Gary Cohen - Elevating Your Business - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Gary Cohen from Certified Contractors Network. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Hello and welcome to MetalCast from Metal Coffee Shop. My name is Heidi Ellsworth and we have some great stuff to talk about today. And it's all about education. How are we educating our sales teams? How are we educating ourselves as owners?

And I tell you what, we had to go to the experts who really know about that. And that is Certified Contractor Network. We invited Gary Cohen to come and visit with us about an upcoming conference that can really help us all out. Gary, welcome to the show.

Gary Cohen: Heidi, thanks so much for having me. I always enjoy my conversations with you.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Me too. I love visiting with you. I love sales. I love running my own business, and this is really what CCN has been about for a very long time. I want to get to that, but let's start out with ... First, if you could introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Certified Contractors Network.

Gary Cohen: Sure. My name is Gary Cohen and I am vice president of CCN. That's our acronym.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yep.

Gary Cohen: My responsibilities are I run the day-to-day operations for our two owners. What we are is we are a comprehensive training company for the home improvement contractor. In addition, we offer one-on-one coaching. We also bring together this incredibly powerful network of contractors across the US and Canada, who can share best practices with each other, learn from us, but also learn from each other.

In addition to trainings and coaching, we also offer roundtable sessions and mastermind groups. It's all about engagement, so that we can all raise the bar and hold each other accountable for our best practices.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I tell you what, your network of contractors is so impressive. I've been friends with several of them for many years. Tell us just a little bit about the history. When did all of this start?

Gary Cohen: Sure. CCN was founded in 1996, so we're 27 years in. We were founded by a gentleman named Richard Kaller. Richard Kaller was a roofing contractor in the Philadelphia market, and he recognized very early on the need for this type of training, coaching, and networking for contractors.

Heidi, many times independently-owned home improvement contractors kind of feel like they're living on an island. They have nobody to talk to. Frankly, and I mean this with all sincerity, most home improvement contractors do not have business management training.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Gary Cohen: They came up as tradespeople and became darn good ones. And then, they decided, "You know what? I like this. I'm going to start my own business." They came in as being an excellent tradesperson, but they never had formal training. They never had formal financial acumen training. They never had formal sales training. They never had formal production training.

Think about every functional area of any business, and it's no different for contractors. They need to understand best practices and get systems and processes in place in every functional area in order for them to effectively scale their revenues and profits. This is what we do. We've been doing it for 27 years. I will tell you that unfortunately, our founder, Richard Kaller, passed away unexpectedly in 2006.

Our current owner, Scott Siegal, acquired the company in 2009. Scott is a roofing contractor, and he was one of the original members of CCN. It did so much for his business that he bought the company and has scaled it since. And John Martindale came into the business. Scott invited him in. John's been a long-time home improvement contractor. And then, I joined the company in late 2021.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right. I remember. You guys are just a powerhouse. I've been to the conferences before. Really, what you can learn and the wealth of knowledge and years of experience is so impressive. Let's talk about that. Let's talk a little bit about ... You do conferences throughout the year. Give us that overview of the conferences that you provide all year long.

Gary Cohen: Great. We offer three conferences per year. We do a winter conference, which is usually sometime in January. This coming January, it'll be toward the latter part of the month. We do a spring conference, generally in late April, and we do a fall conference, which is usually in the latter part of September. Now, you might say, "Well, why would you do three conferences a year? Don't most companies do one?"

It's because of the network. The whole idea is to bring our network together every 90 to 120 days, so that we can share best practices. Of course, we also do trainings at the conference in our general session. We also do breakout sessions by product line. We'll do a roofing breakout, a siding breakout, a decks' breakout, a window and door breakout. Whatever contractor you are, we've got something for you. And so, we do that.

And then, we also sometimes do functional breakouts by departments. Marketing breakout, sales breakout, production breakout. Because our contractors, it's not just the owners who come. They bring their salespeople. They bring their production people. They bring their finance people. Because there's something at the conference for everybody to raise the bar on their performance.

