Sarah: Good morning, everybody! We have a great show as usual today. Yes, Glyna, we've got our mugs!

Glyna: Cheers!

Sarah: To all of our viewers out there. All right. Let's get started.

Glyna: Good morning, everybody.

Sarah: Good morning.

Glyna: Hey, it's a great day today in the Fusion One Lounge. I want to welcome everyone. I'm Glyna Humm and I have my other marketing gurus with me here, Sarah Gilliland and Kelsi Munn and at Fusion One, we specialize in getting companies more calls and more business. And we started Biz Talk to highlight those businesses we love and grab some of their tips along the way. But before we get started, Sarah, can you pop up where people can find us? You're on it today! Go ahead and run through those if you would.

Sarah: All right. Okay. Well, don't forget that we always stream live on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. You can also subscribe and follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn and as always our awesome podcast Marketing and a Mic.

Glyna: Awesome. Well, we are so excited to have our guests this morning. I've known Jamie for several years now and I've known basically his, almost your whole family, your mom, and dad for years. So I'm so excited to have you. I want to introduce our special guest Jamie Garzarek with Highcrest Roofing & Construction. Good morning, Jamie!

Jamie Garzarek: Morning, guys. Thank you for having me.

Glyna: Well, thanks for coming on and we're just going to jump right on into it. If you want to tell us a little bit about your background and how you got started.

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah, absolutely. Jamie Garzarek, work for Highcrest Roofing & Construction. I'm 28 years old. Grew up in Helena, Alabama, I currently live in Calera. I've been here over here for about a year. But yeah, I went to the University of Alabama.

Glyna: Roll tide.

Jamie Garzarek: I have a degree in hospitality management.

Sarah: This interview is going to go a lot better now that you said that.

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah, I was in the restaurant industry for multiple years and my dad decided to start Highcrest Roofing and told me to quit my job and here I am. It's been great!

Glyna: The rest is history. Huh?

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah.

Sarah: Always listen to your parents.

Glyna: You know a few people joining us this morning! We'll say hello to a couple of people. We have Steve Johnson and we have Melissa Dixon is joining us this morning. We have Gayle Mason and we have Lavon Chaney. So we have some early risers this morning just to see you, Jamie.

Jamie Garzarek: Oh yeah?

Glyna: No pressure.

Sarah: So let's dive right in and talk about the Highcrest Roofing. Well, you've touched on how long you've been in the business, but just say a little bit more about the history of it and all the services that you have to offer.

Jamie Garzarek: Right. So, Highcrest is technically two years old, it is a family-owned company is the Garzarek family is my family, me and my parents run it, Garry and Ann Garzarek. I'm very blessed to have those role models in my life to lead the charge and here running our company. But my dad has been a part of the roofing industry for decades and it's been a real learning, big learning experience. But you gain to learn more and more about the industry every single day. I'm always learning something new. But yeah, my dad has been in the roofing game, construction industry for several years, and multiple years and just wanted to create his own and start his own business. So he created Highcrest a couple of years ago and still running strong so far. So it's been great.

Kelsi: That's awesome. So after he stole you away, what kind of role did he give you with the company?

Jamie Garzarek: I'm a multiple hat-wearing type of guy. Call me a sales manager, whatever you want to call me! Do a lot of, a lot of things handle a lot of people, manage a lot of people from running crews, to go and giving quotes, inspections on roofs, things like that. So yeah, I can't give myself a title, honestly.

Kelsi: Whatever you need to do, you do.

Jamie Garzarek: Exactly.

Glyna: The wearer of all hats and we all understand that, trust me. Well, I'll tell you, I've just as I said, I've known your dad probably for the longest, but I know that he is such... You could always trust Gary to do the right thing and the more I learn about you, Jamie, you take after him and your mom. I can't say enough good things about Highcrest. But I'm going to let you brag on Highcrest a little bit yourself. What do you think sets you guys apart, besides the obvious things I just mentioned?

