We’d all agree that 2022 was a challenging year for roofing contractors and their suppliers. At Gibson Building Supplies we were affected just like everyone else by supply chain shortages for roofing and building supplies, along with frequent price increases.

However, we created a strategy to help us better serve our commercial and residential customers … and we’re pleased to say it worked. Here’s what we did.

Commercial Roofing: Making promises we could keep

Michael Pagliaro, Commercial Sales Representative for Gibson Building Supplies, said a major thing that Gibson did to help their commercial roofing customers was to be fully transparent to avoid any surprises.

“We’d warn them ahead of time of the possibility of price increases and would say things such as ‘if it goes within this time frame, it’ll be this price; if it goes later, the price is going to increase’. We suggested to all our commercial customers to build in some buffer room and make their customers aware of the inevitable price changes. Recognizing this reality, some customers bought their product in advance, especially if they had a major project and the warehouse space to accommodate the materials. This was the best-case scenario for commercial roofing companies.”

“If there was any hesitation or doubt that we wouldn’t be able to secure materials for them or deliver on a price point, we would tell them,” said Michael. “We were even willing to lose a job rather than risk making a promise and letting them down later. Customers appreciated the honesty and the fact that they could trust us to come through for them if we said we could.”

Residential Roofing: Helping customers adapt to the new realities

Jonathan Conrad, Residential Sales Representative for Gibson Building Supplies, said his focus was on helping his roofing customers adapt to the ongoing supply shortages and price increases by coming up with new strategies. Like the commercial side, Jonathan advised his customers to build in a buffer as he couldn’t guarantee prices. He wanted to manage customers’ expectations and ensure that Gibson could deliver on its promises.

“A big thing we did when faced with supply shortages was to help our customers explore alternatives,” said Jonathan. “We’d suggest they quote something else and would recommend other options for them. We had to get creative about ways to help them. As a team, we researched different systems and products so we could offer our customers new solutions they might not have considered before.”

Other ways Gibson helped roofers succeed in 2022

Prioritized loyal customers

Our primary function was to support our existing customers. We even told new customers that’s what we’re doing. We found that customers appreciated this, and they stuck with us. When Gibson had to go on allocation for some roofing products, we adapted by warehousing what we could get and offering it to our loyal customers first.

Put our supplier relationships to the test

We worked with our suppliers to help us navigate the price increases and shortages by giving customers as much notice as we could. If there was any hint at all that the price on a specific item could be going up in a couple of months, we’d let them know.

Worked closely with our operations department

Commercial roofing jobs are complex so require a lot of coordination and communication. The sales team started working more closely with the Gibson operations department to plan out projects and avoid surprises. This increased planning and focus helped to make sure the delivery portion went as smoothly as possible.

Developing new strategies to adapt to a new reality is key to being successful in a tough year. At Gibson, we’re proud of how well we contributed to the success of our customers’ commercial and residential roofing and building business in 2022. Here’s looking forward to a prosperous 2023 for all!

To set up your business for success in 2023, check out this article with simple tips to help you manage your costs more effectively: Year-End Review: Plan ahead to get ahead.

Feel free to reach out to your Gibson Representative to help answer any business questions you may have. Contact us at: info@gibsonsupplies.com.