Building a Reputation

Roofing company relies on reviews, referrals for best business reputation

Mike Redman, president of Home Value Restoration, doesn’t accept down payments from customers. Some contractors might call him crazy, but he says he wants homeowners to be 100 percent satisfied before he receives payment.

Redman will even offer a payment plan if a customer can’t make the full payment at the job’s completion. “I know that people are good for it,” he says. “It’s rare that people take advantage of our good nature, but it does happen.”

Redman, who graduated in 1993 with a degree in public relations, began his contracting career working for other companies, learning not only how to put shingles on a roof, but how to offer good customer service. After starting his company and focusing on contracting work around insurance claims, Redman decided to generate more residential roofing replacement leads by advertising with Angie’s List. “The leads started rolling in… and have really taken off since we’ve gotten more reviews on our profile and updated our profile pictures,” he says. “We get a lot of referrals from Angie’s List.”

Those jobs, Redman adds, come from motivated customers. “We found Angie’s List customers close at about 70 to 80 percent when they call us because they’ve already read our reviews,” he says. “They know customers who’ve done jobs with us, and they’ve seen what we can do on the job site.”

By the end of 2016, Home Value Restoration expects to have completed 700 roofing jobs. While Redman takes pride in his company’s work, he says real satisfaction comes from helping people. “Forty percent of our business comes from referrals from customers we’ve already done jobs for. It’s nice to know we get customers calling who say, ‘You did a job and we live next door. We’d like to have you do our roof.’ They call on us just from our reputation.”

For more information, call your Angie’s List Client Success Representative or the Business Center at 1-866-843-LIST (5478) or visit www.angieslistbusinesscenter.com

Save