Sherwin-Williams - Roofing Passport Enhanced Capabilities - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Christian Zimprich, Sherwin Williams’ MetalVue sales director, Junny Lee, Sherwin-Williams' MetalVue Market Segment Manager and Chris Morris, a MetalVue Partner with The Stonegate Group. You can read the interview below, listen to the podcast or watch the recording.

Karen Edwards: Hello and welcome to another episode of Metal Cast from Metal Coffee Shop. Sorry, I'm gonna do that again, because my cat just jumped up on my desk and everything shook. Yes, he hit the microphone stand. Sorry, Adam, I hope you're getting a good laugh out of this if you're the editor. Okay, here we go again. Hello and welcome to another episode of Metal Cast from Metal Coffee Shop. I'm your host, Karen Edwards.

And today's episode is gonna be all about the Metal View program and the roofing passport and the enhanced capabilities that we're gonna see this year. And I am thrilled to welcome the team behind this program, Christian Zemprich from Sherwin-Williams, Junie Lee from Sherwin-Williams and Chris Morris, who is a partner program from the Stonegate Group.

Welcome everyone, I'm glad you're here. Thanks for joining me. I would love to have you each introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about what you do. And Christian, why don't you start us off?

Christian Zimprich: Sure, thanks Karen, happy to be here. Thanks for having me back on. My name, as you mentioned, is Christian Ziprich. I am the sales director for our Metal View program. I've been with Sharon Williams going on 11 years. Had some involvement with the program actually when it was kind of in its infancy and happy to be back as of September. So I stepped away for a little bit in a different. Capacity was showing Williams, but like I said, I'm back and really excited about what the future holds.

Karen Edwards: Excellent and Junny?

Junny Lee: Thank you, Karen. Appreciate your time. name is Junie Lee. I'm the Market Segment Manager for the Metal View program. Similar to Christian, I've been with the company now going on 11 years with various backgrounds. I just joined the Coil Coatings team in June of 2024. So very excited to be a part of the team, work with our customers and anything to do with metal.

Karen Edwards: Well, you're on a great team. We love working with the Sherwin-Williams team and the folks from Metal View. So welcome. Chris, Chris, introduce yourself.

Junny Lee: Absolutely. Thank you.

Chris Morris: Yep, hey Chris Morris, super excited to be here once again with Karen and the team. you have been in around this space for a better part of two decades. And so just excited to help more contractors and OEMs expand the reach with metal.

Karen Edwards: Excellent. All right. So let's start by explaining what the Metal View program is and how it can help increase the profitability of metal roofing work. Christian, why don't you...

Christian Zimprich: Sure. Yeah, so Metal View as a concept or strategy around it is really kind of a big idea of, you know, how can Sherwin-Williams with kind of our unique value proposition and where we sit in the value chain, how can we bring a suite of tools, capabilities, resources to our partners in the value chain? So manufacturers, distributors, contractors, what can we do to help with those tools that one can increase?

Profitability but open the market to people that maybe hadn't participated previously, particularly contractors who already do roofing or maybe they do exteriors but they're looking to get into roofing and there's a lot of advantages to metal which I'm sure we'll talk about in more depth later. again, the big idea with Metal View is we, Sherwin-Williams, can bring two things. We can bring the Sherwin-Williams brand, of course, which is obviously one of the more recognized in the building product space.

As well as, you know, again, the suite of tools, I think, that are able to connect with our partners up and down the value chain. And again, we've been, you know, our coil coatings division, of which Junie and I are a part of, have been in the metal roofing space for a long time, obviously as a supplier of coatings, but we've built a lot of great partnerships over decades and really...

Being able to work with those partners in the value chain. I think opens up a lot of possibilities to help This market grow again. There's a lot of great benefits to metal With or without our our contributions, but I think we're just taking it to that next level and really we'll see metal You know take more and more share of the overall roofing market because of that so

Karen Edwards: Okay, well, sorry guys, I'm having some internet issues if you didn't notice. So, and I'm about the five minute mark, we're gonna maybe have to do a little bit of edits. But thank you for explaining that.

Christian, you know, we're seeing such growth in metal and there's so many contractors out there, especially in roofing, right, who found it easy to get into the asphalt shingle market. And, you know, they're seeing the rise in the popularity of metal and the amazing things that metal can do. And it's not always easy to know how to go about it, to know how, you know, to get those resources to enter that market. So I think that this program, you being designed to really help.

Chris Morris: Nope.

