- As a metal roofing contractor, or a panel fabricator
it's important that you have a really good partnership
with your metal supplier.
In today's Q & A Monday,
we're talking about what it's like working with Sheffield,
the processes, the people,
and how we partner with you to help your business level up.
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What's up guys, welcome to The Metal Roofing Channel,
and welcome to Q & A Mondays.
I'm Thad Barnett.
Make sure you subscribe here.
We release metal roofing and metal construction content
every Monday and Wednesday.
All the questions we discuss today
are in the description down below
you can jump ahead using those quick links.
I have the Sheffield Metal sales team with me.
A few members of the Sheffield Metal Sales team,
John, Mike, and Doug.
Thank you guys for being here.
And I'm excited to talk about this topic with you.
We're discussing,
you know, what it's like working with Sheffield
as a metal roofing contractor, as a panel fabricator.
John, let me ask you first.
What's the relationship like with Sheffield
and our customers?
How is that structured?
Tell me a little bit about what account managers
at Sheffield do.
- Yeah, so the account managers
are kind of like the face-to-face
face of Sheffield Metals, if you will.
They're traveling to accounts in their territory
and meeting with customers discussing,
you know, their current situation,
what's going on in their business,
how we can help them,
you know, whether it's with product or support.
- And why is that important?
You know, why is that relationship important
to have that point person for a customer?
- You know, I think it's really important.
I think it's one thing
to constantly talk to somebody on the phone,
but, you know, when somebody's face-to-face
they have the ability to not only,
you know, understand
what that customer is dealing with on a daily basis,
but actually see it.
They can see their facility,
they can see how they operate,
they can see maybe some things
that that customer can't really see themselves.
Sometimes you're, you know,
too close to the forest, if you will.
- So when someone wants to be a customer of Sheffield,
and join the family, and become a partner,
you know, what's that process like,
how do they submit an order?
What's the quoting process like,
and how do they get started?
- Usually when someone's new to Sheffield
it starts out with a phone call
to the local branch.
We have regional branches all across the U.S.
And so typically an inside salesperson
will take a phone call from a new customer,
and we can kinda walk them through the process
on how to get set up as a customer,
what our product line is,
and how to get an order placed.
We like to get to know your business,
what your company name is,
and it really boils down to where you're located.
Depending on where you're located
we'll make a determination
on whether we're gonna service you directly from the branch,
or if we're gonna refer you
to one of our regional distribution partners
that we have located all over the country.
- What are some things that Sheffield can offer
and what's that relationship like
as a customer on a day-to-day basis?
- So once you become a customer with Sheffield,
we're gonna assign you to an account manager.
So your account manager is gonna be
your face-to-face salesperson,
typically located in your region.
But with that comes,
you know, an internal team of inside salespeople
that's gonna be available over the phone on a branch level,
you know, five days a week.
So you're gonna have a team of salespeople
that can help you out.
Whether it's checking stock,
giving you a price quote,
or entering an order,
you know, we're available Monday through Friday,
and you can always get in touch with us.
- I wanna know as a customer,
I'm at a job site, I'm quoting jobs,
I know I have some things coming down the pipeline.
When should Sheffield Metals get involved?
When is a good time to start thinking about my metal order
and contacting Sheffield?
- As much notice as you can give your sales team
you should give them.
I mean, the most advanced notice
is the best case scenario for your supplier,
because that's gonna make us,
that's gonna give us time to ensure
that we have the material to cover your job,
that we have enough time to process your order,
and that we can get it shipped to you
so that it's on your job site
when you're ready to start the job.
- And Doug, Sheffield Metals
is not just a metal coil and sheet supplier,
you know, we provide accessories, engineering,
a whole gamut of products and services.
So how can Sheffield Metals help the entire process
of metal roofing and metal wall installation?
- So I would start with
we have an in-house technical department
and we can assist with answering any questions
regarding engineering requirements
on a commercial project,
or just simple design and build questions
on a residential project.
We stock a full line of metal roofing accessories,
basically any component
that's gonna go on a metal roofing system.
All of those accessories are continuously stocked
in all of our branches.
If we have enough time ahead of the project
we even have a partner estimating service
where we can do takeoffs specific to your project
and provide you with a panel cut list
so that you have a better idea of the material
that you're going to need before you start the project.
- And at Sheffield Metals,
we really believe in having
a technically equipped sales team,
a really knowledgeable sales team
that understands the industry and the process.