Jamie Garzarek: Right. I think, a lot of roofing companies or construction companies sometimes get a bad rep. Construction industry is very difficult. You're going into people's homes. I like to say, if you're going into someone's home, it's their home. If you're working on the outside of their house, it's their house. People care a little bit more about the inside of their homes. But we try to deliver on what we promise. We have years of experience. Another thing we don't do is we don't "door-knock". So, we don't solicit business to neighborhoods. Sometimes a storm will roll through and there'll be damage everywhere and next thing you know there'll be 20 companies in that neighborhood the next morning. So we don't do that. It's just not a big business practice that we do. Obviously, people get business out of it and help people. But we just try to do it referral only. It's really only how we get our business is someone recommending us or we use BNI, Business Networking International. So, that is huge in our business. So just building our relationships with our customers and creating a bond with them beyond just a quick project to make a dollar.

Glyna: and that is rare. I want to tell you.

Sarah: That really is.

Glyna: It's rare in any industry, but especially in roofing and construction and to work solely on referrals in your industry speaks volumes because most people, like you said, are out door-knocking because they're just trying to get the next dollar, the next roof, all of that kind of thing. But yeah, Lavon Chaney says, "Jamie and Highcrest have taken care of many of our insurance customers and I wholeheartedly recommend Highcrest Roofing."

Jamie Garzarek: Thank you, Lavon.

Glyna: That's sweet. The thing about Highcrest is you're not going to find anybody saying anything bad about Highcrest or the Garzarek's. So this is a pretty easy deal to recommend, Jamie. But Allen also said, "Jamie's the man. Highcrest does an awesome job. Put a new roof on our house in one day." Oh my Gosh. Holy cow.

Sarah: Now that's a turnaround!

Jamie Garzarek: Right. Yeah.

Sarah: Gosh.

Jamie Garzarek: It could take a day, day and a half. So, they can knock them out!

Sarah: Oh my gosh, they just keep on coming. I'm telling you. Your reputation speaks volumes. Cindy said, "Highcrest has done lots of work for me personally, as well as my real estate clients. Whether it's a new roof, just inspection, or other types of repairs, they always do a great job. Prompt and professional and excellent work."

Jamie Garzarek: Thank you for that, Cindy.

Sarah: This is great. I'm telling you!

Jamie Garzarek: You're gassing me up!

Sarah: You have a great reputation, that's for sure! We talked about this a little earlier in the week, but let's touch on COVID which we're like, "Barf. We hate COVID."

Glyna: Boo!

Sarah: Yeah. It's affected everybody. A lot of people's businesses in one way or another. How specifically has it affected your company and the industry as a whole?

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah. In the industry, definitely supplies are hard to get sometimes or the supply houses have shortages specifically some different types of shields. I mean, or different colors. If you want a certain brand, it might take older to get, but as far as COVID affecting me going out into the field, definitely, people are more hesitant for me to come in and look at a project or get started. People are strapped for money right now, too because of the economy. So we got people just waiting, holding off work, essentially until everything calms down and gets back to normal. But yes, it's definitely been a strange time. Luckily we've been able to keep working. It's roofing, it's outdoors, so we don't have to go contact with our customers, necessarily. We can do everything electronically. So, that's been a blessing to still be able to work when I know a whole lot of people can't right now.

Kelsi: Well, we've got a short little video we want to show of some of your work... I was about to drink some coffee.

Sarah: Sorry, Kelsi, I got a little finger happy on that.

Kelsi: Well, I want to tell you, we did not put this video together. Jamie provided this video for us. So what kind of technology are you using to get those awesome shots?

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah, so we use drones, a lot of times it helps us take pictures, but helps me evaluate roofs. Some of these roofs are crazy to climb. You can't climb them all and very dangerous. We use drones to inspect roofs. I'm able to zoom in and out and determine if a roof is damaged or not using a drone. It's amazing. It's fun. So, I really enjoy it and pretty good at it.

