Shed Geek Podcast

Revolutionizing the Shed and Steel Building Industries: Insights from Steel Kings PART 1

• Shed Geek Podcast • Season 4 • Episode 105

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Get ready for an engaging conversation with Jared Ledford from Steel Kings as we kick off the launch of the Steel Kings podcast. Jared's passion for steel buildings shines through as we uncover the dynamic connection between steel structures and wood sheds. Together, we'll explore how these seemingly different industries can complement each other, and how they hold the key to revolutionizing the carport market. Tune in to understand the importance of onsite installations and customer interactions, and hear about our shared vision for transforming how these industries operate.

Our discussion takes a deep dive into the intricacies of shed sales, from the challenges of navigating relationships with manufacturers to the innovative solutions we're bringing to the table. We'll share our thoughts on why moving from a 1099 contractor model to employing W2 employees can significantly enhance project management and customer service. Plus, you'll hear about the critical role of transparency and truthfulness in fostering customer trust, especially when it comes to timelines and blueprints. The shed and metal building industries are ripe for growth, and we’re excited to share strategic insights that could propel them to new heights.

In our quest to provide top-notch customer service, we focus on overcoming logistical challenges and maintaining brand reputation. From the power of clear communication to the necessity of skilled installers, we emphasize how these elements contribute to customer satisfaction and long-term loyalty. As we end our discussion, we reflect on the role of personal accountability in reputation management and how our experiences have shaped our approach to building lasting relationships in the industry.

For more information or to know more about the Shed Geek Podcast visit us at our website.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube at the handle @shedgeekpodcast.

To be a guest on the Shed Geek Podcast visit our website and fill out the "Contact Us" form.

To suggest show topics or ask questions you want answered email us at info@shedgeek.com.

This episodes Sponsors:
Studio Sponsor: Union Grove Lumber

Versabend
Cardinal Leasing
Shed Challenger


Sambassador:

Welcome back to another episode of the Shed Geek podcast. Friday fun day, Sambassador style, with your host. I'm Sam Byler, and hey, it's Friday guys, we're actually recording a Friday episode on Friday. And on top of that, back to back, I'm getting in with the boss, slash partner, slash BFF. As I said, my Facebook post this morning, Shannon Latham. Welcome back.

Sambassador:

I need like a little round of applause, clap or some booze or something like that, whichever, I guess you can get Troy to push the little button and put the clap in there for us. So, Shannon, you've you on your episode you did the other week. You were talking about where it's time to you chase horizons, expand, or whatever, I'm using my own words and we have got a new guy on with us. Um, not new to the industry, but new to us and definitely new to me Jared Ledford. Um teel kings, I think, is what you said. How about you introduce him for us?

Shed Geek:

yeah, I'll, I'll. I'll let Jared take it away because he'll do a better job. But we'll get into some of the details. But, Jared, go ahead and talk a little bit about it, or what the future holds.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

So you know, first of all, thankful to be here with you guys, Really honored for the opportunity that we're you know the quest that we're on together right To be in one accord and kind of bring some uh some steel industry knowledge along with some just general insights for the sales side of things from a steel perspective, also talking about some sheds every once in a while. Um, we are going to launch a new podcast called the steel Kings, um. It's going to feature myself and my partner, eric Um. We've been doing steel buildings and woodshed now about six years or so and I feel like we have a pretty good thing going and I feel like we may be able to offer some really good insight for those who are already doing it that may need a little bit of a jolt of motivation every once in a while and may need to hear somebody tell similar stories of what they're dealing with.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

You know, industry insights, trends and things like that are always fun to hear about and I think that we have a lot to offer in that space. You know we currently have a team of 12 here. We're in the Ohio area, we have four physical locations, but we have a primary sales office that houses, our 12 inside sales team, two primarily steel buildings. We do some wood sheds too, but obviously the physical lots we rely on those for the wood. So just looking forward to really offering some general, you know, industry insight, tips and tricks. We'll probably have a guest here or there, kind of in the same format that that y'all are doing your, your podcasts on. But you know we're going to do some, some shorter and longer monologues. We're going to talk about industry trends and, just you know, maybe get you guys excited about some steel, and that's what we're really hoping to bring to the table.

