Wired to Compete: Emily Dweck Sold $2.3M in Residential Re-Roofs for Holencik Exteriors in Coplay, PA, Thanks to Her Desire to Win and Her Belief in Her Company

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Welcome to The Successful Contractor, powered by CertainPath. Formerly Success Group International, a show for residential contractors about residential contractors. We chronicle business journeys, share insights, and celebrate successes in this wonderful industry. I'm your host, Bob Houchin. Hello there, CertainPath family and other contractor friends. I'm so thankful you're here. As a reminder, all episodes of the Successful Contractor Show are available on YouTube as well as your podcast player of choice. Yes, you heard me correctly. SGI is now CertainPath. We've rebranded ourselves under a name that we believe best represents what we do for residential contractors, and that's put them on a CertainPath to success. It's why we're closing in on 1,100 contractor members and rapidly growing. Speaking of which, if you're a non-member interested in learning more about CertainPath and how we can help your business grow both on the top and bottom line, we're hosting Profit Day seminars all over the country. These are meetings where you'll receive some concrete information that will help your business the very next day, plus We'll share with you what CertainPath is all about. For more information, give us a call at 866-299-8505. Today's show is another SGI Crown Champion feature. Today's Crown Champion in particular is Emily Dweck of Holenchek Exteriors in Copley, Pennsylvania. Emily sold $2.3 million in residential roofing replacements last year, easily clearing that $1.5 million threshold, making her a Crown Champion. Emily has a tremendous story. She was completely new to the roofing industry just a few years ago. She had friends who worked at Hole in Check, and they recruited her to the company. In October of '29, she began her onboarding and training. Of course, the world turned upside down in March of 2020. Not long after, she began running leads on her own, but that adversity did not deter Emily. In fact, she's thrived in the position. Emily is wired to compete. She's done it her whole life. She's been an athlete from the time she was 4 years old all the way through college. Emily thrives on a challenge and a desire to win. It's carried her through her professional life as well. You'll learn much more about Emily's story, and just as importantly, she'll share with you her detailed sales process. Emily explains every step from the moment she drives to an appointment to the moment homeowners sign with her. Of course, we'll discuss all those steps in between as well. She's got a lot of great insight. You'll see how passionate Emily is about her industry and especially her company, Holencheck, and how, in her eyes, they're the obvious choice for any homeowner. So without further ado, here's Emily Dweck of Holencheck Exteriors in Copley, Pennsylvania. I hope you enjoy and take away a nugget or two. Emily, thank you so much for being here today.

Absolutely.

For those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting you, can you please share with them your name, your company name, and where you guys are located?

Sure. Emily Dweck from Holencheck Exteriors. Copley, Pennsylvania. It's about an hour and a half from Philly. Is that all you guys need?

That'll work.

Yeah, that'll work.

That's alright.

You paused, so I didn't know if you guys were moving or something.

Oh no, yeah.

Okay, alright. We're talking for a very good reason. You had an awesome year last year, so go ahead and brag about yourself.

Sure.

How'd you do last year in terms of sales?

Pretty well. I got $2.3 million in sales. Closed at about 48%. That's great.

Yeah, that's awesome. Now, do you go on only replacement opportunities, or do you close repairs as well?

Just, just replacements. Um, sometimes if the repairs are backed up, sure, I'll do a quick little one like that, but mostly just full replacements.

Okay, awesome. Do you remember what your average ticket was, ballpark-ish?

I believe it was like $15,000.

That's great. Yeah, that's great. How's this year going so far?

It's going well. Winter was—

it's winter—

a little slow. Yeah, winter was winter, a little slow. But right now I think I'm at like 320 for the year.

Yeah.

Right now. Yeah.

So are you pacing on your— I was going to say, we talked before we hit record, you have a way of tracking your numbers. Can you kind of share with everyone what you do?

Sure. So I have an Excel spreadsheet that I put together. I get my goal that I want for the year, break it down by month, and then put what I actually hit that month so then I can see the difference if I'm above or below.

