SPEAKER_00 0:00

And so it was the idea was that we could bring everybody together, show our gratitude for, you know, having those relationships and just all being able to do such great work together.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

All right, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Connections That Matter. Today I have one of my good friends, Colin Larson from Anchor Roofing, here with us today. Colin, welcome to the show. Hey, thanks so much. Thanks for having me. Awesome. Well, Colin Larson, Larson, uh, you're I know Anchor has been around a long time. It's been a family business. Tell us a little bit about it.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

Yeah. So my dad started Anchor Roofing in 2014. And uh, I don't know exactly where he got the motivation to start anchor uh roofing company. And then everybody asked him if he's ex-military. He kind of looks like it, uh, and if that's where the whole anchor can't made its way into the name. But it's funny that's that's not actually the case. He just, you know, alphabetical order is obviously a big player there. And then uh, you know, he we grew up on a lake, and so living there for so long, anchor kind of just made sense. And um, yeah, so he started that company. There was a huge need for roofs, obviously. We we get a lot of hail here in Colorado, and um he wanted to start something different. We had people constantly knocking on our door asking about roofs, and uh if they if we wanted an inspection, and so that gets pretty bothersome after a while. And you know, you let him go up there just to try and get rid of them, and uh then they tell you, yeah, it's everything's smoked, you need to file a claim, you got to do this and that. And that's not always the case. And so he decided that there was a better way to do it, and that was, you know, just through networking, through referrals and uh working with people, building relationships so that when someone is in that position, they're they know someone who can help walk them through those complicated insurance processes and uh you know just kind of hold their hand through that and and make it a smooth process rather than what has happened in the industry for so long.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Awesome. Well, I want to get into the networking and all that stuff, but I before I want to mention your shirt, like the family barbecue, you got the anchor. So uh yeah, tell me about the barbecue recipe.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

There was uh so no recipe. We actually had a uh it was a taco truck, which is funny. But we a few years ago, let's see, what was this? Um 2021, we had just, you know, we've built a huge network of just you know different realtors, insurance agents, and uh a huge you know, a lot of customers and then a lot of subs as well, you know, people that we work with. And it's it's really kind of worked its way into a family, you know, everybody knows each other. And you know, if a realtor of ours needs uh gutters and you know knows they don't really need the roof, we have someone they can just reach out to themselves. And so it was the idea was that we could bring everybody together, show our gratitude for you know having those relationships and just all being able to do such great work together, and then um also just you know have some fun, bring the family. We've got tacos, not quite barbecue, but they were really good tacos. I wish that I still remembered the name of the taco guy. He uh he deserves a shout-out because they were incredible.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Okay. Yeah. Very cool. Well, uh, you know, so uh a hail I'm a real estate investor, we have a bunch, and uh it'll start to hail, Colorado. I'm like, oh, please don't hit our stuff. Uh you know, and then it it will or it won't. But um man, every time there's a storm, you know, if I'm driving through the neighborhood, there's there's probably four or five different roofing companies all door knocking and different things. And so it seems like a very competitive industry. How do you how do you separate yourself from everyone else who's doing roofing?