Karen Edwards: And I'm really glad that you guys are doing that. So let's talk a little bit about, more thoroughly about those resources and tools that are available to the contractors within the Metal View program. And Chris, as a partner, I wanna ask you to speak to that one.

Chris Morris: Perfect, yep, thanks Karen. And I'll just kind of jump on what you would have said and Christian as well is that we've seen from a homeowner consumer demand level that particular in storm environments or fires, unfortunately, right? With the class A ratings is we've seen a demand that has really pulled a lot of that growth through the marketplace.

Junny Lee: You.

Chris Morris: But what we've seen is a little bit of a disconnect from the regular contractor, roofing contractor and their ability to offer metal, to quote metal on jobs and to be able to procure it and install it. So Metal View really is that end-to-end system that can meet a contractor where they are. So some will be very familiar and others will be their first journey into metal. So we wanted to create that, again, that Metal View program and really meet them where their capabilities lie. And so from the front end to

Christian Zimprich: You.

Chris Morris: To able to estimate or to quote with confidence so that they're not worried to lose their shirt, if you wil or to have a bunch of issues because we know only Superman can stretch metal. So there's some nuances to it that that Metal View offers. And we think it's more of that comfort level. So the substrate is easily understood by the homeowners. So being able to talk about the longevity and the natural life cycle of a steel or aluminum based substrate. Then you add.

Karen Edwards: Ha

Junny Lee: You.

Chris Morris: Coding for decades of performance, not just that it won't fail, but it will continue to look good for decades and decades. And so being able to go same day offer a price or a solution. And that's really the tip of the sword as it relates to the Metal View program. And that is powered by the nucleus or the engine, which is called Roofing Passport. And so that gives the ability through integration partners like Eagle View to be able to go put in an address, have logic built into it to be able to go present price to that homeowner. So that's really the first part about Metal View is that capability. Furthermore, obviously leveraging a brand like Sherwin-Williams to the homeowner as that resonates. I've yet to see a homeowner not know the brand, which is synonymous with performance, credibility, trust. And so being able to leverage that patch, right, if you will, on the Polo or the truck wrap yard sign, door hangers, paid search, paid social. So being able to go leverage a brand as well.

Junny Lee: You.

Chris Morris: A capability to be able to present price effectively and efficiently with confidence. those are some of the tools that are in and around the Metal View program that have really weaponized the contractor to be able to go sell metal effectively without having a history of being around metal. So it's really been able to go catch and capture some of that demand as the substrate continues to become more populated or popular, excuse me, with the homeowner.

Junny Lee: You

Junny Lee: You

Karen Edwards: Yeah, so I think, know, in today's consumer age, we all want information instantly. We want it right away. But if you're new to metal, providing that information, that estimate, that price and that information to the customer might seem a little bit daunting. And it's you you guys have really put together the partners that help a contractor do that. And you use the word confidently, which

Junny Lee: You

Karen Edwards: I think is really important, backed by that patch, as you mentioned, that new brand, the contractors really can feel good about it. So let's talk a little bit about Junie. I'd like you to address some of the key features, because Metal View's not brand new, right? This has been around for a couple of years now, and like everything, it just gets better. So can you talk a little bit about some of those new enhancements?

Junny Lee: You.

Junny Lee: Absolutely, Kieran. So we really take into account two things, right? For sure, Williams, the voice of the customer and continuous improvement. So each and every day, try to identify ways, identify ways we can provide a service to the customer. Ultimately, everyone on the value chain and then continuous improvement is a huge part of our culture. So when the hope and the belief is with this rollout of roofing passports, me, first thing that users will notice is a refreshed interface. It's clean. It's easier to maneuver through it. It's more user friendly. And then we start tackling things, bringing on board functions such as, okay, how can we improve the overall level of customer service for anyone using the platform, right? So we've taken into account job tracking, job management. And I don't want to necessarily spoil too much, right? But some of the key components of the Roofing Passport will make lives for the user.

Very easy, simplified. You can communicate with the various partners that we have on board Roofing Passport, Eagle View, Roofing Works. we have a team on the customer service from Sherwin Williams internally dedicated to supporting all the users of Roofing Passport as well. So we took into account the feedback we received from customers, we challenged ourselves and we questioned each and every day, how can we improve Roofing Passport for any user active and anyone that will be onboarded. Eventually.

Karen Edwards: Think that's so important that you are taking into the feedback, right? From those who have already been involved and they're using this and they're saying, hey, if only you could do X, Y and Z. And so that, are we gonna see some of those kinds of enhancements?

Junny Lee: Mm-hmm.

Junny Lee: Absolutely, absolutely. Everything is traceable, everything is tracked. We really believe that the users will be very happy with what we're delivering for them.