But I don't want to ignore the fact that it's the network. That's the reason we bring them together three times a year. Because we train all year long, in-person and virtually. We have three different modes for training, but it's more about having a three times a year family reunion with all of our members from all over the US and Canada. I'm telling you, Heidi, and I know you've experienced it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Gary Cohen: But for those who have not experienced it, you've never been to a conference like this. Because look, I'm not a young guy. I've only been with the company for just under two years, and I've been to hundreds of conferences in my career. Never experienced anything like this. It's like a family reunion.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It is.

Gary Cohen: People are hugging each other and giving each other high-fives. Everybody is anxious to share with each other, help each other. I've never experienced anything quite like this before in my life, honestly.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It really is a family. The members look forward to coming to all three to be able to really ... Because things are changing so fast. When you look at it, the one that's coming up in the fall, which we will be at. I'm really excited about that. Elevate. It's all about all of them helping to elevate each other and take them to that next step. Tell us a little bit about specifically the fall conference.

Gary Cohen: Great. We've got a great lineup for the fall conference. Normally, the way our conference works ... On Thursday, September 28th, everybody will come in to Baltimore, Maryland. That's where our conference is. By the way, for your listeners, we change the location. Every conference, we go to a different place.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's right.

Gary Cohen: We were in Dallas in the spring. In the winter, we were in Miami. Last fall, we were in Savannah. We always move it around. We kick it off on Thursday evening, the 28th, with a big welcome reception, where everybody gets to mingle and break bread together. Have some drinks together and just enjoy ourselves and have a good time. And then, on Friday, the programming starts.

We always open with a keynote. This fall's keynote will be from a gentleman who's an expert in private equity and exit strategies. Frankly, Heidi ... And I know you know this, because you're heavy into roofing.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Gary Cohen: The roofing industry is a very hot industry now for private equity acquisitions. We have a keynote speaker talking about, "How do you create your exit strategy when you're ready to move on?"

You've had your business. Maybe you don't have kids who want to continue with the business. What are you going to do with your company? This is a talk on an exit strategy, what to look for, how to go about it, and so forth.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Hot topic. Hot topic.

Gary Cohen: It's a really hot topic. And then, later that morning, we will have two of our CCN members, who have been very successful, get up on stage and share their success stories. So others can learn, "How did they do it?" And then, we're going to have another keynote speaker who is an expert in artificial intelligence to talk about what AI is going to do coming into the home improvement space. How we will be able to leverage AI.

And I'm not just talking about ChatGPT, which is what the whole world is talking about right now. I'm talking about overall. How do we embrace artificial intelligence? Then, after lunch, we break out. Our first breakout will be Masterminds by Department. We will have a financial mastermind, a marketing mastermind, a production mastermind, and a sales mastermind.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Nice.

Gary Cohen: Then, we have a little break. And then, we go to our second series of Masterminds. One will be on roofing and siding, one will be on windows and doors, one will be on interior remodeling, and one will be a general owner's mastermind. Just to run ideas and thoughts just for owners. That'll be our Friday.

And then, on Saturday, we will have a great presentation in the morning on utilizing technology to increase demo and close rates. That's a really hot topic. And then, we will have a talk on best practices in goal-setting. And then, we will have a panel discussion on best practices in planning for success.

And then, we will have another set of breakouts. One will be Introduction to an Improved CCN Sales Process. One will be Best Practices in Dispute Resolution. Another will be Call Center Training. And then, in the afternoon, we will finish up with Supercharging Your Leads. And then, we will have the wrap-up and the close.

And then, the next morning on Sunday morning, we have what we call an owner's breakfast, where we invite any owners who are attending to come join us for breakfast to talk about ideas of the day. That goes from 7:30 to 8:30. And then, for a half a day from 8:30 to 12:30, we will be delivering a bootcamp training. Best Practices in Your Sales Process, delivered by our own Scott Siegal.