Yeah.

And then it tracks how I'm at, where I'm at for the year to make sure I'm hitting that goal.

Sure.

Pretty much.

Sure. Are you on target or are we a little behind?

It's winter. It's winter. I understand.

That's all right. What was your big goal you have for the end of this year?

This year, 2.5.

2.5, awesome. Yeah, that's great, that's great. Now, do you use that as a motivational tool? Do you look at it frequently, or do you just kind of look at it, internalize it, and you put it down?

I'll look at it maybe 3 times a month just to keep updating it. Yeah, so I'm not rushing around at the end of the month. But sure, yeah, I mean, I look at it. Yeah, but it doesn't— it's not what I concentrate on, right?

Yeah, yeah, I like it.

Very good.

All right. Love seeing a woman in the trades. We need more of it. So I'm intrigued how you got into this industry. So kind of share with everyone how you swerved into roofing.

Sure. So I graduated college with a business degree, started out as a hiring coordinator for a manufacturing company in my— in the town where I went to school. So I just kind of stayed out there hanging out with my friends pretty much. But I hated just sitting at a desk all day and looking at resumes and then doing interviews and then reviewing the interviews and then looking on Indeed for people to interview. It was just like nonsense work to me. I hated sitting at a desk all day. I hated sitting inside when it was beautiful out.

Sure.

So I was like, I don't think I can do this anymore. Moved back to my hometown. 2 of my best friends from growing up work at the company. They're repair techs. So they said they needed a sales So here I am.

Here you are.

Here I am.

So you just reached out to Jesse or something?

They said pretty much to Jesse, hey, we have somebody, and then I just kind of sent him a resume and went from there.

Right. So, but so your knowledge of the industry was really zero at that point?

I had no idea anything about a roof.

Right.

I didn't know that much went into it. I knew it was on top of the house.

That's right.

That's it.

That's about all I got too.

That's all right.

Yeah, that's funny.

Right.

So what was your training process like to come from ground zero?

Uh, pretty much just sit in the office with Jesse every day, and yeah, I'd go on calls with him and he would, uh, kind of just give me roof language. Yeah, so I'd study that a little bit and then he'd quiz me on it just so I could get the terminology down and know what goes into it. Um, pretty much just going out and watching what he does, and that's pretty much the training that I had.

Yeah, yeah. How long, how long were you in this onboarding process before Or they gave you leads to run?

I started in October '19, and then by like midway through January '20, I was starting to do it myself.

Right, right. And then you start then, and what, you got probably 1 month of normal?

Yeah.

And then COVID.

Yep.

How did you— I mean, you're new to this industry, you're dealing with this unprecedented thing.

Right.

So how did that affect what you did? I mean, was it— did it cause a lot of issues, or were you still able to sit down with people?

So what I would do is I'd show up to their house, give them a call, say, hey, I'm here. They didn't want to talk to me or be in talking distance with me.

Yeah.

Um, I just ask them what's going on, why am I here, things like that. I do the roof, everything that I needed to do. I'd go back to the office or my house, put it all together, give them a call, either Zoom or phone depending on what they wanted to do, email them the proposal and then do it that way. So I mean, it wasn't ideal, but it is what it is.

For sure, for sure. All right, that's interesting. Well, I don't want to talk about the craziness anymore. Let's get back to normal. I want to talk about your routine, your sales process. So you get dispatched to go to a sales appointment. How much background are you given? What's your process for kind of getting yourself mentally ready as you drive to the house? Do you have kind of a routine you go through?

Sure. So I get in our database, it'll have some notes like roof or whatever it might be, siding, gutters, whatever. It'll say if there's anything wrong with it, like if it's leaking or if it's just old, it'll have a little bit of background like that. So then I, I don't really pay too much attention to that. I kind of just go in and ask the questions to the homeowner just so they can get talking. Right. And they can tell me exactly what's wrong.

Sure.

On my way to sales call, I just put on some music and get there.