Kelsi: I bet it makes not only your job easier in the sense that you don't have to get on roofs, but it saves time I mean, getting up on a roof, having to walk around, versus just shooting that guy up in the air and going, "Okay. You're good."

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah. Exactly.

Glyna: Yeah. I'd say that's probably changed the game for you because I know some of those roofs are a little dangerous or they wouldn't be doing it.

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah, for sure. We got a couple of them. I've only wrecked one in my life.

Kelsi: That's good!

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah. That was a long time ago, too.

Kelsi: I have to say, every person I know that owns a drone has gotten it stuck in a tree within the first 12 hours of owning it.

Jamie Garzarek: I didn't get it stuck in a tree. It smashed in the ground. So I had to get some fresh ones after that.

Glyna: Well, gosh, we have so many people tuning in and asking questions. Gayle said that you did her roof inspection when she purchased a home and she feels like you're the best in the business. "Prompt response," if I could spit it out, "and always on time." And then Cindy wants to know, "Is there a big difference in cost between a three-tab shingle and an architectural shingle?"

Jamie Garzarek: There is not much, it's a little bit of a difference, but I think it's definitely worth the little extra expense to get an architectural shingle. It's a much higher quality, stronger shingle than a three-tab. A three-tab is your traditional rectangular looking shingle that you've probably seen on a roof, it has a 60 mile per hour wind rating. The architectural is 130. So yeah, I'll watch the weather all the time, the nature of my job. So, if James Spann says, "Oh, we got 70 mile per hour winds rolling through," I know shingles are going to get ripped off. So it's just something to know. Yeah, I'd definitely recommend the architectural shingle.

Glyna: Okay, perfect. We also have Melissa Dixon who's asking a question. She said, where she?

Sarah:

She says, "When you pay a social visit to someone's home, do you instinctively inspect their roof out of habit?"

Jamie Garzarek: Absolutely. I literally drive down the road and all I'll look at is roofs. You drive down neighborhoods, I don't look at your grass or anything. I look at your roof. Yeah, it's pretty funny.

Glyna: That's really funny. And then, of course, Kirk Edmunds wants to know when you're going to teach him how to fly that drone.

Jamie Garzarek: Anytime, it's easy. It's easy.

Glyna: All right. Let's see here. Jamie, I know a lot of people have misconceptions about insurance and roofs and how that all works. Can you tell us a little bit more about that process if you're trying to get your insurance to help you out with a roof?

Jamie Garzarek: Right. So there's a couple of ways to get your roof in place: you want to pay out of pocket or go through your insurance? File a claim on your roof? Essentially, if you give me a call say, "Hey, I think I got damage on my roof from a storm," I'll come out and check it out, fly a drone, walk, and get up on the roof if I can. And I'll try and give you the most honest evaluation I possibly can to let you know if you might have a chance to get it replaced or not. I'll tell this to everyone. I'll say it on this platform. Just because a roofer or myself says a roof is damaged, doesn't mean the insurance company will go out there and stroke you a check. So, I see it all the time where a roof is damaged and they don't approve it. And then sometimes it's not that damage or not bad off and they approve it. So it all depends on the adjuster and their determination of the insurance company's policies of what they determine is storm damage or not. So in the process of, let's say you give me a call, go through your insurance process, if I determine that, yes you do have enough damage, they'll give you adjuster appointment. I can meet the adjuster at the roof, at the house, to go over the entire roof with them. And then they make a determination if they're going to buy it or not or replace it. And so, yeah, I mean, I could get super deep, but it's very tough sometimes. Certain insurance companies are better than others. I'm not trying to put anybody on blast, but just check out your policy and know what you have, essentially.

Glyna: And of course, as always Mitch Jones is offering such insight. Of course, Mitch, he's very observant, "Jamie's better looking than his dad, for sure." Thanks, Mitch! I'm not touching any more buttons. I'm sorry!

Sarah: We were all back and forth on that.

