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Customer Appreciation |
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During A.C.I.’s third year in business, we were selected by Fortune 500 to install 65,000 square feet of retrofit roofing. We were honored to add this company to our growing list of clients. A few months after the installation was complete, we were asked to return to the jobsite to discuss a “problem.” When I walked into the room I found the room filled with the following: four company engineers, 2 representatives from one of the largest roofing contractors in the U.S.,a representative from a large roofing manufacturer, and me, Brian Brookheart, President of A.C.I. At this point, I was perplexed by what this “problem” could be that would warrant all of the expense of this meeting. Finally, one of the engineers began to explain the problem. Adjacent to our 65,000 square feet of new roof, a 500 square foot building had been built to house mechanical equipment. The 500 square foot area was roofed with a product of the same chemical compound that A.C.I. had used on the 65,000 square foot area. The problem was that the large roofing manufacturer and the large roofing contractor were objecting to the fact that the two similar membranes would have to touch each other. The two companies agreed that they would not guarantee the roof system since their product had to touch our product. They demanded that the client build a parapet wall between the two roof areas. Our product would be installed on one side, their product on the other, with a sheet metal coping cap over the top. This demand was discussed at length between the client and my competition. Then the question was posed, “Who is responsible if the metal coping cap ever leaks?” I started to get the feeling that “it never ends……” As I sat there, listening to my competition make demands of our client, I became overwhelmed by their audacity. These two companies had installed countless projects for the client. Yet with all of the business that they had conducted and all of the profit that they had made, they could not find it within themselves to be reasonable concerning this 20 foot long seam that had to be made between our two roofs. As I sat there, I told myself that I would never treat a client in the manner that they were treating their client. Finally, the engineers asked my opinion of this “problem.” My position was simple. The position that my competition was taking was completely uncalled for in this minor issue. Our product would weld to their product perfectly. Furthermore, we were honored to have the Fortune 500 company as a client and therefore our goal was to work with them in an attempt to solve problems, not create them. Therefore, my solution was simple. A.C.I. would provide a roofing production crew. The crew would weld our roof to their roof. And, if the competition wouldn’t warrant the 500 square feet, A.C.I. would. After all, it was attached to our roof and it would be no problem. We wanted to help our client. So, we did. That was in 1985. As of 2005, the seam is still holding, having never leaked. I was 27 years old as I sat in that meeting. My “business style” was still being developed. However, that meeting did a lot to help solidify my approach to clients and to customer service. As I walked out of that meeting, I knew that I never wanted to treat my clients like my competition did. I was grateful to have the Fortune 500 company as a client. I was grateful that they selected A.C.I. and I wanted to repay their trust by assisting them. That attitude continues to this day. For that reason, our clients continue to do repeat business with us. When you select A.C.I. as your roofing contractor, you too will find that we really do appreciate our clients. That appreciation translates into excellent roofing applications.
Brian Brookheart
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