You got any go-to music you listen to? Do you like to be pumped up or chilled out?

It depends on the day, depends on the mood, depends on the weather.

Yeah, it just depends.

Just depends. Yeah, just depends on the day. But definitely more upscale music.

Okay, all right, I dig that. All right, you pull up to the house, you knock on the door, all smiles. Do they let you in, or do you get a lot of people that feel like they gotta rush out to you because you're a roofer?

Depends on the situation. If it's siding, I try and go in because it's more tech— or not more technical, but more options, and they usually know exactly what they want. With roofs, I just say— I kind of just stay at the door because I want to do my thing outside so I can see what's going on and then ask some questions. So I'll say, hey, why am I here? What's going on? I usually say what's going on, and then they kind of just get talking.

Sure.

And if they want to take me around and show me on the house or show me inside, then I'll follow them.

Yeah.

But I just want like a pretty much just a summary of—

Okay.

Or like Cliff Notes of what's going on.

Right.

So then I can look at it more in detail.

Sure.

And then go outside, do my thing.

Okay.

Put the proposal together.

Yeah.

And—

Well, let me slow you down before we get to the proposal part.

Sure, sure, sure.

When you're— when you first meet them and everything, we, you know, we always talk about icebreaking. You're building rapport, right? Because you want to differentiate yourself from maybe someone else that's given them a bid, right? Do you do anything like just exploratory questions in terms of getting their background, maybe talking about them, or, or do you just kind of right get into the roofing stuff?

It depends on the person. Okay, so if I'm dealing with a high D or high C, they don't care about anything that I have to say besides what's going on on the roof, right? Um, if it's a person that's a high I, high C, I'll It just depends. You have to kind of talk to them for 5 minutes and then you'll figure out if they want to have a conversation.

Yeah.

Some people don't even want me to knock on their door. They just want like a quick in and out.

Yeah. So, in those first 5 minutes though, what are some things you ask so you can get them to talk to kind of give you some insight into their DiSC personality profile?

Sure. So, why am I here? How long have you lived in the house? How old's the roof? And then if they just want to give me answers, they're going to be short, sweet, to the point. If they want to talk, they'll start to talk.

Yeah.

And then that's when I kind of figure out, okay, I need to ask them about why they have a Cowboys flag outside their house or something like that.

Sure. That's funny. Yeah. So, yeah. So you really are— you're listening to speech pattern, probably Looking at their body language, right? And then how open or closed they are.

Right.

Okay, how do you, how do you handle those, uh, those eyes that just want to talk for 3 hours? You kind of have to curb them a little bit.

Yeah, so I mean, I don't mind to talk to them, but I'll be like, all right, hold on, let me, let me, let me take a lap. I'll say, if you want to take a lap with me, then we can continue to talk, but I want to get my pictures and get all the information outside.

Yeah.

So I always invite them to take a lap with me around their house just so they can continue to talk. But I can get done what I need to get done.

Yeah, I like that. We talk about at SGI like credibility statements, so people kind of, you know, to build trust in who you are and your company. Do you do that early on in the call, or when do you kind of deliver that?

So we use PulseM.

Okay, sure.

Kind of just sends them a quick 3-second or 3-sentence bio just about me. It has a picture of me, so some random person's not just knocking on their door, right? And they kind of get to know me a little bit. So if they do want to have a conversation, they'll bring up, oh, I see you golf, or whatever it might be.

Oh, it has personal stuff too, right?

Yeah. So then that's my little credibility statement. Okay. But if they want— if some— a lot of people ask, like, how long have you been here? What's wrong? What's up with the company? Like, things like that. And then I'll start to talk. But some people just don't care.

Sure.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some people just want a roof.

I understand for sure. All right, so talk about kind of your inspection process. You said you kind of just walk around the exterior, I guess. Do you get in the attic and on the roof at some point?

Sure. So I— we use Hover, so I take pictures all the way around the house.

Okay.