Kelsi: Well, I just want to share my personal experience just a testament to their integrity at Highcrest. I had a day where my dog showed up on my back porch with some shingles in her mouth. Full-on shingles and I was like, "Where the heck did these come from?" So I called Jamie and I think you came out, either that afternoon or the very next morning, and threw your drone up and within a few minutes, you're like, "Your roof is totally fine. You don't have anything to worry about." And I just thought that was amazing because my roof is very high pitched. You can't really see much of it. So you could have easily said, "Yeah, you need a handful of shingles replaced," and I wouldn't have known any different. You don't do that kind of thing. So I just really appreciate that kind of integrity. But can you say what's the typical process time from the initial inspection to the completion of a total roof replacement?

Jamie Garzarek: So, if you're paying out of pocket, cash. We can do a roof probably a week, two weeks after we agreed to it. We can do a roof in a day sometimes. With the hot weather, it's been tough to knock them out in a day, but the guys move pretty quick. A Day, day and a half to complete a roof. But insurance-wise, obviously you got to wait on your money from the insurance companies that they approve your roof. So that a lot of times that's a waiting game, have to get it run through your mortgage company sometimes or a bank. But yeah, and not long, maybe a week, two weeks sometimes if you go through insurance. So, yeah.

Kelsi: Awesome.

Glyna: Okay. Okay, Sarah.

Sarah: Touching on the insurance claim process a little bit more because I know you've just been in a lot of situations and seen a lot of different, we'll say situations, again with homeowners and it's just so valuable to know what they need to know to better protect themselves. So what would be one bit of advice that you would say to homeowners to be more aware?

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah, I would definitely say build a relationship with your agent. That being able to communicate with them and know what your policy is for your roof is huge. A lot of times, roofs are worn out, so adjusters can deny just for not have maintained a roof. A lot of people don't know their deductible. You pay your claim and get deductibles. Part of that, a lot of people aren't aware that they have a four grand deductible and they can't afford that at the time. So I would just say to build a relationship with your agent and determine if you have what it, so you're covered. You know what you have and don't have any surprises when this process starts.

Sarah: Yeah. Know what's in your policy, I guess.

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah, exactly.

Glyna: That's great advice. I mean, we've talked about not all roofing companies are created equal, but you guys even go even a step beyond. I know you've talked to us about what even goes under a shingle when you're putting in a roof on. Explain to us the differences that you have there.

Jamie Garzarek: Right. I wish I had my materials to demonstrate. But yeah, it specifically our waterproofing underlayment, we use what is called a synthetic underlayment. It's a stronger mesh. It looks like a plastic, but it's a strong underlayment material. A lot of the older roofs and the roofs of the past how they've been built, people still do it, is called a 15 pound felt. It's just literally like paper as your underlayment. So a shingle gets ripped off by the wind and that paper is destroyed. So yeah, we use all high-quality materials, the best we could find, and yeah, try to give you the best roof we possibly can.

Glyna: Perfect.

Sarah: So, Let's talk about those manufacturers that you use. First off, what are the types of rooms that you all offer, and then additionally, who is the supplier that you use?

Jamie Garzarek: Right. Yeah. We offer shingle roof, residential. Then we also do metal roofs and we also touch into the commercial side of things a little bit. TPO, if you see those white roofs on these big commercial buildings sometimes. So, that is what that is. Tar and gravel, we can do that. But our main shingles supplier is GAF, that's the type of shingle we use. That's probably one of the most popular brands in America if it is the most popular brand in America. So yeah, we've tried other shingles before and then some of them aren't as good as GAF. So we stick with GAF. We're in the process of being a, it's called a GAF Elite Master Program type deal and it gives us some certification that we're building the quality roof and reassures our customers that yeah, we're legit. So yeah.

Kelsi: Awesome. Quality roof, quality family. Quality new website!

Jamie Garzarek: That's right.

Kelsi: Sarah, do you want to show that off?

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah, thank you to Fusion One for hooking us up. We got some new things on the website. So I appreciate y'all handling that!

