Industry Updates

As economies reopen nationwide and roofers begin to look toward the future, new survey results paint a fairly grim picture for the next quarter, even as some optimism remains for the third. But those same roofers largely fear that 2020 business will be down compared to 2019, a new survey shows.

The pandemic has thrown a kink into how all of us do business. Even if you had elaborate and well thought out plans, conditions are suddenly different. If plans are useless, but planning is indispensable, how do we move forward?

Leading a team or a company can be a challenge during normal times, let alone during the coronavirus pandemic. When the craziness of the virus started, this roofer was scared — then he remembered to lead. 

Recently, NRCA CEO Reid Ribble sat down with IRE Business Update for a far-reaching Q&A covering everything from the new round of PPP to pandemic-recovery lobbying efforts to what the new normal may look like for the industry. 

Media pundits — and even friends and neighbors — are speculating about what changes are likely to be permanent. Here's a list of 14 things that are likely to change on a more or less permanent basis. And three things that should absolutely not.

While some of the top roofers report minimal impact from coronavirus and remain optimistic about the rest of 2020, most roofers have seen a decline in sales. At the same time, roofers are struggling to understand how best to protect employees amid equipment supply shortages while maintaining their business. 

A technology-focused company took these three steps to make its business 100% virtual amid the coronavirus pandemic. Here's how the company did it — and what you can learn from that approach.

We're in a period the likes of which most of us haven't seen before. There have been many, many disruptive, shocking, scary, and momentous events in my lifetime, but this one seems to have taken on a life of its own. In short, we need leadership like never before. Which type of leader are you? 

As the economic and health severity of the coronavirus pandemic sets in, roofers nationwide are left with questions surrounding the $2.2 trillion “phase 3” relief package. Other industry leaders are calling for additional measures to help contractors directly. 

In any period of disruption, leaders must make incredibly quick adjustments on the fly. They must change how they think, change how they lead, and find ways to do business differently in challenging times.

Earlier this spring, roofers were raring to get started on what looked like the beginnings of a banner year. The economy was roaring, and jobs were plentiful, even the weather seemed to be cooperating. Then the first reports of coronavirus started coming in — and everything changed.

In times of crisis, your employees, partners, and vendors are looking to you for leadership, guidance, direction, and optimism. The following are five tips for how to manage through this unpredicted and unpredictable circumstance. 

Contractors are not particularly good at recruiting, hiring, training, and retaining outstanding talent. What are some of the root causes that make contractors have weak, atrophied muscles when it comes to recruiting and hiring, and, more importantly, what might they do about it? 

Studies show companies with more diverse teams outperform those with a more uniform workforce. And the roofing industry workforce shortage is driving contractors to create new recruitment and retention strategies. Diversity and inclusion are critical elements to this initiative.

Now more than ever – for reasons like a potentially softening economy, accelerating technological changes, increasing regulation, and ever-intensifying competition – contractors need to plan, renew, and reinvent.

For many roofers, the labor shortage isn’t just frustrating, it’s choking growth. But even in the midst of these difficult circumstances, some creative roofers are finding ways to recruit the workers they need to meet the demand.

Decision making in many family and closely-held companies is broken. Many family and closely-held businesses refuse to make decisions! In 30 years of working with contractors, I could probably count on one hand the times that NOT making a decision was in the best interest of the company. Why?

Everything is bigger in Texas, and this year’s International Roofing Expo in Dallas was no exception. As of press time, final numbers were still being tabulated. But show organizers said there was no question that the 2020 show broke records in attendance and size.

Contractors continually ask, “What’s the very best employee incentive program?”  How do roofers get their employees to do the right things at the right time? How do they improve employees’ abilities and willingness to think like owners? We think we've stumbled onto the best employee incentive plan, and so we want to share this intelligence. 

The roofing industry is constantly evolving, and as roofing contractors, manufacturers and distributors look for ways to grow their businesses, they also need to find ways for their workers to grow. Labor shortages and worker retention continue to be a struggle in the roofing industry, and NRCA is helping to address this issue through its national worker certification program,  NRCA ProCertification.

Charlotte Jones Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer of the Dallas Cowboys — a world-renowned franchise worth a jaw-dropping $5.5 billion — is arguably the most powerful woman in sports. And she'll be making history on Feb. 4 at 9:30 a.m at the IRE as the first-ever female keynote speaker.

Welcome to the all-new International Roofing Expo Business Update enewsletter! Twice a month, we’ll be bringing you the latest trends, news and pro tips to help grow your team, business and leadership skills — all essential to business success.