Sambassador:

So, we're looking forward to that too. Nice. Well, I can definitely tell you that the steel industry needs some excitement. Shannon kind of. Shannon kind of threw you under the bus without you knowing this and I'm just, I'm going to come in guns blazing, you're just, I'm just. I told Shannon, I'm all hammering, I love it. Um, so I've. I've, actually, unbeknownst to most people, I've been on the steel side since let me think a minute.

Sambassador:

1998 is when I built my first carport for a guy down in south Georgia and for the next six months, part-time, because he wasn't selling enough to keep us busy we manufactured and installed carports for him. He is the original um, one of the well, not the original, but he was one of the first guys that Hostetler sold a bender to way back in the day and we had one of Hostetler's benders there in the shop. We did all our own welding and everything welded, all our own base rails and stuff, took everything out and installed it ourselves. We had a record. Me and my good friend Sam Henry had a record. One day we pulled up to a job site and we said we're going to start a clock and we're going to see how fast we can put a standard carport in, and one day I'll probably let everybody know what that time was. But when we got back in the truck we were two wore out fat boys, but we had put a carport up in less than 20 minutes from the time we got out of the truck to the time we got back in the truck.

Sambassador:

Um, I've actually got a passion for the steel side because of the fact that the installer gets to do it right on site. They get to spend more time with a customer. Um, it's just like a shed being delivered. They're the last guys there, they're the company impression of what's left with that customer. And I have been speaking this for the last seven years now that if you give me $10 million, not only will I overhaul the carport industry, but I'll own it. Sadly, I haven't found my 10 million yet. So, when you find the 10 million, I've got some secrets for you.

Sambassador:

I love that industry. I think that industry goes hand in hand with sheds. Personally, I think you're crazy to have a shed lot not sell because it's the best second egg in the basket that you can have. I know some guys. They're getting into trailers, they're getting into tiny houses, um, even play sets, gazebos, all that other stuff that I love seeing on a lot. It all comes after sheds, after stealing, um sure, and apparently you're doing that because you said you're selling sheds to what. What do you, I guess, out of the gate? What I want to know about you is what, what can you do and how can I help you to get a positive impact back into this industry that, to this day, I still think needs a serious overhaul?

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

I think, probably from a dealer side of things, accountability is a big deal in our industry. I think we're in a space now where there are so many metal building dealers that just pop up and not taking anything away from anyone specifically, but I think there's a lot of people who do it just for a quick buck and they're not necessarily caring about the end quality of the product that they sell or the end quality for the customer, and I think that that's a real, it's a real trick bag that dilutes everything in our industry. You know, as someone who has 12 sales reps and we service anywhere from, I'd say, 60 to a hundred leads a day Some are which you know. Can I get a metal building? Some of them have a 3d design attached to them.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

We are constantly competing with businesses and dealers that I know nothing about, and I know a lot. I mean, I know a lot of dealers. I know a lot of. You know really well put together manufacturers we deal for quite a few and I don't know of anybody that I deal for that I don't know they're in quality Meaning when I bring on a manufacturer. So, we work obviously nationwide with a couple of conglomerates and then regionally, as you break down territories of the country, you might have, for example, here in Ohio we've got a couple manufacturers that service Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, southern part of like down to the southernmost part of Kentucky and parts of Pennsylvania. So a lot of these steel manufacturers service, you know, a handful of states. There's even some out there that just service you know the immediate area that they, that they're in. But we know, you know we give them a runway right.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