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Yeah, yeah. It is uh it is very competitive. I don't try to look at it that way because I think there is so much to go around, you know. And there's also a lot more um to roofing than just hail storms, you know. Sure. A common one that I'm sure you're familiar with is when you're selling your house, there's you know, you should always have the roof inspected and you know, have a trusted roofer out there. And uh just to take a look, because if it's you know, Joe Bob from three three doors down working on your neighbor's house, he might tell you something, you know, that it's more damaged than it is to try and get you to file insurance, then that creates a huge uh you know, doubt for the possible buyer. And then, you know, now the roof has to get replaced, even though it really wasn't that damaged. But yeah, so we uh we the way that we kind of get our leads is all referral-based rather than that door knocking. So you know, it's it's funny, how did it start, right? The the chicken or the egg. Um probably the first the first realtor that we started working with, you know, we did a great job for them. And uh before the the deal was you know said and done, we reached out to the buyer's agent and said, Hey, you know, we're the people who did the roof. If you need any help, if uh anything comes up, you know, here's here's where you can find us. And then from there, you can just imagine how it branches out and providing excellent service uh, you know, to our customers as well. They, you know, they know a roofer who they had a great experience with. A lot of roofing companies, um there's multiple people you'd have to work with, right? There's the guy who knocks on your door, and then he sets you up with the guy that comes by and uh does the inspection and maybe gets you an estimate. And then once you're done with that guy, you reach out to or a pro a project manager will reach out to you and um you know they'll let you know how the job's being scheduled and what's going on there. And then by the end of it, you uh are in contact with the billing department and you know they're the ones sending you the invoice. And so it's just all these different hands and hands in the hat, right? And so at Anchor Roofing, we try to avoid that by um, I am you know the only one you'll ever have to work with, or one of our project managers, they'll they'll be the only face you ever have to see, basically from start to finish. They'll inspect your roof because let's say you call them because your realtor or insurance agent said, Hey, I know a guy who you can get a quote from. He's uh you know, trusted work. We've worked with him before. And so then you call and we'll come out, take a look at the roof. Let's say, you know, you need to file an insurance claim because there was a hailstorm that just came through. We'll then meet with the adjuster when they go to look at your roof and you know, just basically help them identify anything that they're looking for, or you know, do a quick walk around the house with them and just hang out, basically be your uh concierge through that process. And then uh when it comes to the project management side of it, we work directly with our subcontractors and with our uh our suppliers. So we know basically it's it's one person knows everything about your job, and then at the end of the day, we're the ones delivering the invoice, and then also we like to say that that's when our relationship starts because if anything goes wrong in the next 10 years, our standard warranty is the 10-year roof penetration. So we'll be the person that you can call in the future as well.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Very cool. So are your primary referral sources real estate agents, or do you get them other places as well?

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Yeah, uh mostly real estate agents. Um, you know, occasionally HVAC people, uh HVAC crews will be up on the roof replacing something and see, you know, well, this is pretty questionable uh damage up here. You might want to call somebody. And uh also insurance agents, you know, because we work directly with insurance on a lot of things, making sure that they are taking note of every aspect of your roof that was damaged. And so that process is called supplementing. But we try to develop good relationships with those agents, and then uh obviously when the work is done well, you'd rather work with those people again. So insurance agents is a big one. And other than that, I mean, really just uh all of our customers are are great referral sources because we try to treat each job like it's our last. And if this was your last dollar that you ever get to spend on marketing, you'd take full advantage of it. And so trying to put that quality of work out there so that it continues to come back.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Yeah, give a give one of your real estate agents that send you referrals a shout out. Uh, you know, what do you love about them? How do you how do they hand it off that you know there's three-way communication referral? If they have a house that they're selling, um they need an inspection or a buyer might be like, hey, there's still a three-tab roof on there, and I want a different one. Uh how do you how do you navigate all of those communications back and forth between everybody?

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Um just uh communication can be tough. And I think that's where a lot of people go wrong through these processes, you know, dealing with insurance and or you're selling a house and you're your real estate agent's working directly with Roofer and you're left out of the loop, don't know what's going on. I think that I'm I'm kind of known as an over-communicator. And uh I'm sure Stephanie Stewart um with Elevation Homes, we've worked together in the past. And uh, so she basically had a house and she called me and said, I know it's got hail damage. Um, you know, the adjuster's gonna be coming out this day. What's next? And I told her, Well, I'll go and meet the adjuster and we can we can take a look at the roof together and I'll let you know what I find out. And then in turn, I also request, you know, okay, well, who's the homeowner? I'd like to just let them know what I'm seeing, what the process is gonna look like, and answer any questions if they have them. But it it can be tricky, and I think that's where a lot of people go wrong, is just the undercommunication or leaving somebody out of the loop. And so when it comes to situations like that, no one's ever really gotten mad at the guy who overcommunicates. So that I just kind of err on the side of caution. I'll just let everybody know two or three times if I have to, you know, just till I feel good about it. That way nothing ever comes back, you know?

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Yeah. Well, and so you're not just a roofing company, you do solar as well. Um, you know, I'm I'm I'm fascinated by a solar just because people buy it for different reasons. One, they want to save money or they're they want to be more green, you know. Um, what do you see as the primary buying decisions for putting solar on a roof?