I'll take notes of what's on the roof or anything like that. Throw a ladder up. If it's too steep, I'm not going to climb on it, but I'll at least put it up there so I can inspect the shingles, take a picture of what it looks like so I can have something to show them. Yeah. Attic, if it's easy to get there, I'll go up there. If it's this big of a hole, there's no shot I'm getting in there. Yeah, it just all depends. But if I'm, if I'm walking on the roof and I can see, feel that there's weak spots, then I'll try and get in the attic just to— so there's no surprises.

Right. And you do—

so you do the inspection whether it's just a marketed lead type of thing? Is that, is that really your way of differentiating yourself from From maybe some of the other companies that just say, oh yeah, here you go, here's your bid for $20,000, right?

Right, because I don't want them to pay for something they don't need.

Right.

That's— I tell them that every time.

Yeah.

I don't want you to pay for something like a $15,000 roof when you need a $1,000 repair.

Yeah.

Doesn't make sense to me.

Right, right. Totally makes sense. So what are some other things that you're looking for? I mean, shingle quality, soft spots, what other things that you're like, okay, you always are sure to take pictures of while doing your visual inspection?

I'll take the shingle, lift it up. If it's— a lot of times it's very brittle, so it'll tear right away. If it's not sticking at all, obviously I'll take a picture of that. If the nails are popped out, if it's high nailed, anything like that, anything that just verifies that they need a new roof.

Mm-hmm. Sure. And then how about like, if you are able to get in the attic, do you like, do you look for ventilation issues? Or maybe— I don't know if you guys do a lot of insulation type jobs. of pictures of that?

Sure. So the main thing I'm looking at is the wood, especially if it's going slate, the shingles. I want to make sure it's—

Yeah, the integrity of it.

Sure. Any wet spots. Just want to make sure it's good to go. So there's no surprise. I want as little surprises as possible.

Right, right. Do you like— I don't know about like gutters and stuff. Like if you notice they don't have gutters, that's something you maybe take note of that you guys will upsell on?

Sure. So, or if they're like siding quality hanging off.

Yeah.

Yep, just, I'm not gonna go out of my way to say, hey, you need this, you need this, you need this, because they don't want to hear that. They just want to get done what needs to get done. Sure. But if it's a need, I'll let them know.

Okay. All right. All right. So, so, you know, you've done your inspection. Now, do you write anything down while you're doing this, or is it on a tablet? Or how are you presenting your findings to the customer?

So I, when I'm taking notes, I have my iPad and I just open a Word document, type whatever. Okay. Write whatever's on the roof, and then I'll take pictures and I'll show the and my pictures on my cell phone.

Okay. All right. So, and then before you do this, have you— do you go to your car or do you write out options before you sit down and go over your findings and then what the next steps are? Maybe talk about what you do after doing your inspection.

Sure. So usually in the first 5 minutes of me talking to them, how long have you lived there? If they're 80 years old, I'm not going to give them a 20-year warranty. Just, I kind of feel out the homeowner and then I I'll go outside, do my thing, go to the truck, put a proposal together, and then that's when I'll say, here, this is what I found. Okay, just if you would want to see this, if this is my opinion for this, this is what I think should be done, or this is what I think you need.

So you go in depth into what you discovered throughout that entire process. Do you point out kind of the good and the bad and in between, or are you just kind of focused on the bad stuff?

I mean, if I'll say I've seen worse, I'll say they're not awful, or you might have 5 years left. But I'm— I mean, no one really cares about roofs.

So yeah, it's not a car they're buying, right? Yeah.

So if there's something bad, I'm gonna show them. If I say think it's not that bad, I just give them the proposal that they've asked for.

Okay. So will sometimes your options include like a repair option? Like you'll say, hey, I think you can really get by for the next 5 years with a $1,200 repair. You know, is that a level that your first option in terms of, you know, when you present to the homeowner?

Sure. So if, if I do see a roof that maybe has 5, 7, whatever years left, yeah, if it's 5 or more, I'll say, hey, I don't— I would say, if you want to wait until something bad happens, that's fine. I don't have to give you a proposal. You don't need a roof today.