We don't just jump in headfirst and start selling hundreds of buildings for one manufacturer that we know nothing about. We try to go to the manufacturing houses and actually visit with them and I think accountability says a lot. We have a pretty good track record of happy customers and to really be successful in this space, I think accountability needs to be held. Customers and to really be successful in this space, I think accountability needs to be held. It's something that Shannon and I have talked at length about privately and when I did my podcast with him. We you know the steel industry is due for a wake- up call and whether or not the government ever chooses to get involved and start regulating some of this stuff, I want to be prepared for that. I want a business that I can lean on and say you know what? The buildings I sell are certified buildings. They're buildings that you know should have a permit when you put them up and my customers are happy with the end result that they get.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

I think that's probably the one thing. If I could just snap my fingers and say you know what. The industry is going to be accountable to itself, starting right this second, and we're going to stop diluting the market with dealers who are lowering the overall price of the building. And it's a race to the bottom. And in the shed market you're not quite as hurt on that because the margins are kind of set, even though you have competing shed manufacturers. They all kind of work in the same space. You have competing shed manufacturers, they all kind of work in the same space.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

Costs are relative with steel. It's one of those things where, if you drive through somewhere like Mount Airy or Naga Doches, you're seeing buy scrap metal. And buy scrap metal means somebody could start selling carports out of their backyard. And by all means, if you have the means necessary to do that, I would encourage you to. But I think you should do it within the confines of what you have Don't be putting together 80 by 150s with scrap metal, and I've seen some real butcher jobs. I've gotten pictures from customers who have just been taken for a ride, and nobody in particular I could name you a company off the top of my head that I could call out.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

But I do think that there's accountability that needs to be had and there's probably a day of reckoning at some point, because anytime there's the kind of money that passes through steel building sales, somebody's going to call their attorney general. Somebody's going to say something about hey, these guys took my money and never produced a building. Hey, they took my money and what they showed up with wasn't what they had advertised. It doesn't take but a couple of upset customers to really have a real problem, and I think the steel industry is due for that wake- up call and I, you know I want to be part of it. I want to be part of the accountability process. I think the dealer should be held accountable for their actions too. That's something that Shannon and I have talked about. I think that I'm looking for people that think like me and want to sell a high- quality product at a fair price and want to be transparent and honest with people. I don't know if I answered your question directly, but I hope I did. I mean that's my way for the day.

Sambassador:

That's pretty close. That's pretty close and it leads me to my two follow-ups, but before I do, Shannon, you got something you want to add to that.

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Shed Geek:

Oh gosh, yeah, it's just the. I mean it's. It's the dichotomy of we are a shed manufacturer, so we are going to put out six 60 shed dealers and then we're going to make them independent contractors, not W2 employees, and then we're going to make them independent contractors, not w2 employees, and then we're going to dictate what they can and can't do, because maybe they don't even know any better. You know, or we just want a spirit of cooperation, maybe as a promise to bring you two hundred thousand dollars worth of inventory, like this is a requirement we ask is that you go exclusive with our company and then you only sell wood products. We don't really need your time and attention to be interrupted by selling these other things. But how do you do that with a w, uh, w9 employee or w9 contractor as opposed to, uh, you know, our 1099 contractor instead of a w9 employee. So, you know. Or 1099 contractor instead of a W-9 employee. So, you know, sometimes people just don't know and I'm not suggesting that one way is better than the other.

Shed Geek:

First, let me start by saying kudos to every manufacturer who and the shed side specifically is willing to dump $100,000, $200,000, $300,000 worth of inventory onto your lot without a floor plan or any level of expectation from you. You know, because the first time they make you mad, you get upset and say I'm going over to the other dealer. Then you know they upset you. You go to the other manufacturer, then the next manufacturer. You run your course through the people you're going to find one. They're not perfect. And two, I think you really need to consider if you were selling anything outside of sheds you would have to have a floor plan and that 30, 60, 90 something there would not be 200 grand worth of free inventory dumped into you. So you really owe a lot to those guys that are doing that.

