Last week, I ran into an old friend of mine who just started working with a local storm damage restoration company. As a young 19 year old, it was his job to go door-to-door in neighborhoods struck by recent storms and pitch his company’s roof repair services. He had had very little experience in storm damage repair (only working for the company for a few weeks) but still managed to sell 12 roof repairs in the last week alone! I was amazed and slightly disappointed to hear this.
Give the young man credit for being a good salesman, but that’s exactly what these “storm chasing” companies excel at: selling their storm damage restoration services. Because of these companies’ strong emphasis on selling, their quality of work often suffers. It came as no surprise to hear that my friend’s company had been forced to change its name several times because of their questionable business practices. Sadly, this is a common theme among roofing contractors as storm damage repair companies as 90% of these businesses will go under in 7 years.
In 2006, I started Storm Group Roofing with the idea of doing business differently than other local roofing contractors. Instead of using aggressive sales tactics to sell our roofing services, we want to educate you so you can make the best decision about storm damage repair for your property.
Here are 11 questions you should ask any roofing company before giving them your business:
Do they provide free no-obligation estimates?
Are they accredited by the Better Business Bureau?
Are they a preferred roofing contractor for the brands they use?
Do they offer a manufacture warranty on their products?
Do they have a local office? Many outside roofing companies will come to a city after a big storm looking to sell their services.
Are they licensed and fully insured? This is an absolute must!
Do they understand the storm damage insurance claim process?
Did they offer to pay your deductible? It is illegal for a roofing company to do this and should be seen as a red flag if they offer to.
Does their contract include a large cancelation fee of 10-15% after 3 days? This should be another red flag that you are dealing with an untrustworthy company.
Do research on the roofing company and read their reviews. If they have a weak or no web presence, chances are they are hiding from unhappy customers.
Shop around. Don’t shop for the lowest estimate, shop for a roofing contractor that will stand behind their work and know how to handle storm damage insurance claims.
At Storm Group Roofing, we take pride in the relationships we have with our clients and the reputation we hold within the local roofing service industry. Even though you won’t find us knocking on your door, we will always guide you through the storm damage repair process and stand behind our work 100%. Contact us today to invite us out to your home and receive a free no-obligation estimate for storm damage repair services.
– Dmitry Lipinsky