Yeah.

But if you want to get on top of it—

I like that.

When the roof prices are only going up, I would suggest this.

Yes. Okay, I like that. All right.

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Welcome back to the show. I'm talking with Emily Dweck of Holencheck Exteriors in Copley, Pennsylvania. We've learned how Emily got into the roofing industry, We've discussed how she monitors her performance, how Emily builds rapport and conducts the inspection, and how she builds her options. In the second half of our conversation, Emily will talk about how she differentiates Holenczyk from the competition. She explains how she handles almost every objection imaginable. Emily divulges what keeps her motivated, and she shares so much more. So let's jump back into my conversation with Emily Dweck of Holenczyk Exteriors in Copley, Pennsylvania. So let's say, you know, you're going out and someone is calling you. They know they want to replace the roof. If it's 30 years old or whatever.

Sure.

So you're not even dealing with that repair thing. You build out, you go through your inspection, you know, these are value builders, you write out your options. How do your options in what you present differentiate versus maybe ABC Roofing that came 2 days ago? Because you got a bid collector you're dealing with.

Sure.

So what are some key ways that Holonchek differentiates itself in those replacement options?

So we're the only company that gives options.

Okay.

The other companies just hand them a sheet of paper or email them a sheet of paper. All right, say this is what you need. Yeah, and this is it. Okay, I give 2 options unless again it's an 80-year-old. I don't— she doesn't need a 20-year warranty. Yeah, so if I'm giving 2 options, I'm going over them. I, I hype up the more expensive one, right? Because Bigger ticket.

Sure.

But it— if I can tell like they don't really need it, I'll say honestly, we're not gonna install it any different.

Yeah.

Same workmanship. It's just the guarantees that we offer as a company is the main difference, and that's what you're gonna get.

Okay.

Is it—

is—

so you said that on the big option though, what— so maybe walk me through all the different features of your, your Supreme or whatever. What do you call your—

Oh, we have a Deluxe, Premier, and Optimum.

Okay, so your Deluxe, maybe we'll talk You know, as if I was a homeowner, share with what all the bullet points are that you've got.

So Deluxe, just probably sell that 95% of the time. So that's just like our standard package.

Okay.

So we're doing the ice and water shield code. We're doing the Felt Buster instead of the different, like Tiger Paw or anything like that. Just like the standard ones. The biggest differences honestly between the 2 or the 3 Or the guarantees we offer. So, yeah, 5 years versus 15 years versus 25 years. That's the main—

That's what you differentiate yourself by.

Right. And then the prices aren't substantially different between each option.

Okay.

The real difference is the guarantees. So I'll say if you're going to be here for a while, I would suggest spending $1,600 extra and getting 10 years extra of Us being there no matter what.

Sure, sure. So say I'm a C personality and I'm like, I gotta know what all this stuff means, right? Because that's how I'm wired. What do you— how do you explain like water shield? Like, what is that? How is it different between the packages?

Sure.

How is it different from what you guys do versus, again, ABC Roofing that just gave me a number?

Sure.

I didn't break it down.

So I'll tell them what code is, how big the roll is. So it comes on a 3-foot roll, and then I'll say it has to be 24 inches within the inner wall. If you need 24 inches plus the thickness of the wall plus the overhang, that is, or if not more than 3 feet. So if you're just doing one roll, you're probably not within code.

Okay.

So that's, that's what I try to hit. And then I'll show them a picture of a house that someone else has done that I got them mid-install and it's just one course. I'm like, that's, I mean, it's not code.

Yeah, so you plant that seed that that does happen out there.

Right.

Okay, what are some other things that you maybe point out that companies don't do up to code? They just do because they want to get your money and get out the door. Are there other things that you guys do better or differentiate yourself by following code where others just get by and they know the homeowner isn't going to know any better? Sure, so that's what it is.

Another thing is our down payment that we take. A lot of people take half down. In Pennsylvania, you can only take a third down.

