No-Contact Roofing Tips from The Big Fish Contracting Company

Many states are beginning to fully or partially reopen after COVID-19 brought the economy to a halt. However, if you're ready to get back to work and begin serving customers again, there are several guidelines you need to consider to keep yourself, your employees, and your customers safe.Here are some suggestions for how to resume business as safely and productively as possible:Reconnect with Customers and ProspectsOne of the first things you can do to restart your business is reach out to former leads who put their projects on hold during the pandemic.Many customers may still be hesitant about moving forward, but you can try to reassure them by sharing your company's COVID-19 safety policies. Detail the strategies you'll follow to limit face-to-face interactions and potential exposure, such as handling all customer communications virtually.You can also incentivize prospects by offering a special for new customers, such as a discount for certain types of projects. It might feel challenging to offer discounts if your company lost business during the shutdown, but providing some type of customer incentive could help to fill up your sales pipeline.For previous buyers, you may want to consider adding a service and maintenance division or begin selling other verticals such as gutters, windows and siding to re-engage satisfied customers who have already experienced your work.Prioritize ProjectsSince construction is considered an essential business in many states, you may have continued working on certain roofing projects during the shutdown. However, now that the economy is beginning to reopen, you may have customers anxious to get started on projects they had put on hold—on top of the urgent repairs or replacements you already had in the pipeline.Consider several approaches to prioritizing new or backlogged projects. First, you could prioritize customers' needs based on project requirements and deadlines. For example, if a homeowner has had major roof damage and needs to be back in their home by a certain date, you might want to start on that project first.The project's budget is also an important consideration, especially if cash flow is an issue for your business. If a customer has a large project with a big budget, it may be good to get started on that project sooner rather than later.In addition, staffing and resources might dictate which projects you can tackle. You may have had employees who fell sick and are recovering or employees who have moved onto other jobs after work slowed down at your company. Limited manpower could prevent you from taking on certain projects right away, so you may have to focus on smaller or fewer roofing jobs to start. Consider all these factors when you're deciding which projects to prioritize.Keep Employees and Customers SafeEmployee and customer safety are two of the biggest considerations to think through when it comes to resuming work after COVID-19.Many states have provided safety guidelines for the construction industry, including ensuring employees at job sites wash their hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water, or use hand sanitizer with at least 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol before leaving the site if handwashing isn't possible.You should make sure employees practice social distancing both inside the office and on job sites. When and where it makes sense, you may want to allow employees to work from home. Paperwork and phone calls can all be handled virtually, so there's not a strong a need for administrative staff to be in the office all the time.On job sites, workers should always wear masks and avoid handshaking and close personal contact as much as possible. They also should limit face-to-face meetings with customers and instead opt for virtual meetings using applications like Facetime, Google Hangouts, Skype, or Zoom. GAF offers several digital tools, like GAF QuickMeasure and GAF e360, to help you remotely take measurements and build 3D renderings from smartphone photos. Use these tools to your advantage to maintain employee and customer safety.Getting Back to BusinessEven though states are beginning to reopen, the health risks of COVID-19 haven't disappeared. It's more important than ever that your business takes steps to protect employees and customers, even while you try to deliver the best service possible.If you are ready to get back to work, visit your state or local health department's website for more specific guidance about how to safely resume business operations. Using these resources can put you in the best position to safely and successfully run your business during this challenging time and help your company adjust to this new normal.