Sarah: Yes.

Kelsi: Pop this up here. All right. So this is Highcrest's new fancy website and we'll show the URL in just a little bit. But Jamie, you mentioned obviously y'all do construction as well. Can you touch on the other types of jobs that you all do?

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. We do a lot more than just roofs. We build a lot of decks and do a lot paint jobs, we do gutters, gutter guards, some siding, pretty much anything besides electrical and plumbing. We could probably handle and which we have a guy for. So, we can touch a lot of bases and fulfill a lot of needs that people need. So yeah, those are just some pictures of some decks we've done. Those are the most fun projects to do. I really love decks and we do bathroom and kitchen remodels, tile work. If you want your dream bathroom, we can do that for you and we do a good job.

Sarah: Yeah, these bathrooms do look like a dream.

Jamie Garzarek: We can get you hooked up!

Sarah: Yeah. There's a lot. And then let's see, we've got a construction. Finish off with this. So, wow. This is really pretty.

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah. Deck enclosures, patios, pergolas.

Sarah: Wow.

Jamie Garzarek: Got some skilled carpenters.

Kelsi: We dream it, you build it unless it involves plumbing and electrical?

Jamie Garzarek: And we can hire a plumber and electricians.

Kelsi: That's awesome!

Sarah: Okay. There we go.

Kelsi: Beautiful there.

Jamie Garzarek: I love that website now. That's so much better.

Glyna: That's turned into one of my favorite websites. I've shown that thing to everybody. So we appreciate you guys letting us help you out with that. So we had to show it off a little bit, of course. We have Trevor tuning in, and also your dad, Garry.

Jamie Garzarek: Hello.

Glyna: He stopped by. But Trevor said that he sends all of his clients that have roof issues to you guys and that you're just a great company.

Jamie Garzarek: Thank you, Trevor.

Glyna: So, I think there's a thing going on here. Maybe, I think people like you guys just a little bit.

Sarah: A lot of love.

Glyna: Andy Entrekin is joining us today and he said he didn't realize that you did all of those other things and I think that's because when we're in our referral groups, we all have our lanes and stuff, but yes, actually, I'm like Kelsi, Highcrest has done other things for us than just our roof. They replaced our roof years ago, but they've done other things, painting and just doing some things around the house that we needed done and always great, great work. So, I call you guys for basically anything and we all have these huge dreams, and a lot of times it comes with a little bit of a price tag. Do you guys have financing, or how does that work?

Jamie Garzarek: Yes, we do. This is recent, within the last month we've added financing to our portfolio. It helps us sell jobs and helps customers pay for these projects. So, sometimes a roof could be $10,000 or plus, and people can't afford that. So yeah, we have a financing option. You go on Highcrestinc.com, it walks you through the whole process. The application process is just, it's more of a soft credit check and we can track essentially everything done when you get approved and how much money that you've been approved for and when you're ready to go. So yeah, we've gotten a lot of positive feedback on that and we're starting to see more and more jobs just because we offer financing. So definitely an option.

Glyna: Great.

Sarah: Yeah. It is. So you're mainly a referral-based business and it's worked really well for you. So let's touch on who would be the best referrals for your business.

Jamie Garzarek: Right. I would definitely say anybody with a roof above your head.

Sarah: That narrows it down.

Jamie Garzarek: That's number one. But realtors, insurance agents, those are huge for us. Realtors, buyers or sellers, people buy and sell homes, they get inspection reports back. A lot of times it has red-flags on the inspection report. And a lot of times the realtors just hand us over with the inspection report and say, "Fix it all," and we can do it. So we get a lot of work that way and we're able to help people that way. Insurance agents just like Trevor said, he calls me sometimes and says, "Hey, I got a customer that thinks they have hail or wind damage, or roof damage. Can you go over and determine if it's actually damaged or not?" And I'll go over there and give them my honest evaluation and sometimes I'll come back and say, "There's nothing wrong with this roof." So, saves them a lot of time and money before they file a claim. So, that's huge. Property managers out there, that out there as well. We currently have a couple of buildings that we maintain and do a monthly cleaning of the roofs on these commercial roofs. That's another thing that we touch. So yeah. Any, your neighbors, we have gotten jobs before where we're doing a roof and the neighbor comes over, "Hey, you guys are doing a great job. Can you give me a quote?" So yeah, it snowballs that way.