Shed Geek:

So, I'm trying to, I'm play Switzerland here. I'm trying to be diplomatic here and say I see the dealer side, I see the manufacturer side. Now, with steel gosh, it's just this whole other ball game. It's just like a wild west. I mean for as un like, as unorganized as we are in the shed side, tenfold in the steel side, and you know, no one, no one calls it out. No, you know so. And we, we experienced it. We experienced it.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

I mean, I, I I'm with Sam on this one I and I don't want to cut you off, but I, you know, I, I, I'm the guy that everybody thinks is crazy when they first meet me, because I have a team of W2 employees. You know, I have a team of employees and as I say this, they're hearing what I say. Right, they're literally right over here. So, you know, if I, for a second here, cut off my, let me see if I can do this in real time. I can do this in real time. So, if I do this and I position my laptop, you can see where I am. And this is where I am every day, and this is the team behind me that services my customers and it doesn't make me better than a 1099 contractor.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

I think from my perspective. I started as a 1099 contractor. I graduated, I graduated and instead of all the 1099 contractors out there listening to me thinking, oh, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about, well, I can tell you what happens to 1099 contractors who recruit other 1099 contractors to sell buildings. You lose those 1099 contractors selling buildings to somebody else. So, you know, you create your own problem by Ohio, and I can tell you from a customer service perspective and from a happy manufacturer perspective, there's not much I can't get done for a customer. If they needed to get done, and I think that that's the struggle that we have is really like I said, the race to the bottom. I mean you hit the nail on the head, Shannon. I mean it's organization, disorganization and sheds. No organization in metal buildings. I mean there is Wild West is probably a fair way of putting it. If you're listening to this and you don't sell metal buildings, it's very easy to sell metal buildings. You could probably become a dealer tomorrow, actually very quickly, and I think that's part of my issue with it too is I think there should be not just accountability from giving the customers the truth, telling them you know, hey, it's going to be 12 weeks or less till you see this building. You know those blueprints you get are generic, right, and if you have a really picky zoning department and you're in a relatively large building, chances are you're going to need site specifics. I can't tell you how many times I run into customers who are like man. They told me I'd get my blueprints. I gave them $5,000. I never saw blueprints. I never saw peep or squat, never heard another word from nobody. And I think if that doesn't get eradicated if there's anybody listening to this who sells metal buildings, you better hope that it does, because the second that that starts to become a bigger problem, the industry at large is in jeopardy.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

The way that we do our business is in jeopardy and I worry about it all the time and I don't want to be part of the problem. I want to be part of the solution. I want to be able to present this to manufacturers and say, not only does it work, the numbers speak to that. You know that we do good business, but you know the customers that we give you are customers that are seeing the project through. They're customers who are paying on time and they're doing everything that's expected because we have a dealer manual that you gave us, and we train our employees. They're employees, they're not contractors. They don't get a choice If they don't perform.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

Unfortunately, we have to part ways and that's just as simple as it gets. You have to be in control of the product from start to finish. We control the product from the start, from the initial. Can I get a building quote through the sales process, and the difference is too. We follow the deal. We have in-house order management. We have in-house lead generation.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

This isn't something that's been going on outside. It's all within the confine of our control and we've been pretty relegated on our growth. I mean we could be significantly further along if we were really trying to snipe deals. It really just comes down to you know, they're not buying the building from Jared at Dayton Barnes. They're buying the building from the project manager who's handling their deal. So if I'm buying a building, I'm going to buy a building from Landon or from Caleb or from Bryce or from Talon or from Gracie. That's who I'm buying the building from. I care about my project manager, and I agree with Sam too. I think if you're selling wood sheds and you're not selling metal buildings, you're doing yourself a disservice. I'll say that too.