Okay. Oh wow! So they don't even know that.

Right. So then I I point that out. I'm like, I don't care if you don't go with me or not. Just just know that that's not correct.

Right.

But yeah, I mean, I think our just we just do a better job. I think. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

How do you? So let's talk about that. So who manages the job? So once you sell the job, because I know there's Sometimes supervisors or stuff where a lot of companies don't do that. Is that— I can't remember, do you guys do that at Holoncheck?

Sure. So I'll sell the job, do all the paperwork, get everything ordered, and then Adam is the project manager, so he just manages the job and then he'll collect payment at the end.

Okay.

All right.

So you guys don't have a representative on the roof off and on while it's being put on?

Adam, he's there.

Okay, so he is there. I didn't know if that was a point of differentiation. They go, hey, you know, we don't just have a crew up there and they leave and we take your money. We have someone that kind of supervises and double-checks the work.

Yeah, I usually tell them that Adam's on and off site throughout the project. Obviously, if he needs to go get stuff or go to a different job, he's not going to be there, but he'll be present. And he walks around before and after the job with the homeowner just to make sure we take care of everything.

Absolutely.

That's great. That's great. All right, so let's say, you know, you've laid out your options, maybe Tossed an objection or two. Well, yeah, actually, let's dig into objections a bit more. You got someone like that's got way too much time in their hands, right? They got 5 bids and they go, you're the most expensive. So how do you manage those, those people that, that go, you know, why are you the most expensive?

Sure. I pretty much just say you're gonna pay more, you're gonna pay for what you get. So you might pay a little bit more, but you're gonna have that security from us.

Yeah.

I say if If anything were to happen, we come out the next day or 2 days, whatever it might be. I said, if it's Friday at 8 o'clock, you might not see us till Monday, but we're gonna— we're there.

Yeah, yeah. How do you differentiate Hole in Check as a company versus some of the other companies that might be only in business for a few years? You know what I'm talking about.

Right, yeah. So, I mean, I just always let them know that we're a family company, All the people that work there are friends outside of work. I don't know, it just makes sense that people would pick us.

There's nothing wrong with believing in your company, because I'm sure you exude it in your body posture, and they can see you're not just there, here you go. You're passionate about working for the company.

Right. I mean, I've heard other— from people that other companies come, they're there for 5 minutes, drone it up, and then email it. Or they're there and they belittle them, or whatever it may be. And they— or they're there for 3 hours and it's just a whole day, and then they call their manager and they're like, oh, we can take $10,000 off now if you sign right now. Yeah, like, they're just—

You guys don't—

Shifty. Yeah, right.

That's right, that's right. That's interesting. So, okay, so how about the people that are like, man, I, you know, I thought a roof cost $7,000. I didn't realize it's $15,000 or $16,000. Did you bring that up early in the call? Like, do you have any expectation, Mrs. Jones, what this— you're looking to spend? You don't prefer to get into that?

No. So if they say, oh, I thought it was $7,000, I'd say, why did you think that? Yeah. Um, and then they say, oh, I put a roof on 15 years ago at my other house, and that's— I paid— that's how much I paid back then, and this is a smaller roof. And I'm like, well, it's I said roofs aren't getting cheaper. So yeah, um, it— I don't know, I kind of just break it down for them and say, we've had, since I've been here, we've had price increases every so often, like X amount of months. And it— I say it's not getting cheaper, it's only getting more. Right. Um, right.

I was going to ask you about that. How much of that, you know, materials issues comes up in your sales process? Is it mostly only an objection handling or—

Objection handling. Yeah. Okay. I'm not gonna break it down for them if they're not asking for the breakdown.

Right, right, right.

Do you do anything to kind of create any urgency to close that day? Or are people that go, I just want to think about it, you know, pray about it or whatever? No, you don't, you don't.

I don't push them. Sometimes I'll say, like, if I can tell they're like right on the fence, I'll say, if you want to sign today, I'll take 3% off. Okay. But it's, again, it's already built into the Yeah, and that's because before I put it together, I can already sense what's going on with them. So I'll say, I'll just do 3% off if you can sign today. If not, that's no big deal. I don't want to pressure you.

