Tim Farrell and Chris Howard Of Repel Dry On How To Take Your Company From Good To Great

As part of my series about the “How To Take Your Company From Good To Great”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tim Farrell and Chris Howard.

Tim Farrell and Chris Howard are the founders of Repel Dry, a full-service roofing and contracting firm serving the state of Florida, with immediate expansion planned for Michigan and Ohio. Together, the business partners have over three decades of experience in the industry, successfully helping homeowners and commercial businesses with roof repairs and replacements. Tim began his career throughout the Southeast in sales for multiple restoration companies, working through 17 major storms and hitting the “Million Dollar Club” year after year. Meanwhile, Chris spent 10 years in the finance sector as a stockbroker before founding a utility management business that successfully completed multiple large scale solar projects in excess of $10 million dollars including a deal with Ameresco, the nation’s largest independent energy company. The duo founded Repel Dry in 2019 with the vision to create a more honest roofing company that always puts its customers first.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

Mypartner and I recognized huge deficiencies in the roofing industry and how it needed to be changed! Having worked in and around the roofing and solar industry for years, we grew tired of lackluster, uncreative, and untrustworthy roofing companies bending the rules, and giving everyone a bad impression of contractors. We ended up employed by that same type of lackluster company, frustrated and grossly underpaid. At lunch one day, we started really exploring what we would do if we ran that company, and saw that together, we had a unified vision of how the industry could be better, with a focus on the customer first. We realized that we had a combined appreciation of hard work, and that we could work harder and always use due diligence. We believed our approach would incorporate business-savvy, work ethic and an uncanny drive. Before the lunch was over, we looked at each other and said, “We should open our own business” — at the exact same time. From then on, we sought out to make a difference.

Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

Going into this, we never could have predicted what happened. After venturing into our journey towards the end of 2019, we were brimming with confidence, building our brand organically on a grassroots level, and beginning to immediately net results by rolling up our sleeves. We were working 18-hour days and diversifying our vision to include the solar division of our brand. Then at the beginning of 2020, we ran into a huge roadblock, as did everyone else, with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. This crippled the economy and led a lot of businesses to shut their doors. At the same time, legislators were vying for radical change to our industry that included removing our main sources of revenue, the ability to handle insurance claims as a contractor. We had the wherewithal to maintain our business by focusing on the hard work, pivoting to adjust to the changes that we faced. The extra effort seemed easy because giving up was never an option. We knew that our steadfast will would overcome this and if we could survive the adversity, we could handle anything we encounter by simply working harder than anyone else — and working smarter!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?

We had several houses in the same community getting roofs. On the day of the first build, our crew was given the wrong address and they began to tear off the wrong roof. Luckily, we were also under contract with them as well, and the homeowners were totally understanding of the mistake. That made the whole thing easier to digest. Lesson learned: always triple-check the address before you rip off a roof!

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Based on our company vision, we put in all the extra time and have great concern for the clients we have. We want them all to get the roof they truly deserve. We live by superior workmanship, using quality materials; we implement the finest in customer service and we are blessed by the referrals we are given. We have one customer that tried four other roofing companies before hiring us, and after almost three years, we were finally able to get the results that they had long spent looking for.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Hire the right people in the right positions, and learn the importance of delegating your authority — and pay them well!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

I mentored under a very successful roofing contractor in Florida with over 40 years of experience. Under his tutelage, we were able to take his knowledge and experience running a large-scale roofing enterprise and learn the ins and outs of this amazing industry.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. The title of this series is “How to take your company from good to great”. Let’s start with defining our terms. How would you define a “good” company, what does that look like? How would you define a “great” company, what does that look like?

A good company is loosely defined. Any company can be good. We did not set out to be just a “good” company, we wanted to be great! Greatness in this industry comes with time spent satisfying the needs of customers. A “great” company will end up with excellent referrals that net us positive feedback and favorable reviews.

Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to lead a company from Good to Great? Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Hire the right people — and invest in them! We once thought that we hired the “right” person and it turned out to be a nightmare when we learned he was a complete grifter and a fraud.

2. Provide continuing education and stay on top of industry trends. — If you are not on top of the latest technological advances, you will be left behind. We fast-tracked our growth by using drones, and on-the-go estimating to optimize results.

3. Provide important incentives for the staff and employees. Your workers want to feel like they are important cogs in the machine, and you have to make them part of the family and show them you care by offering bonuses and spiffs to make them enjoy coming to work and develop a true love for their job.

4. Humility is a must. People will key in on whether or not you are sincere. Being humble isn’t for everyone, but we all should feel lucky to have a great job in a great industry. Customers will see this at every level, from the admin to the top brass of the company, it is important to always be thankful and appreciative.

5. Culture and discipline for a positive work environment. Regimented scheduling and punctuality are the keys to it all. A lot of the times when we are talking to customers, we find that the reason they chose us is because we actually answer the phone and care about our client’s needs.

Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. Can you help articulate for our readers a few reasons why a business should consider becoming a purpose driven business, or consider having a social impact angle?

Everyone sets out to be great and make money, but most successful companies give back to their communities and are philanthropic. Having a cause or a belief is something we strive for. Chris Howard, our CEO, has been a heart patient for many years and we tried to organize a charity drive during Covid that would incorporate the American Heart Association, making sure critical heart patients were not forgotten about during the crisis. Due to the pandemic, we had to put it on hold, but we plan on making it our number one charity.

What would you advise to a business leader who initially went through years of successive growth, but has now reached a standstill. From your experience do you have any general advice about how to boost growth and “restart their engines” ?

It’s always key to establish new revenue sources. Reduce risks, be adaptable. Focus on customer experience, and ensure to think ahead by staying ahead of the industry.

Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?

Our top strategies are ensuring to pivot to new verticals when necessary, expanding your value to offer other services to customers.

In your experience, which aspect of running a company tends to be most underestimated? Can you explain or give an example?

Time: there never seems to be enough of it, and managing time and personnel is integral to achieve an upward trend.

As you know, “conversion” means to convert a visit into a sale. In your experience what are the best strategies a business should use to increase conversion rates?

Add value to our customers by finding out their needs. Offer training and development of salespeople who are relatable to the end goal Teach your salespeople to live in their customer’s shoes. Sales is a science of being able to read the needs of the consumer and offering the best strategy for optimal results.

Of course, the main way to increase conversion rates is to create a trusted and beloved brand. Can you share a few ways that a business can earn a reputation as a trusted and beloved brand?

Our name within it itself speaks to what we do best… “Repel” water and moisture with an advanced roofing system that will keep your home “dry” for many years to come.

Great customer service and great customer experience are essential to build a beloved brand and essential to be successful in general. In your experience what are a few of the most important things a business leader should know in order to create a Wow! Customer Experience?

A “wow” experience” means being attentive to each customer’s needs as they all vary. Ensure you are available at all times and overall, truly care about their experience.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen CEOs & founders make when they start a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?

Businesses often fail when their leaders try to “do it all” themselves with no clear strategy. This sets up unrealistic goals and a downfall in the long run due to weak leadership.

Thank you for all of that. We are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

We have long-discussed a concept that would affect real change in our industry; a business model that would protect Florida property owners from the ever-changing insurance laws that seem to never favor the hard-working property owners around the country. We have a lot of great ideas, and we need to get this one in particular in the hands of the right person, which is simply a matter of time. If you are a qualified investor and want to be part of a huge movement and get in on this from its inception, we want to hear from you!

How can our readers further follow you online?

Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Flroofersnearme; Instagram at @repeldryllc and our website at www.repel-dry.com. If any readers live in Florida and encounter issues with their roof, we also offer free inspections statewide.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!