Sambassador:

Well, there's a reason they're not doing it Every. Let me qualify that statement with what always follows hot on the heels after that of I don't want the aggravation anymore, most of them have. My next question for you leads kind of into this, and this is the fact that most of the guys out there selling sheds, um, they have I say most of the guys the guys that are good, that are quality, they're steady, they're consistent, they're constantly growing, um, they don't get hurt by a bad four or five months. They're steady, rocking along. A lot of those guys aren't selling steel because they don't control their own reputation anymore. They're completely in control of the sale. They're doing what you're saying they're doing. They're selling it the right way, they're staying in touch the right way. They have zero control over when it gets installed and how it gets installed, and I don't care.

Sambassador:

I know from personal experience when I had my 11 lots running with 13 guys, nobody knew who the manufacturer of the shed was. All they knew was the guy at one, two, three buildings and on sheds. That was fine, because we had our own install guys. We had our own delivery guys. You know my delivery guys were, you know they were running my rigs. We didn't even have contract haulers. You flip that over to carports. You could sit there and talk to that customer until you were blue in the face about how this is not a 123 buildings carport, this is a X brand carport. And the minute you walk out of this office, we have no more control over this deal. Three and a half months later, you get a bad review because they don't have a carport. Yeah, what are we going to do about that? Because it's still going?

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Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

I think from a personal perspective we've gone through many manufacturers. I think that's number one. If you're a good metal building dealer you've probably seen your fair share of manufacturers. I have two or three that I can set my watch. By that I know if they see an order from Dayton Barnes. I know the install crews that they're sending. I know exactly who's going out. We actually have a handful of install crews that refer for us that want to go back and do buildings that we sell, because we sell bigger buildings. You know our average ticket in this space is just over 18,000.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

And I think for most people that are selling metal buildings, tops are tops. So, for those that are not familiar with the industry terminology, tops is a carport, just a carport, just a top, a roof over top of legs. And these manufacturers are getting to the point where if their average ticket isn't going to be $8,000 plus, they're not in a big hurry to install a bunch of tops. Most of these manufacturers want to have a $25,000 to $30,000 run on a rig and they want to go out and they want to have profit from everybody's perspective. Manufacturer makes more because it's efficient. The install crew makes more because they're installing one or two buildings as opposed to 10 on a run. And then think about it from a logistics standpoint. I'm in the middle of Eastern Kentucky and I want a $4,000 12 by 20 carport. Chances are it's going to be a pretty heavy lead time, and I think a lot of the times what we do differently here at Dayton Barnes and I'm not saying anybody else does a bad job, I think it's just this is what my guys are trained to say. We're not setting promise times. We're going to be straightforward with you and say, hey, it could be a year before you see this carport, but I can tell you I'm going to follow it from start to finish.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

The other thing that we do that's unique and you know it hasn't bit me yet. I refund deposits. I do what I think I would do for other people. I would not want to be taken advantage of. You know we're not refunding everybody's money, you know, obviously, but we refund enough deals to where we've skated by on the good reviews that we do get. And you know we've had our fair share of screw ups, just like everybody else has. But like you said, Sam, we can't be responsible for the end product. I think, from my perspective, the way that I get by and the way that I sleep at night is I know that I have at least three manufacturers in every state I service that can jump in if need be, if I have a deal on the table and I gave a deal. Let's just say I gave a deal to manufacturer A and they've been a go-to, go-to manufacturer for me for a long time and all of a sudden there's an issue.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

We had this happen last year. We did a large amount of business with a manufacturer who, I mean honestly, helped us build this business. They were a key contributor and partner to our success. And you know what? Something happened and one of their principals fell sick and nobody was told. And unfortunately, the quality when the principal, you know, when the, when the cats away the mice play, that's kind of what happened. Nobody knew about it and I couldn't prevent that. Echo. You know we had 30 orders that were a mess and luckily, because we had all of the notes we had taken, you know we had taken precautions where we need to and we've got a couple of, we've got a couple of install crews that can do repairs for us.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