That's a separate registration, but as long as you're there, what a great half-day training in sales. As you can see, it's a packed itinerary with lots of phenomenal topics really for everybody.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: When you look at that, those are great speakers, great topics. I love the topics. I think they are exactly right on to what's happening right now. They're at the forefront in people's minds. And then, you also have ... Let's just talk real quick from a networking standpoint.

You also have a number of exhibitors, or partners is probably a better name, who have tables out there during every break, during some of the receptions. All these different times that people can spend some time with some of the leading companies who are bringing what you just talked about. Bringing technology, bringing AI, doing all of these things.

Gary Cohen: That's correct. Actually, this fall, we're happy to say we are going to have the biggest group of strategic partners exhibiting that we've ever had. It will be in excess of 30.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow.

Gary Cohen: Just so your listeners know, it's not like we're just plucking off companies here and there. We try to be very strategic about who we invite. Obviously, whatever strategic partners we bring in, that's a reflection on us. We vet our partners carefully, but there are a lot of big name companies that everybody listening to this podcast knows. Owens Corning, James Hardie.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Sherwin-Williams.

Gary Cohen: Sherwin-Williams, the EverCommerce Group, which has EverConnect. Socius, GuildQuality. Blah, blah. We're talking about Leap and Gauge, One Click Contractor. I could go on and on.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Roofers Coffee Shop and Metal Coffee Shop.

Gary Cohen: Roofers Coffee Shop, Metal Coffee Shop. Let's not forget Coatings Coffee Shop.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Coatings Coffee Shop. Yes.

Gary Cohen: And so, we're really excited to have you there, Heidi. It's always a better experience when you're there.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Thank you.

Gary Cohen: Seriously.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: We love it.

Gary Cohen: Because the thing about who Heidi is, everybody in the industry knows you and loves you. We're thrilled you're going to be there.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: We always have fun meeting new friends too. We like that. We like that a lot.

Gary Cohen: Yes. Absolutely.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: What is some of the contractor feedback that you get on attendees who are coming to these conferences? What are they saying? Because contractors like to hear from contractors.

Gary Cohen: Absolutely. This is a timely question, because I'm very excited. Our whole team is excited about what happened at our last conference, our spring conference in Dallas. We got lots of feedback. We survey on every single session and we get feedback. And then, at the end of the conference, we have a steering committee of a small group of members who give feedback to our ownership.

Here's the feedback we got both on the surveys and from the steering committee. The spring conference was the best CCN conference that has ever been put on. And there have been a lot of them.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow.

Gary Cohen: Remember, there's three a year. Way back, there used to be four a year.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Gary Cohen: We're talking about a lot of conferences. And this was coined the best conference we'd ever put on. Of course, there's pressure that goes with that, because we've got to keep that going. We've got to keep raising the bar, so we're doing that. It's great. The feedback has been amazing.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's great. Wow. I love it. I can tell you, when I was there last year, the contractors I met ... I did meet some new contractors, Gary, and they were awesome. Who I've stayed in touch with are really, really solid.

So if you're a contractor out there and you're thinking about going ... It is, like we talked about, the speakers, the classes, the schedule, but it's really about all those contractors who you get to meet from all over the country and share best practices with. So important.

You've got a very special promotion going on and how this works ... We've been putting it out there. We're talking to all of our contractors here at Metal Coffee Shop and Roofers Coffee Shop and Coatings Coffee Shop about attending this conference, but you really make it easy. Can you talk about that?

Gary Cohen: Sure. Here's what we do with our partners. We say to them, "Look, our partners love partnering with CCN." Because our partners, all these other vendors that contractors are using, they want their customers, their contractors to be healthy. They want their contractors to grow and be profitable. It's in everybody's best interest.

What we've done is we ask every partner to bring customers of theirs who maybe aren't CCN members to check it out. Normally, it costs $800 for a guest to buy a ticket to our conference. That's the price for the whole conference, $800. But here's what we're doing that's special.