We've all struggled, to one degree or another, to stay productive during the coronavirus pandemic. For example, when I drove away from GAF Headquarters in mid-March, I expected to work from home for, at most, a few weeks. As those weeks stretched into months, my co-workers and I have used digital tools to stay connected and productive.But a tool that works for a writer or an engineer doesn't work for everybody. You can't run a free farmers market over Zoom, or distribute fresh produce to families in need via Skype. Yet that's the challenge our friends at the Interfaith Food Pantry of Morris County (IFP) struggled with throughout the early months of 2020.IFP is the largest provider of supplemental and emergency food in Morris County, primarily serving low-income working families and senior citizens living on fixed incomes. For three years, the Pantry has held a free farmers market at their two Morris County locations. This year, as the coronavirus pandemic put more than 1 million New Jersey residents out of work, requests for assistance from IFP have increased by 300%. That means demand for IFP services skyrocketed just as the pandemic shut down their traditional distribution facilities, and forced the temporary closure of their Free Farmer's Market.I say temporarily, because at the same time IFP was trying to solve their distribution crisis, folks at GAF — aware of the state's food scarcity problem — were also searching for ways to support our communities in their time of need. The GAF commitment to helping neighbors in need is embodied by the company's Community Matters program, and it's through Community Matters that GAF first connected with IFP."We're most impactful when we do relevant things in unexpected ways, and show up to help in unexpected places," said Jeff Terry, VP of corporate social responsibility for GAF, describing the role GAF can play in the community. "We're not a food company, but we saw an opportunity to use the assets at our disposal to respond to this community need."Representatives for IFP and GAF got together for a brainstorming session, and the pieces came together like a jigsaw puzzle. Each organization seemed to have an answer to the other one's needs.I imagine the conversation went something like this:IFP: "We need a space to safely distribute produce to families in need."GAF: "We'd love to put our empty parking lot to good use. Have you thought about a drive-through?"IFP: "We need volunteers."GAF: "Our employees are craving a chance to help. And our tagline is, literally, 'We protect what matters most.'"IFP: "We've never done an outdoor farmer's market like this before…"To which GAF responded, "Neither have we. But no worries. We're putting one of our best people on it."And so they did. GAF Community Engagement Manager Arlene Marks took the reins and, with input from GAF Facilities and Hawk Logistics, architected a first-of-its-kind drive-through Free Farmer's Market. The Market opened on June 12 for registered IFP clients, and proved an immediate success, serving around 500 households while maintaining good COVID practices including masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, and social distancing."The IFP Free Farmer's Market has given us a chance to open our hands to the community and use our creativity and business experience to offer solutions that help our neighbors in concrete ways," said Arlene. "It's rare for a company to lean in and own a project like this. But GAF was proud to partner with IFP to plan the logistics, organize the volunteers, and facilitate the operation."The IFP Free Farmer's Market at GAF has been open every two weeks, throughout the summer and fall, rain or shine.In recognition of our role in jointly serving the Morris County community, IFP has graciously presented GAF with its Golden Apple Award.A Volunteer's POVI volunteered for the second Market, on June 23, and the experience has drawn me back again and again. (In fact, my bride joined me on a recent visit and can't wait to go back as soon as there's an opening.)The volunteer day began between 8 and 8:30. When I arrived at Parsippany HQ, the first thing I noticed was four pairs of red GAF tents, in two parallel rows, dominating the main GAF lot.Arlene gathered all the volunteers at the dot of 8:30 to explain the set-up and our roles in making it all work.Each pair of tents was a loading station, she told us, ready to handle two vehicles at once. Tables at each station would be piled high with a range of fresh, delicious produce, all pre-sorted and bagged, by us, for the clients. As a client pulled up in their car, their trunk or rear doors open, "runners" would place a specified number of items in the car and then a "traffic warden" would flag the driver on to the next station.(We discovered that loading a car at all four stations could be done in about two minutes. Try doing THAT at your local grocery.)In addition to the food crews, an army of traffic volunteers would station themselves throughout the lanes of One Campus Drive, helping make sure every guest found their way safely in and out of the market.Did I mention it was rain or shine?Seamless teamworkEven during the volunteer meeting, I couldn't help but notice the seamless integration of the IFP and GAF teams. It was only our second event together, yet the crew — decked out in matching Community Matters GAF volunteer Ts — was already running like a well-oiled machine. Clearly, Arlene and her team had thought through virtually every detail. From the spacing of the distribution tents, to the traffic flow, to the precise number of plums per car, nothing had been left for guesswork.Throughout all of it, the gracious management and staff of IFP were everywhere, making sure their clients were checked in, providing bilingual greetings to help everyone feel welcome and informed, and even running water to the countless volunteers spread out across the huge campus. The warmth and welcome they offered the GAF team was only rivaled by their obvious love and concern for their clients.That love was returned tenfold by the hundreds of drivers whose smiling eyes shone above the edges of their COVID masks.The answer to "What matters most?" is different for everyone. But on Free Farmer's Market day, I'd be willing to bet that what matters most to everyone is the joy on the face of a mom, dad, senior, or caregiver, rolling home with fresh, nutritious fruits and vegetables for their families."This is just one example of the partnership we have with IFP," Arlene told me. "Now the question is, how to continue this momentum through the winter? How do we help IFP serve their clients in the future?"And to that, my question will be, "Will you be looking for volunteers?"To donate or volunteer to support IFP's mission to fight hunger across Morris County, visit www.mcifp.org. And to learn more about GAF's commitment to local communities across the country, visit our Community page.

Gary Kearns of Kearns Brothers Inc, a GAF Master Elite Contractor serving the Dearborn, Michigan, area, discusses how his company's early adoption of GAF tools — including GAF SmartMoney and GAF Project — helped his company be prepared to serve customers remotely, offer financing options, and rise to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.View more social distancing resources from GAF.