Karen Edwards: Okay, so I wanna know more about the automated one-click estimation process and the benefits behind that and the accuracy because it's still amazing that really one-click and I can have an accurate estimate. I'd like you guys to talk about that. don't know, Juni, if you wanna get us started. Chris, I see you're nodding so you may have a little bit to add there. Okay.

Junny Lee: Mm-hmm.

Chris Morris: Yeah, yeah, I'll take it from from Junie here if he's okay with it.

Junny Lee: Go for it, Chris.

Chris Morris: All right, thanks, buddy. So it is, if you think of it, boy, let's think of a good analogy, maybe like a Rosetta Stone, where you ever take one language, take a middleware and be able to put those outputs to a common language. And so really what we've wanted to do is to be able to allow a contractor to be able to go in and say, OK, here's the address at 123 Pleasant Street.

And then be able to go put that in, have logic that's built inside of the roofing passport that speaks directly to our manufacturer OEM partners so that they can align their parts, pieces and pricing along to that contractor to make it that one seamless workflow to where all they need to do is go do what they do best and go get a lead, go present their value, their business, their capabilities through that and know that all they have to do is trust in their partnership with the roofing passport.

Metal view and the OEMs that support that and be able to go get an effective price up front and then further be able to go produce that. Now I will say this it is a trust but verify right so it's going to get you everything you need to quote and it's going to be darn near precise but we still go put a tape measure up to make sure that you know instead of 15 feet 3 inches it may be 15 feet 5 inches and so just be able to go trust but verify but for a contractor that's going to get you right to where you're going to

Junny Lee: Is.

Karen Edwards: Yeah

Chris Morris: Confident in your price and stand by that price and then it's going to be able to help the OEMs be able to go produce that material and then on-site be able to go be really really really close to where you need to be. So that's that confidence that we're allowing contractors all the way through to have and that's efficiency too for our OEM partners to be able to go and speak the same language as someone that may be like I said net new to metal.

Karen Edwards: Yeah, and I like how it's taking the hard part out and allowing the contractor to, as you said, sell their capabilities, their company themselves, build that trust with the customer and you're just giving them the tools that they need to feel confident, there's that word again, in that sales process. I like that.

Chris Morris: And one other thing too, Karen, that we've seen is that when a contractor is able to really do a good, better, best and that would include asphalt as part of that. it really, from a homeowner's perspective, at least from the voice of the customer, what we're hearing is that they're selling more of everything because that homeowner feels like they actually have choice inside of differentiating.

Products, right? Substrates, if you will. And so they're able to have different price and again, different longevity, different warranties inside of there. we've actually seen folks that said, Hey, it's awesome. I'm selling metal for the first time, but I'm also selling more asphalt, meaning I'm winning more jobs because they're going in and they're really differentiating themselves from their local competition.

Christian Zimprich: Yeah, maybe Chris, maybe one.

Karen Edwards: I love it. love it. So yeah.

Christian Zimprich: Maybe one thing to add to that, and just to kind of back to something I said at the beginning as well, is that, know, metal's got a lot of benefits anyways, right? I think the market was starting to go that way regardless, and there's a lot of macro trends, I think, moving that way, whether it's sustainability, know, durability, not just from weathering, but also some of the extreme environments that Chris mentioned earlier. I think, again, know, metal also does come with some unique kind of complexities and, you know.

Junny Lee: You

Christian Zimprich: It's not the same as doing asphalt, but what we're really trying to do with Metal View, with Roofing Passport, with all the programs that are part of this overall suite of capabilities is, again, open that universe to people that maybe didn't participate and help those that are already in the market maybe get more efficient or be able to leverage their resources more effectively.

Karen Edwards: Think it's really cool that we were talking a little bit before we started recording and we said, this is really helping the end customer, right? Your customer's customers as Sherwin-Williams. And it shows a big commitment of you pulling these resources together and developing this program.

The industry, right? It's helping everyone in general. As you mentioned, whether it's your yours or not, it's really elevating that. And so I want to learn just a little bit more about how you get that customer feedback, because we talked about that.

In earlier of, you know, listening to what the people that have been part of this program and have been using these resources are telling you, what does that process look like? Do you meet with focus groups? Do you go out to industry events? How are you getting that information back from the users?

