Training built on relationships

By Dani Sheehan. 

With Progressive Materials, training is the start of a partnership built on trust, communication and shared success. 

In a recent episode of CoatingsCast®, Megan Ellsworth sat down with Jeff Romero, technical and education coordinator for Progressive Materials, to talk about how strong manufacturer-contractor relationships shape successful roof coatings projects. From pre-bid roof walks to jobsite support and hands-on education, Progressive Materials’ approach is far above the standard training session. 

“We believe that the relationship between our contractors and ourselves is the key to successful jobs,” Jeff shared. “That's the nucleus of the whole thing. The training, that initial contact, if you will, that first contact is really where we start to develop that relationship with our contractors. It's where our contractors really learn who we are and it's where we present who we are to them... It sets the expectation on what we expect and the standard that we’re going to hold our contractors to.” 

From the very beginning, they want to create an ongoing partnership. And unlike other programs, Progressive Materials designs training to meet you where you are – sometimes quite literally by flying to your location or jobsite even. A typical training session is conversational and specifically tailored to each contractor. Instead of a rigid lecture, Jeff and his team like to keep it relaxed with stories, answering questions on the fly and taking time for a shared lunch, making it a practical, engaging and memorable learning experience. 

Jeff explained, “We don’t want to just call something training when it’s really just an information dump. That’s why we do training one-on-one. We come to you. We genuinely want to inform and educate our contractors – whether they need tons of education or they just need a few little blanks filled in. That's genuinely what our motives are.”  

The company also works hard to limit the number of hoops contractors have to jump through to make learning accessible and practical. As Jeff puts it, “If you come in with an open mind, you’ll walk away with every question answered – and you’ll enjoy the process.” 

Read the transcript, Listen to the podcast or Watch the webinar below to learn more about the tools, guidance and ongoing connection Progressive Materials provides to help you succeed.