Sure.

Yeah.

How about, let's say, okay, you get someone that you're like, I'm not pushing this guy anymore. I can tell, you know, he really wants to think about this. What is your callback process? Do you set an expectation that you're gonna call, or? Email, or what's your follow-up?

Sure. So if I know they're not signing today, I'll say, is there any other questions I can answer? They say no, then I say, all right, well, here's my card. Cell phone and email are best ways to find me. I'm not in the office that much. Usually when I leave a homeowner's house, they think of 8 more things as soon as I walk out the door. So don't hesitate to just leave any question. I don't want to leave any question unanswered. So don't hesitate to give me a call. Or send me an email if you don't want to call me.

Okay, but you won't actively call them back then at that point?

I usually— yeah, so I'll usually wait a week and a half to 2 weeks.

Okay.

And then call them back or send them an email and say, hey, just wanted to see if you had any other follow-up questions.

Yeah.

Is there anything I can help you with?

Okay.

And then go from there.

All right, very good. All right, let's say, you know, obviously, you know, you're closing most of them. So, so after, you know, they sign and they're happy, is there anything you do to Because, you know, obviously, what's your turnaround time on a new roof? I know it's probably longer these days.

Like 7 weeks, depends on the month.

Right, so there's an opportunity for them to cancel, right? So is there anything you do or say to kind of wrap up the process, make them feeling good about spending a whole bunch of money before you walk out the door to avoid those cancellations?

Yeah, so again, I'm just saying if there's any— if you need anything at all, here's my card. Give me a call, shoot me a text. I want to get it all figured out, but I kind of just lay out what's going to happen. So I usually say, all right, I'm going to go back to the office, get this processed, I'll get everything ordered, you'll get a postcard in the mail in about 2 weeks, give you an expected date. Once it gets closer, Adam will call you. Okay, get it all together. But in the meantime, if you have any questions, obviously give me a call.

Okay. All right, just some random questions here, and let's see if you— so is there any— can you think back of any Any appointments or calls you had where you're like, there's no way I'm closing this person?

Sure.

And all of a sudden it's like a, you know, $30,000 roof or something like any kind of unique stories like that?

So I went to a house. It was a morning appointment. It was pouring rain out. It was so cold. I was miserable. Just didn't want to be there. Pulled up to his house. It's like a 70-square roof. So I'm like, all right, well, maybe this might be worth it.

Yeah.

Knock on the door. He doesn't let me in. We stand on the front porch, walking around this house, taking all my pictures, getting everything together. He wants gutters as well. Put it all together, go back again, just go over it on the front porch. Still pouring rain. I'm dripping wet.

Yeah.

He's like, all right, well, I take my kid to college today, so I'll let you know. I was like, all right. 2 days later, I get an email. It says he just dropped off his proposal. So Yeah, it was, it was, it was a nice one.

Yeah, that's nice and easy.

Yeah, I didn't think—

15 minutes or something like that.

Yeah, right.

Do you have any interesting closes from where, like, you know, where you had to talk to the homeowner, you're like, this isn't gonna happen, you know? And like ones that you come back to the shop, you're like, let me talk about this one a little bit. Like any of those fun ones?

So the one time I gave a proposal to the wife, the husband wasn't home. It was roof and gutters.

Yeah.

She had to talk to him, obviously. Yeah, so a week or two goes by. I reach out to them like, hey, what's going on? They say, oh, we just need a couple more days to think it over. I get a call and he's like, well, I got other bids. Do you think you can take down this price at all? I'm like, I can take something off if you would like that, then we could take the price down, but I just don't see If I can get any lower. And then he's like, all right, just thought I'd ask. Let me send the paperwork over.

He was fishing. There you go. That's great. That's funny. Just kind of wrapping up, what's it like working at Hole in Check? It's just a great family business, really good people. And obviously working with friends now, kind of just share how much that helps do what you do.