Christian Zimprich: Yeah, it's really kind of all the above, Karen. And honestly, the program wouldn't exist without kind of the feedback loop. In fact, that was kind of our first step in this whole journey was we did a large contractor survey and really understand trying to understand the pain points, you know, at that homeowner touch point or commercial or touch point from the contractor perspective. So it's been part and parcel to the program since the very beginning, even before, honestly, the beginning of the program. And I think one of the things we've maybe gotten better at over time as we've kind of grown in our journey with this program as a whole is we've had several areas where we went down a path and thought, hey, this is going to be something that's really going to provide value. And it didn't end up playing out. And think that not only is that OK, but I think it's helped us. Refine our approach to getting feedback and really also allowed us to cast a pretty wide net in terms of where those sources are coming from and really understanding, again, refining our process for translating what we're hearing from the field, from manufacturer partners, from our partners in Roofing Passport into new feature enhancements or new programs or identified needs that may be

Junny Lee: You.

Christian Zimprich: you know, we didn't even think of before, right? So we're always looking at that, you know, the Metal View program, Roofing Passport, all the pieces of the overall kind of universe that we're bringing are in constant flux in a good way where we're, you know, we don't just take things that are static as for granted, right? It's, you know, it's ever evolving market and we're trying to evolve with it and be ahead of the curve in a lot of ways. Like I said earlier, know, metals.

Junny Lee: You.

Christian Zimprich: Metal's got lot of tailwinds anyway, but what can we do with this program to just increase that runway?

Karen Edwards: Yeah, you you said it's an ever evolving market. There's also ever evolving technologies, right? So what you had two years ago might

Junny Lee: You.

Karen Edwards: You know, there might be something new that's going to be even more helpful or better and that you're constantly looking at what the next solution is and how that could be incorporated to help. I think that's top notch. really, I really like that. So if I'm a contractor, I'm listening to this episode, I'm like, you know, I've to get into this metal market. How do I go about it? How do I get started with the Metal View program?

Junny Lee: You.

Junny Lee: You.

Karen Edwards: Junny? Chris? Okay.

Christian Zimprich: Chris, you want to take that one?

Chris Morris: Sure. Yeah, no problem. So it's interesting because we are launching a whole new portal.

Junny Lee: Thanks.

Chris Morris: That's coming out that is specific to the program. So it'll be URL based. So that way it to Christian's point, it's not static, it's living. so inside of there, there'll be all kinds of resource and brand leveraging and all the things that you'd want to do to be associated with a brand like Sherwin Williams and Sherwin Williams metal cutting roofing, as well as an OEM feature. Right. So, you know, contrary to maybe some belief, right. We don't sell steel.

Junny Lee: You

Junny Lee: Thanks for

Chris Morris: So you have to go through just like air, through distribution, right? Through manufacturing as well. So then we have an onboarding process through a value partner called Giddy Up. And so it goes through and so it's really easy for the contractors and OEMs alike to go through the process. yep, so we have an easy form to sign up. So you're interested and then the team reaches out and then walks you through all the different features and capabilities where I would say one really sort of key learning is significantly less rigid than it would have been a few years ago. So meaning again, I keep using this term, but we want to meet you where you are. So you already may have some capabilities and things that you do and like. And then we say terrific. Here's a part that you don't have. Or you may say, hey, again, I'm new to this. And so we can walk you through from your your first, what we call first panel, first fastener all the way to, hey, I already do it but this is significantly more efficient for me to put bids through here and be able to have a more efficient output through the engine that we've created.

Karen Edwards: I like it. It's either you might need the full buffet, but you might just need a la carte, right? So that's a good way of looking at it. So what is the website that they should visit?

Junny Lee: Hehehehe.

Chris Morris: It is SherwinMetalRuth.com

Karen Edwards: That's easy enough. And you can also visit Metal Coffee Shop. Metal View has a full directory, as does Sherwin-Williams, with all the information, links, contact information, how to get started. Really excited about this. And now you guys are out on the trade show circuit as well. So, you know, if you're attending any industry shows coming up here in 2025, Sherwin-Williams will be there. Just stop by and talk to them about the program and how you can help your business.

Junny Lee: You.

Chris Morris: Correct.

Junny Lee: You.

Karen Edwards: All right, well, I want to thank you, Christian, Chris, Junie. Thank you for being here today and for talking about this program. It's great to see what Sherwin-Williams is doing to help the metal industry overall as a whole, and especially the contractors that want to be selling and installing metal roofs. And I want to thank all of our listeners out there. We're so excited that you tuned in and we encourage you to subscribe to our YouTube channel, work to our

Junny Lee: Yes ma'am.

Outro: Wherever you listen to your podcasts and follow us on social media because we don't want you to miss a thing and we hope to see you on a future episode. Thanks for listening.