In the case of Roofers Coffee Shop, Metal Coffee Shop, Coatings Coffee Shop, we are offering 75% off. ID to all three of your umbrella companies connections out there. Write this down, everybody. There's a discount code RCS200. That actually stands for Roofers Coffee Shop, but it does apply for Metal Coffee Shop and Coatings Coffee Shop.

What that means is, when you register on our website, your price with that discount code will be reduced from $800 to $200. And then, once we see that you've attended, after the conference, we'll process the $200 refund. So it's free.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's awesome.

Gary Cohen: It's essentially free. You may say, "Well, why do we do that?" Because you have to see it to understand. You have no idea what it's like until you've attended it. Like I said, I came to CCN, I was retired. I was already a 40-year workforce veteran. I've been to hundreds and hundreds of conferences. Never been to anything like this in my life.

That's why we're offering this, because it will end up being free for you other than your flight and your hotel. But otherwise, we're covering everything else. It's just an unbelievable experience. For all of your listeners, I highly recommend it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Well, I know at the last conference we attended last year, we had some contractors. That was the one that was down in Arizona.

Gary Cohen: Right.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: We had Roofers Coffee Shop contractors come, and they loved it. It was really positive and they learned a lot. No pressure. It's just about learning and networking, which I think is so important in today's world. Because like we talked about earlier, everything is changing so fast.

Gary Cohen: So fast. You know what? I love that you said, "No pressure," because there is no pressure. We're not about trying to hard sell you when you come. We just want you to experience it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And do it.

Gary Cohen: And then, if you think this is a good fit for you, you let us know. But otherwise, just come and enjoy yourself.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Make it fun.

Gary Cohen: Now, by the way, I didn't tell them how they get to the registration.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Okay. Good.

Gary Cohen: Just so you know, you go to our website, which is very simple. It's contractors.net. Contractors.net. As soon as you go to the website, right in the middle of the screen, you click the Contractor button. On the top of the next screen, you click the Event button, and you will get to the Elevate Conference.

Go ahead and register, use the RCS200 discount code, and you're ready to go. You will pay $200 per person to register, but you will get that back after you attend. As I said, it ends up being free, and it's a wonderful experience. And Heidi, you've been there. They don't have to take it from me. They can take it from you.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: No. I learned a lot. I love sales and I love marketing. And as I was sitting there, not only did I learn a lot about that, but also other things. Production, operations, everything. It's just finance. And then, the networking was just off the charts.

Like I said, I made some friends that we're still communicating back and forth. They're now involved with the Roofers Coffee Shop, and we met at that conference last year. I think it's really something to think about. And if you're on the East Coast, if you're in the Baltimore area ... I lived in Carlisle for a while, and it doesn't take that long to drive.

There's a lot of contractors in that area, who I hope are listening and we're getting in touch with to get involved. Because it really is a great event. Karen and I will both be there.

Gary Cohen: Should be great.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: We're going to be participating. We sit in the Mastermind classes. I love the Mastermind classes. Especially, the one on roofing. I learned tons.

Gary Cohen: You know what, Heidi? The other piece is there will be contractors there, as I said, from all over the US and Canada. The cool thing about Baltimore is it is a big hub for Southwest Airlines, so it's pretty easy to get into Baltimore.

We have the other airlines coming in too, but Southwest has a big hub there and they generally have reasonable flights. But it's a great experience. We would love to have you check it out. We're excited about it.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I also want to talk about, because here we are on MetalCast, on Metal Coffee Shop. Like I said, Sherwin-Williams with the MetalVue Program will be at the conference. They'll be talking about it. There are so many contractors out there right now who are looking to add metal to their portfolio, do more metal roofing, more siding, gutters.

Everything you teach, Gary, really fits so perfect for contractors who are trying to expand the type of products they offer. Especially, an upsell product, a high-performance product like metal. So if you're a contractor out there and you're doing anything in metal, this conference will help you in so many different ways.

You've heard all the Mastermind ... It's not just about roofing. It's just not about siding. It's about a lot of different things that are going on. Just talk real quick about what you're seeing in the metal world and how this conference will help contractors.