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Yeah, um, I think that the primary reason, and these two are actually pretty close. So there's two main main reasons I'd say. And the first one would be those long-term financial savings, right? Uh a lot of people think it's a myth, and uh if you don't do it the right way, it can be. However, with the right products and um the right system and the right you know, opportunity, it can have a great financial payout. You know, as early as seven years, basically you're no longer paying for electricity, you're getting it 100% for free. Um and because you basically prepaid it. And uh so I think that the number one reason why people get it is probably financial savings, but the close second is gonna be the energy independence. When say you live in Alt, Colorado, and your power goes out, you know, and I know some people in Alt and their power will go out for up to eight hours at a time. And so for situations like that, it might cost a lot for some backup batteries to last you eight hours of, you know, in case the power gets shut off. But in that event, you're able to supply your family with electricity. And, you know, say you've got a grandma who has some medical equipment that can't be turned off, then you know, you're gonna you're gonna have a huge need for that. And you, you know, the your options are either move out of all that house in alt or put her somewhere else, and that might be, you know, pretty tricky, pretty uncomfortable. And in that scenario, batteries are a great option. And having that independence can, you know, for a lot of people, it can really protect them and their values.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

No, I I didn't even think about it in that in that realm. But um, you know, if I'm helping somebody, maybe they're getting on oxygen, they're on some surgeon and stuff. To have a conversation about solar might feel like out of the block, but it's really not because uh having either the backup generators or backup batteries. Um and so, you know, what other things do you see as far as opportunities like that that could get you in the door and other people that you could collaborate with um to get more leads through referrals?

SPEAKER_00 12:41

Um, yeah, that's a great question. So everybody's trying to save money, right? If you're not, you know, everybody's first goal is making money. And after that, people often forget that the next best option is to save money. And what does that look like? So people usually start with, okay, what am I paying for that I can stop paying for? And they download, you know, Rocket Money or one of those apps and start canceling subscriptions. And people often overlook their electric bill because you know, they view that more as something like Wi-Fi. It's it's a necessity, it's just something that comes every month. It's got too many light items for me to really even know what I'm paying for. It's just something I pay. And so uh for a situation like that, they will start looking into things like uh, you know, energy efficient windows or energy um, you know, these things called splits where it basically uh just saves it can save you some money on electricity, right? And so for electricians who install those items that are gonna be more uh electricity friendly, um, they would be a great referral source, you know, telling people, hey, there's also this thing called solar, you can get a tax credit, uh, it can actually pay off itself. It's the technology's come a long way. And so I actually I I met with an insurance adjuster yesterday looking at a roof, and we got into solar a little bit, and you know, he was just so uh set on the the idea that solar will never pay for itself and it's really just a commodity. And I, you know, I went back and forth with him for a while and uh kind of broke down all those objections, but even you know, just the the average Joe who doesn't, you know, doesn't know the benefits and doesn't really see it the way that I see it, um it's tough to think of referral opportunities because a lot of people don't believe in it. And the thing is that the technology has come a long ways, the federal tax credit has come a long ways from you know 20% to 30 um over time in increments, but now it's at a point where it it makes a lot more sense than people understand, and so really it's tough to think of exact uh referral sources, you know. I'm still figuring that part out, but right now it's just um, you know, again with those real estate agents that I lean on, everybody asks the real estate agent before they do something to your house. It's pretty funny, but uh they're also a great person to ask. So yeah, they see it all.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

Well, when a hail storm hit, my my I needed the window glazing, right? The little uh plastic things that are on the outside of the windows, uh chip some of the frame, um, new siding potentially. But even like the HVAC is you you brought that up as like people are wanting to save money, they get a mini split or they get a more energy efficient condenser of some kind. But you know, the hailstorm comes, it it's coming out of the sky, it's gonna dent that condenser up too. And and uh I imagine that the insurance adjusters getting involved, the real estate agent, but to have people that you are confident working with, collaborative, that treat your clients the same way that you do. Um there's a lot of people that are involved in mitigation after after a storm of some kind.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Yeah, yeah. It can be uh it can be quite the project. You know, I it's unfortunate a lot of homeowners are forced to become general contractors in a situation like that. So it's uh I'm I'm always happy when I'm able to refer out people for the siding or for the for the repainting, you know, all of those tasks that come in. It's I can I can give you a name that you know, someone I've worked with, they've done great work for me. I know people who are really happy with them. And so that's always a cool opportunity to try and help homeowners through that process.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Hail.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