John, why is that important
that, you know, we have a sales team
ready to answer all of those questions for a customer.
- I think there's a lot of reasons,
but the biggest reason being
is a lot of times customers need that support.
They need that technical person
that can answer questions that, you know,
there's situations that come up
that maybe they've never faced before.
Many times we have, and we're able to provide them
with the right
information that they can then share
with the designer, or the architect,
the general contractor,
whoever it is that's looking for answers.
- When I wanna actually place an order,
I know that
I've got my material estimated,
I got my job ready to go,
Mike, you know, how do I place an order?
What information do I need to give?
And how is Sheffield Metals gonna help me as a customer?
- Well, so when you're ready
to put an order with Sheffield
really the first step is to reach out
to your inside sales team.
They're gonna be the folks
that are gonna process your order.
You can do it over the phone,
but we really prefer an email,
or a purchase order to be sent through
to our inside sales team.
At that point, you know,
we're gonna look over your order,
make sure we have all the information
that we need to get you processed,
and to manufacturing.
So, you know, we're gonna need your company name,
your purchase order number, if available.
And, you know, as far as material goes
we need to know the color,
the gauge, the width you're looking for.
And once we have those things,
we can put it into the system
and respond back with an order confirmation.
So typically we process orders in a square foot unit.
We do have customers that prefer to order in linear feet,
pounds,
tons.
So we can certainly accommodate
any unit of measure for your order.
So reach out to your inside sales team.
If you need help doing that
we're more than able to help you do the conversions.
And we can get you taken care of there.
- Where can someone find information
like color information,
what gauges Sheffield Metal supplies,
and different items like that
when they're interested in what we carry?
- So your best bet if you're interested
in the products that we offer is to go to our website,
you can go to www.sheffieldmetals.com
and there you're gonna see the products that we offer.
You're gonna see color charts,
the gauges of material that we have stocked on our floor,
and there's more information
that'll help you in your business as well.
We have information on our engineered metal roofing systems,
and our accessories and components that we stock in house.
- That I'd add on there,
we even have sample copies
of all of our finished warranties and substrate warranties.
And we also have sample copies of both types,
and the duration of our weather-tight warranty program
for the commercial projects as well.
- So Doug along the same lines as our website,
you know, Sheffield has a big emphasis on education.
What resources do we provide our customers
and the industry as a whole?
And why is that important?
- So we have a number of additional options there
for information.
Obviously, The Metal Roofing Channel
is a great source of information
where we're putting all sorts of content out there.
We have an architectural liaison
and we offer online
AIA certified courses as well
for architects and designers,
where they can learn and continue in education credits
while
gaining more knowledge
about all things metal roofing.
- This question and I'm gonna leave it open for everybody.
When you're a customer of Sheffield Metals,
you're not just a customer.
We really like to partner with metal roofing contractors,
roll formers, fabricators.
Tell me why that's important,
that true partnership between the metal supplier
and the installer, fabricator.
- I think that are one of the few
suppliers
in the industry
that doesn't also manufacture a finished good, if you will.
We don't make and sell panels.
We don't break and sell trim packages.
The reason why I feel that that's important
for our customers to know is we really do value them
as a partner in the relationship.
And we're also never going to be a competitor as well.
- I think when you partner with Sheffield
it's just that, it's a partnership.
So it really goes so far beyond
just the salesperson customer scenario.
I mean, you essentially have a team
of internal advocates
helping you make sure that your business continues
to function and be successful.
You've got a team of people that wants
to make sure all your logistics are taken care of.
We wanna make sure that you're figuring your roof correctly
and you have enough material to run the job.
So, I mean, you really gotta look at it as
you have a partnership here
'cause that's exactly what it is.
- And I would add, you know, it's also,
you know, it's important that the expectations
on both sides are clear and that's part of a partnership,
that's part of any successful partnership
is, you know, for our customers
they know what to expect from us and vice versa.
And they know that when problems come up
that we're not gonna run from them.
As a matter of fact, I'd like to think we run right at 'em.
And we're there to support them along the way,
and make sure that they're taken care of
the best way possible.
- Well, thanks guys, I really appreciate it.
I think we learned a lot about how Sheffield Metals
really and truly partners with our customers.
You can check us out online at sheffieldmetals.com.
Make sure you subscribe here
to The Metal Roofing Channel for more content.
Comment down below with any questions.
And as always I'm Thad Barnett.
We will catch you next time.
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