Kelsi: That's awesome! I'm going to show them your contact information for all those out there. If you need to contact Jamie, you can email him at Jamie, J-A-M-I-E, @highcrestinc.com. You can call their office at (205) 358-3496, and you can visit their beautiful new website at Highcrestinc.com. Is there anything else that you'd like to mention that we haven't covered yet?

Jamie Garzarek: This has gone by a lot faster than I thought it was going to.

Sarah: It does.

Jamie Garzarek: Not that I'm aware of. I think we've touched a lot of bases.

Glyna: Well, then you know what that means?

Sarah: He's like, "What does that mean?"

Sarah: Okay, let's move on to our fun segment, The Hot Seat.

Glyna: He's starting to sweat. I can see. No, I'm kidding! I actually have our timer!

Sarah: Where is the "leave the studio" button?

Glyna: Yeah. It's like, how do I get out of here? Well, Jamie, Sarah's going to ask you just some fun questions. Just answer how you think right off the top of your head. This only lasts 60 seconds. So it shouldn't be too painful.

Jamie Garzarek: All right. Let's go!

Glyna: All right. Let's roll.

Sarah: All right. Chick-fil-A or Popeye's?

Jamie Garzarek: Chick-fil-A.

Sarah: Favorite genre of music?

Jamie Garzarek: Rock. Classic rock.

Sarah: What's the better comedy, Seinfeld or The Office?

Jamie Garzarek: Office.

Sarah: Do you get up early or stay up late?

Jamie Garzarek: Stay up late.

Sarah: Okay. Who's the better villain, the Joker or Darth Vader?

Jamie Garzarek: Darth Vader.

Sarah: Are you spontaneous or plan everything?

Jamie Garzarek: Oh. Plan everything.

Sarah: What's a better movie, Scarface or Goodfellas?

Jamie Garzarek: Scarface.

Sarah: Okay. Biggest pet peeve?

Jamie Garzarek: People who don't show up on time.

Sarah: Okay. Who's the better driver, you are your dad?

Jamie Garzarek: Me.

Sarah: All right. Game of Thrones or Tiger King?

Jamie Garzarek: Oh, God. I'll go Game of Thrones, I love that show.

Sarah: Okay.

Glyna: You made it.

Kelsi: Those were good questions, Sarah.

Sarah: Oh, good.

Glyna: Yeah. Those were fun. He's so young, he probably doesn't even know who Goodfellas or what was the other one?

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah.

Kelsi: I haven't seen either of those.

Sarah: Oh no.

Glyna: That's so funny. He's like hmmm.

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah.

Sarah: That's like my kids the other day when they like, "Mom, who's the Beastie Boys?" And I was like, "What?"

Jamie Garzarek: I love the Beastie Boys.

Glyna: Well, you're right, Jamie, this goes by so quickly. 30 minutes was nothing, but we really appreciate you coming on so much. And I think the love for Highcrest Roofing and you and your family has been evident during this segment. So we really appreciate you coming on.

Jamie Garzarek: Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity and thank you for letting me share my business and tell a little more about it. So I love what y'all are doing here.

Glyna: Perfect. Well, we want to thank everybody for joining us today. We had such a great time as usual, and we want to remind you that we have our next Marketing Mix segment on Tuesday at 8:00, and then we'll be back next Friday at 8:00 for Biz Talk, with special guest, Gayle Mason with soak... Soak? Let's try that again. South Oak Title. All right, so everybody have a great day. We'll see you next time!

Jamie Garzarek: Thank you, guys.

Sarah: Bye!