It's uh well and some some roofing companies like they do it all in-house, right? They do the roofing, the painting, the exterior. I've seen it like I do uh exterior contracting, right? So they do all the stuff. And um has Anchor ever tried to go down that road, or do you like having other partners with with you that you can refer out to?

SPEAKER_00 16:47

So for us, we've always kind of had the motto stick to what you're good at, right? So for us, that is roof and gutters. Stick to what we know. We know we can deliver a great service there, and uh, you know, our partners that we we work with on the other stuff, um, we're happy to give out their name. And you know, we don't we don't necessarily need a any piece of that pie, just stick to what we're good at. Uh I I actually used to work for a company that did everything all around the house. And what I found was that it turned into, you know, it was one of those situations where I was the guy not knocking on the door, I was the guy that came after the the guy that knocked on your door. Okay. And my job, they trained me to walk around the house and just figure out, you know, point out every single thing that's wrong with the house, and then stick these people with a contract, send it to the project management team, never think about it again. And so I think that when you start taking on a lot of services for one project manager, that can be a lot to juggle, right? Especially when you're juggling four other jobs that week. And so I think when it gets to be a lot of work like that, there's definitely, I'm sure there's companies out there that do do the work, right? They do it all and they do a great job. But I've found that a lot of those companies, you know, things can slip through the cracks. It's just a lot of work. And you also don't get the benefit of, you know, having that one project manager, that one point of contact where you don't have to worry about, you know, something getting slipped through the cracks or being left out of the loop when it's just one person who you can always point your finger back to.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Well, one thing I believe is that you dig the well before you're thirsty, right? You want to have all those contacts before the storm hits so that um, you know, they have the do not solicit sign out there, but they're calling you, right, right, instead of calling um somebody else or signing up. And but also through that I see a real boom bust. Uh you said you've been in business since the 2014, but you know, we don't get hail every year, or the we don't get hail as much in other years. And so I see all of a sudden we'll have a big weather event. There's gonna be a lot of roofs that need to be replaced. All of a sudden, there's a lot more roofing companies everywhere, roofing companies that I've never heard of. Uh, and then we have a lighter year, and everybody's fighting for the same um lesser amount of deals. Uh, and then I see people go out of business and all of a sudden do another kind of train. So, what do you think is the reason that you've been so consistent and able to survive the highs and the lows?

SPEAKER_00 19:20

It's a great question. And uh I think it's something that's really special about anchor roofing. Um, and I think it really ties back into the business model of referral-based leads, right? So when the storm hits and all the door knockers go out from all these roofing companies coming from Texas and Illinois, you know, they come from all over. Um anchor, so basically, we we've had the benefit of when that storm happens, people will usually call their insurance company and their insurance company is able to refer a company they've worked with. And so then now instead of, you know, you had your roof inspected, but you a lot of people are you know smart enough to get multiple opinions, and so they'll uh they'll call their insurance agent, get that referral, or call their real estate agent and get that referral. And then, of course, as I was saying before, hail isn't our number one time of the year, you know. It's well, it is our number one time of the year, but uh these hail storms will carry over, you know. I see roofs that I'm quoting for uh or getting an insurance uh agent out there from hail that happened two years ago. And some insurance companies, if if hail does hit your house, you should you should reach out to your insurance or a local roofer within one to two years. And so I know with State Farm, they will value a storm for up to two years, but if you if you miss that window, then they won't they will no longer value that claim. So it's important to hit it in the right time frame. But uh yeah, I would say it's just it's the fact that all of our all of our business is is referral-based and and built on relationships.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Awesome. So uh I mean 2014, you I don't know how old you are, but you look like a younger guy. Like I imagine uh Colin was uh, you know, you weren't roofing back then, but what made you want to uh become a roofer or join the family business?

