up on your emails – which often means a trip back to the office after an already long day.

When your office is cloud-based, software platforms give roofers comprehensive access to their important files, including estimates, signed contracts, warranties, and more. When roofers can access, edit, and submit their paperwork digitally, they can avoid that extra trip to the office.

Something on Your Mind?

Have you ever felt completely monopolized by work even at the oddest hours of the night or even on vacation? As a business owner or manager, it’s probably hard to focus when you’ve got a nagging question or just want to check one more thing…

Mobile apps let you check in on your job progress or stay up to date with your communication. Skim the Activity Feed, do a quick review of your job statuses and get the peace of mind you need quickly without letting it stop your day.

Get Things Done Right the First Time

Roofers often need to fill out a lot of paperwork on the job site. When you’re collecting contact information, insurance details, measurements and photos of the damages over and over, it can be easy to miss a form field, misspell a name, or even submit the wrong material order for a job.

Smart templates can pre-populate job information for you so that you save time creating estimates and contracts. When you create all of your paperwork within a job file, paperwork isn’t misfiled or misplaced, and all of your information is the same across your documentation, ensuring you won’t have mistakes that need correcting later.

Having a healthy balance between a home life and work is a crucial part of your business. Remember,

“Your work-life balance will determine your career and life successes, so make sure you take the time to focus on each role and balance them accordingly.”

Source: AccuLynx

Keeping Up with Roofing Technology in 2019: Mobile Applications & Software Integrations

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A Q&A session with Lynn Foster, RT3 Member and Director of Operations for AccuLynx.

By Kate Foster.

New technology is continuing to shape the roofing industry, but it can be difficult for contractors to evaluate and implement the right solutions for their business.

There are many options to consider, but specifically for small to medium roofing companies, AccuLynx Director of Operations, Lynn Foster, believes growth can be achieved by focusing on mobile applications and software integrations.

Mobile Applications:

From cell phones, to tablets, to e-readers, there really is an app for everything.

Of course, the next place they are taking over is the business world, and that includes the roofing industry. The ability to work out of the office or while on a job-site saves companies time and money as well as providing flexibility for both employees and customers.

What are some apps that roofers should be using the field?

Roofers should be using the apps that help them do their job more efficiently. CRM mobile apps (like AccuLynx), aerial measurements, tracking expenses, time clocks, PDF scanners, notes, call recording – all of these individually can make contractors more productive.

How do CRM’s with mobile applications like AccuLynx help roofing businesses?

Roofers no longer need to rely on their paper files to get access the information they need. They don’t even need to carry around a laptop. Having shared access to all of your estimates, aerial measurements, material orders, contracts, warranties – all in one place – means you’re never digging for the information you need.

When your business information can be transferred instantaneously from device to device, person to person, you eliminate down-time and ensure that you’re never working off of outdated information.

What is a real-life example?

Let’s say you’re on the job, and a homeowner has a question about a change order they placed. But, you don’t have the paper copy with you. While this may have once caused a problem, necessitating someone to go to the office and pick up a copy, it is no problem when you have mobile access to your office. Being able to access all of the documentation associated with a job right from your phone gives roofers the ability to answer homeowner questions, check material delivery schedules, find insurance information – everything, right at your fingertips.

Software Integrations:

The other upcoming technology trend for the roofing industry is software integration. Now that many roofing technology companies, such as AccuLynx, SkyMeasure, EagleView, and SalesRabbit have emerged and found their footing, they have begun to partner to create platforms that fulfill all your roofing needs. Just like a toolbox, these partnerships combine countless uses, from organizing your information and directly ordering supplies to taking aerial measurements and improving your sales techniques, into to one easy to use kit.

Aside from having all of your tools in one spot, the biggest benefit of integration is the efficiency it creates. When all of the companies you use are integrated, you can electronically share information between them, eliminating the need to re-enter information into each different platform. Automated processes also help you cut down on errors because information gets directly transferred from one application to another. Not only does this improve your accuracy, but it also saves you the time you would have wasted locating and fixing the mistakes.

What are the challenges roofers are facing when it comes to technology?

One of the greatest challenges regarding technology in the roofing industry is getting people to convert. Many people, especially those in the older generation, are wary of making the switch. They claim that the pen and paper methods they have used for years work fine. However, these are the people who will start to get passed by as the competition adopts new technology that makes them more efficient, and ultimately, more profitable.

How can roofers start to adopt technology?

If you are still concerned about the transition to technology, it can help to start out small. Decide what you want the technology to do for you, whether it be organize your files, enable you to make direct orders from suppliers, or manage your business more efficiently, and start with that. Once you get used to that part, you can start adding in more and more. This way, it will not seem as overwhelming as it would if you did it all at once.

Any more advice?

It is important to make sure you are committed – only embracing limits the potential that technology can give you. Partially committing won’t result in the benefits you are hoping for and can only do so much in helping you stay ahead of the competition. Fully committing is sure to skyrocket you to success and profit.

Staying ahead the competition is a priority for any roofing business. Who doesn’t want to be the best at what they do and reap the profits from it? Right now, that means taking advantage of technology. With the flexibility, savings in time and money, and the boost in efficiency that technology provides, it would be difficult to not rise above everyone else.

Source: AccuLynx

RT3 Members Heading to Microsoft Headquarters for next Live Meetup

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Roofing Technology Think Tank (RT3) continues its focus on exploring emerging technology solutions for the roofing industry with a planned live meetup on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington on November 5, 2018.

The group of progressive roofing professionals strives to inform contractors by learning about progressive and disruptive solutions that help build the professionalism and appeal of the roofing industry.

The meetup is planned in conjunction with PowerObjects and will be hosted in Microsoft’s Internet of Things (IOT) lab.  RT3 board member and winner of the Microsoft Modern Small or Medium Business category of the 2015 Visionary Award, Ken Kelly, President of Kelly Roofing, helped to coordinate the meetup for RT3.

Kelly learned firsthand how technology could disrupt his business model and result in more growth, increased efficiencies and better customer service. With the aid of Microsoft Dynamics, Kelly Roofing was able to double its business without increasing its staff. Able to be accessed remotely, (the majority of Kelly Roofing employees work outside the office), staff members are able to add notes to each file, receive reminder notices, and efficiently speed through the time-consuming daily tasks. The result? More time to spend with clients.

Following Hurricane Irma in September 2017, Naples, Florida-based Kelly Roofing was able to use Skype for Business online to handle 4,500 calls the first week following the storm, direct customers in English and Spanish to its storm repair services, liaise with insurance companies, and train new hires. This efficient response earned kudos and cemented the company’s reputation for customer-focused service.

At the November 5 meetup, RT3 members will hear a series of Tech Talks starting with one from Venkat Rao, Capabilities Manager of Business Applications for PowerObjects, the company that Kelly worked with to help implement their technology solutions. Following Rao, Tech Talks will be presented by Kati Quigley, Microsoft Senior Director of Marketing and Communication for Business Applications, and Rob Nehrbas, Microsoft Senior Director if Business Strategy for Business Applications. Kelly will present last, sharing his story about how he worked with Microsoft to build his roofing software platform.

The morning wraps up with RT3 Task Teams providing update on their activities for the following areas: Future Workforce, Communications, Meetups, Technology and Membership. During the afternoon session the task teams will work together in small breakouts to discuss how what they learned in the morning can be applied to and shared with the roofing industry. They will also review how what their task teams have accomplished thus far can be shared with the industry and determine their goals for the coming year.

For more information on the event or if you are interested in attending, please send an email to Karen Edwards at info@rt3thinktank.test.