Gary Cohen: Well, here's a fact. You know this better than I do, because you breathe this every day. Metal is actually the fastest growing category in the roofing business. It's not the biggest, but it's the fastest growing.

Sure. To echo what you said, if you're doing anything with metal, you should absolutely come to the conference. But I would say, if you're not doing anything with metal, you should absolutely come to the conference and talk to the MetalVue folks at the Sherwin-Williams group.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Gary Cohen: We partner with Sherwin-Williams. Heidi, you partner with Sherwin-Williams. It's a group of companies together who are coming together to make this happen. And it's phenomenal. The other comment I'll make, because you alluded to this, it doesn't matter what kind of home improvement contractor you are.

You could be kitchen and bath. You could be a basement remodeler. You could be doing decks. You could be doing windows, doors, roofs, siding. The processes are all the same. The sales process, the production process, the financial process, the marketing process. It's all the same. So it applies no matter what your business is. If you're a home improvement contractor doing construction in a home, you should check out this conference.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: So true. So true. You can talk to other contractors who have done this, who have added metal roofing or metal siding to their business, and see what they did and how their success was.

You can talk to them about getting training, what manufacturers they work with. There's just so much that you can hear from contractors from other parts of the country. It's all valuable, but that is a huge value to be able to really learn.

Gary Cohen: Heidi, you mentioned ... This is for those listening who don't know much about metal. Here's a couple of advantages. This is funny, because most people don't realize this. Most people think when you have a metal roof, it makes your home hotter. That's not true. The metal reflects the sun and it actually keeps a cooler home.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Gary Cohen: That's one misnomer about metal. So I just want to let you know. Also, metal offers incredible style options, more than with other forms of roofing, because you can play with a gazillion different colors, styles ...

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Patterns.

Gary Cohen: Patterns. It's just unbelievable. You can truly customize how you want a roof to look. Great advantages to that. But again, we'll have traditional roofing people there. Owens Corning will be there, and other people in the traditional space. There's something there for everybody.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I have to tell you, the contractors who are really part of CCN and active tend to have multiple lines. They're doing windows and doors. They're doing siding. They're doing roofing.

They're truly exterior contractors who can really teach you a lot if you're trying to expand. Or even into baths and decks. They're across the board. Gary, so excited. We're very excited to be there.

Gary Cohen: Heidi, I'm going to be with you in seven weeks.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I know. That scares me right there. Thank you. Yes. Seven weeks. I just can't believe how fast ... I've got to make some airfare. I've got to work on that next, Gary.

Gary Cohen: I haven't done that yet either.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I know. It's time. It's time. If you're out there listening to this, for all of you listening to this, please register. Don't procrastinate. This is a big event that's really going to help your business. Great opportunity, and we'll be there.

Use our code, RCS200, and join us. Come and find out what this is all about. We're going to be sending some emails out to all of you too. You're going to be hearing about this a lot. Gary, thank you so much. I'll see you in seven weeks.

Gary Cohen: You will see me in seven weeks. Also, for the listeners out there. If when you go to register, before you do so, you have any questions, you can send me an email. It's very simple, gcohen@contractors.net. I'll be happy to help you.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it. You can also find Gary's information and information about all of this on the Coffee Shop directories, on Roofers Coffee Shop, Coatings Coffee Shop, and of course, Metal Coffee Shop.

Go check it out. See. There's so many great videos, articles. Just some excellent information that you can get on those directories from Certified Contractors Network. Gary, once again, thank you.

Gary Cohen: Thank you, hun.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Thank you to everybody out there. Thank you for listening to this podcast. We really look forward to seeing you in Baltimore at the end of September. Be sure to check it all out on the directories, but also check out all of our podcasts under the Read Listen Watch.

Look for MetalCast. You can see it both on our site, on YouTube, and on your favorite podcast channel. Be sure to set the notifications or ring the bell if you're on YouTube, so you don't miss a single episode. We'll be seeing you next time on MetalCast.