SPEAKER_00 21:16

Yeah, it was uh it was actually when I was working for that company um I mentioned earlier, I was going out to these, you know, these lead appointments in places where someone had just gone and knocked on a door and convinced somebody to take an appointment, right? And so when I was doing that, I ended up uh this this 83-year-old lady out in Kerzy, Colorado, right on the border of Kansas. Um, I drove all the way out there pretty much through the night and met with her to look at replacing two bathrooms. And her bathrooms didn't necessarily need replaced. I don't know how someone knocked on her door and convinced her to have me out there, but my job was. To sell her these bathrooms. And uh so I did my best and and she said yes. And she was 83 years old, agreeing to $60,000 worth of work for two bathrooms just to be, you know, remodeled. And personally, I don't think we had the best product in the industry at the time either. And so it was $60,000 on, you know, a subpar product, which I so I I she signed the contract, she wanted to do it. And in retrospect, I I wasn't going to see those bathrooms get installed. I wasn't going to be a part of the process. And so I'm telling her how great of a company we are and how we're going to deliver on our work. And I didn't know that for certain. And so that was uh that kept me up, you know. It was, I was thinking to myself, okay, well, who's going to end up having to pay for those bathrooms? And I felt pretty bad about it. And so I left that company and uh, you know, bounced around a little bit. I've always liked working on houses. I was a framer in high school working for a local, a local, uh, one of my buddies' dad's Weimar Construction. And so I got to be a part of some great processes of building some cool houses, a couple of barn dominiums. It was awesome. And uh the satisfaction that it always gave customers was great. I remember putting in a a uh I did concrete for them as well for a little while and building a basketball court, and everybody was so stoked. It came out really well. And so being able to work on people's houses and and give them that satisfactory is great. And then also knowing that, you know, what I'm talking about, I'm actually going to be able to deliver on. It's not gonna be someone else, I'm not handing this to anyone else. You know, I'm I'm able to make these promises and keep them. And so it was an obvious decision. Uh, my dad actually asked me to come and work for him. He, you know, he just needed some help. All the project managers through a really busy season. Um, it helps to have somebody kind of like a glorified errand boy, you know, running materials, making sure everything's getting picked up on every job. And so I started by just doing that when he uh he needed some help. And then it was an obvious decision to uh try and promote myself or get promoted to a uh project manager and be able to help people with, you know, help people with insurance and actually deliver on the promises I was going to be able to make. And then from there, when we started uh introducing solar about 10 months ago, I was just really interested in it. And you know, I really enjoyed the idea of helping people save money. And we worked with a bunch of solar companies to remove and detach detach and reset solar. And so it it's always been a market that we wanted to dive into, but at the time, 10 years ago, solar didn't make as much sense. The technology wasn't as far ahead as it is now, and uh the the financial benefits just weren't quite there. So if it wasn't something we wouldn't put on our own house, we wouldn't encourage anyone else to put it on theirs. And so when it, you know, when I when we started offering that about a year ago, it just I was really interested in it, and uh it's it's been really fun to learn all of it and uh be able to help people with that.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

So awesome call. Well, uh love having you on the show. There's a lot of people watch this and they're like, oh, I would love to meet him or take him out for coffee or collaborate. Is there any kind of connection specifically that you're looking for?

SPEAKER_00 25:18

Yeah, um, you know, I I love working with real estate agents. Sure. You know, being they they constantly, if it's you know, they're they just need a house inspected and they want somebody that you know they've had inspect a handful of houses in the past and been able to deliver. And so I like to think that I am that person. And so I love working with real estate. It's really interesting to me. Everybody has their real estate agent before they do anything near to their house. It's the most interesting thing. But so I'd say uh real estate agents primarily, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

All right. Well, if you're a real estate agent and you're looking for somebody that can help you uh close more deals or or navigate the the buying and selling process, reach out to Colin. Uh really great guy, great company. Colin, how how uh can they get a hold of you?

SPEAKER_00 26:02

Yeah, so um our main line is 970-690-1020. We've got an office located in Johnstown, right next to Shields. And uh just give us a call and we'd be happy to help out whoever we can. Well, Colin, thanks so much for coming on the show. Uh, I really appreciate it. Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me. Cool.