If you’re on the lookout for a Melbourne roofing company, you’d be forgiven for focusing on their technical skills over their communication ones. However, choosing a roofing team who value communication skills and transparency can save you time, money and stress in the long run.
What Qualities Should a Roofer Have?
Obviously, you want to choose a team who has the expertise to handle your roofing project, especially when it comes to roofing your high-end architectural home project or re-roofing a large commercial or residential project. But simply knowing how to install a quality roof isn’t enough. You want your project to be a success, resulting in a compliant and high-quality outcome that was delivered to schedule and within the quoted budget. This means you’ll need more than your average roofer.
1. Be Stable & Reliable Communicators
Have you ever hired a contractor and found yourself in the dark as to how the project is progressing? This can be an excruciating experience, not to mention stressful. You can’t be sure if work is even happening and your money is being well spent.
Ideally, you want a roofing contractor who is an above-the-line and dependable communicator. This means they’ll go out of their way in the preparation phase of the project to make you aware of when to email the initial booking across, and when to expect scheduled site inspections or quality assurance inspections. This can be something as simple as a detailed text, email or phone call to let you know what the plan for the upcoming booking is. You can then go about your day or week without that additional concern in the back of your mind.
2. Inform You of & Keep You Updated on Timelines
While, initially, a grand promise of a fast finish can make you feel satisfied with your roofing contractor choice, if things don’t turn out as expected, you’re going to feel all the worse. You might suspect your contractor is rushing the work to meet the deadline, thus sacrificing the quality of the job. Alternatively, they may forgo the deadline, pushing it out continually, along with your budget.
But this headache can be avoided if you choose a roofer who explains their timelines and keeps you informed as to how they are progressing. Simply saying the job will be done by a certain date doesn’t give you the entire picture. Instead, by breaking it down into stages and walking you through when each stage is expected, you can keep track of the project more easily for yourself.
As noted above, you want your contractor to check in regularly to let you know how things are progressing. If you know when these micro-deadlines are, you can better contextualise these updates and estimate if the overall deadline will be met.
3. Be Honest & Transparent
The above two qualities mean nothing if your roofing contractor is not an honest communicator. This means sharing the good and the bad — and what they’re going to do to fix it.
From small delays in materials to larger issues like needing to rethink key parts of the project, you need to be kept updated and allowed an opportunity to provide your input. This can be to offer an alternative solution, like using different materials, or reimagining what you want the end result to be. It is also the time when your roofer can show you that your trust in them has been well-founded, offering a range of solutions or fixes for you to choose from. At the same time, they haven’t overstepped the boundaries of the working relationship by assuming what you want.
Ultimately, if you are working with someone who regularly and transparently communicates with you, you’ll feel more comfortable letting them take the reins, knowing they will involve you as needed without routinely interrupting your day to day. You also will know who to turn to the next time you need similar work done.
How Does KC Roof Plumbing Ensure We’re Top Communicators?
At KC Roof Plumbing we understand how important the above communication qualities are. This is why we endeavour to prioritise them throughout our roofing and reroofing work.
1. We Encourage a Culture of Respect
Having a single point of contact can help streamline communication on any job. However, it can often create an environment where clients and workers feel they cannot talk to one another, let alone form positive working relationships. This is why we instill in all our team members, from the get-go, that they can freely talk with clients, getting to know them as individuals, and building meaningful and lasting respect for their needs and the overall project.
2. We Have a Clearly Defined Communications Process
We then balance this culture of respect and open communication with a defined communications process that our entire team follows. This ensures everyone knows where the project is at and no one is left trying to piece things together on their own.
In fact, this process runs directly from our sales team to post delivery. That’s why we’re thorough in setting clear timelines and expectations, as well as gathering information early to prevent delays or interruptions. We then follow this up with an active QA process that is documented and shared in real-time, along with all warranties and certificates, so completion is achieved on time. Fundamentally, we want you to have the information you need before you start looking for it.
3. We Act Proactively, While Being Transparent & Honest
Taking the initiative and problem solving is another skill we encourage throughout our team. When faced with a problem, we want to be able to let you know as soon as possible, as well as explain what we’re going to do about it.
Additionally, we want you to feel confident in the expectations we set with you. You can trust that if we say we’re going to do something, we’ll see it through to the end.
So Which Roofer Will You Hire?
You’ll notice all the above qualities in effect when you choose KC Roof Plumbing for your metal roofing and reroofing work. With us, you’ll always have the same stable experience every time you work with us, reducing the stress and strain on you and your time.
It’s why we’re one of the leading roofing and roof replacement companies in Melbourne, preferred by property owners, architects and builders alike. We have carefully considered what you need from a working relationship with a roofer, and made sure that we have built processes and a culture that supports this.
To see for yourself the difference this makes, get in touch with us today to talk about your roofing project.