Sure. It's a lot of fun. I mean, we keep it light.

Yeah.

For the most part, unless something obviously serious comes up.

Yeah.

But it's fun to see my friends every day, and I get a lot of freedom at Halenchek, which I like. It's just a good environment.

How many other salespeople are there? I can't remember.

Me and 2 others.

And 2 others. Do you guys interact a lot? Kind of share shop stories? Hey, how'd you handle this objection? Or, this is what I did?

Sometimes.

Yeah.

Not— I'm not in the office that much. I try not to sit in the office that much, so. When I'm around, maybe we'll do a little bit, but I'm just trying to— I'm very high D when I'm trying to get stuff done.

Okay, so there you go.

All right. When I get— want to get stuff done, but I'm high I everywhere else.

Is that right?

Okay. So very high I in the DISC profile if you look at it on a piece of paper.

Yeah.

Very high D if I just want to get my work done.

Okay, that's interesting. Yeah. All right, very last question is what's your why? Like, what motivates you and drives you every day? You wake up, it might be a Junky day outside, but you know, you're still showing up and grinding. What, where do you want to go? Like, what keeps you chugging along?

I think it's just growing up playing sports. I was always just very driven to not be bad at what I do. So I just want to challenge myself every day. Again, I think it's just the sports aspect of from age 4 to Age 22, just being in season all the time. It's just, I guess, programmed into me.

You're wired to compete.

Right.

What sports did you play?

I played— so growing up, I played every sport that you possibly could: basketball, softball, soccer, field hockey, golf my whole life as well. I played basketball in college and transferred to a different college and played rugby.

Really?

Yeah.

That's interesting. Okay, basketball to rugby.

Yep.

So when'd you pick rugby up?

I was in the gym doing a workout, was walking in, there was a table. They said, hey, do you wanna play rugby? I said, no thanks. I was walking back out, or I texted my brother as I was working out. I was like, hey, what do you think? He's like, yeah, why not? So I was walking out and they said, come on, just like, just come to practice. And I was like, I mean, I might as well.

Yeah.

Went to a practice and just fell in love with it. Yeah.

Or do you, do you do any— I know there's clubs and stuff all around. Do you play any still?

I do a tournament with my old teammates every summer. Yeah.

But in the summer, you're busy in the summer.

Yeah.

You find time for it?

It's just a weekend tournament. But not anymore. I blew my knee out, so I—

I was gonna say, you gotta—

Stick to the golf course now.

There you go.

Yeah, stick to the golf course.

That's great. That's great. I guess very last question is, any advice you would have for new people Or any active roofing salespeople? I mean, just in what's made you successful, and if you do this, you'll do well. Any kind of parting words?

So when I started, I knew nothing about roofing. Yeah, I still don't know that much. Um, but I, um, I talked to the homeowners in a way that it makes sense to me because I know they know as much as I did. Yeah, so the way I figured out about roofing and that simplest of procedure and definite wording and everything like that. I dumb it down to them so that it makes sense to them because a lot of people come in and just say, this is what you need, this, this, this, and only talk technical. I wouldn't want to hear that in my house, so they don't want to hear that in theirs.

Right.

And then you're not that far removed from coming through your training process, so you're able to use that language.

Right.

Well, Emily, thank you so much for all your time. Absolutely. I really appreciate you taking time away from Orlando fun to sit down with me.

Thank you. Absolutely, no problem.

That's Emily Dweck of Hole and Check Exteriors in Copley, Pennsylvania. Thanks for joining us. If you feel like you have a great story worth sharing that also helps other contractors, email me at bhouchin@mycertainpath.com. Also, if you've enjoyed today's episode, if you're on YouTube, give us a like and subscribe. If you're on your favorite podcast player, leave us a 5-star And please join me for future episodes. It's my promise to you that we will continue to interview successful contractors and other influential individuals in residential contracting. This has been The Successful Contractor powered by CertainPath.

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