I think that's another thing that maybe sets us apart. We have people in the pipeline that, let's say, roll up doors hung up right. We sell a building. You know if it's within an earshot of Ohio, I can probably get that building fixed in a pretty easy you know an easy amount of time. So, the question I ask myself is do I want to pay somebody I know 500 bucks to go fix this guy's roll up door to save a review, or do I want to have a chance of him getting a call back on his credit card down payment? My argument is I'll just give him the 500 bucks to get the door fixed or I'll send somebody out there to fix it. I think where people drop the ball on carports is once they sell it, they're typically done with it. Now they'll follow up and they'll do what they can.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

But where's the resolution come in? If you're making several thousand dollars on a deal and a customer needs $300 to fix a a problem, just to make it go away, why don't you just send them the 300 bucks? I mean I can't tell you how many times I have sold a building personally to a customer who bought from someone else, who told me you know what it was just over a window. You know I got a building. Right now I want another building. Why didn't you buy from who you bought it from? Um, well, you know the window leaks and they never got back to me about getting it fixed and really all I wanted was, you know, maybe a hundred bucks to caulk the window or whatever it needed. I would encourage you, if you're listening to my voice customers, a lot of the times can be soothed with cash, and not that that's the easiest thing to do all the time. But if you asked me what I would take right now, what I pay a customer a few hundred bucks to satisfy them and get a good review, versus keeping a few hundred bucks and taking a terrible review, without question I'm sending the customer that way.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

Um, I had a customer not too long ago that had a down deposit on a building. It was through one of our finance deals and they had problems with our financing company. We have very rarely have problems with our financing company. He couldn't get the zoning, so of course we've got a down payment from the financing company. There's interest rates involved. There's money loss involved, because he had lost $75 in interest on a building he could never see. So I sent him a $75 gift card to a restaurant for him and his wife and he left me a good review on our Better Business Bureau profile that said they refunded my money even though I couldn't get a building, and I felt like I was doing them a solid by leaving the review, and that to me meant as much as a sale, because now customers know I'm leading with my heart and I'm treating them like I want to be treated.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

I bought a building, so to preface this, I started by buying a 12 by 16 metal building. That's how I came into this industry. Eric changed my life in that moment. He was a beyond approachable metal building salesman. I had zero issues with the process, but he stayed in contact with me and together he and I have turned this business into one lot in the middle of Huber Heights, Ohio, to four physical lots of staff a real business, and I would encourage you.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

If you really love this, there's plenty of room. I would encourage you, and Shannon would be the first one to tell you I never tell people to shy away from it. There's plenty of buildings to be sold out there. I don't need to sell them all. I'm an open book you can come up to me. I was at Shed Expo. I've been at the Garage and Metal Building Trade Show. I'm an open book. I want people to do this industry. I want people to love it, but I also want people to treat it with respect, because I do, and I know you guys do too, and that's why I mean you know the one accord piece. I think we're perfect that way, because I see it the way you guys do and I'm, you know, I've not been doing it near as long as you, so Shannon, that's a good riff.

Shed Geek:

I really appreciate it. You know the so many thoughts come to mind that shoot off there. One of the first ones that came to mind was review, because it just becomes assumed review. We don't want the negative review we get. The positive review can sometimes be worth more than the sale. And you know reputation management is a super important thing, you know. You know that's why a super important thing, you know. You know that's why shameless plug here. That's why we've got guys like Liftify. You know advertising with us. You know that reputation management part. But let's talk about that review and what that means.

Shed Geek:

If you're a, let's say you're a independent contractor, you sell for, you know, a large shed manufacturer but you're a 1099, you've got your own, you're building out all of your own digital assets, you're building out your website. You're building out your own you know marketing scheme or whatever. Because you are independent. Maybe there's a co-op program where you get to spend some money or something like that. At the end of the day, this comes back to where review meets branding, in my opinion, because now you're Sam Beiler, you own one, two, three shed company, but you sell for X company over here, right, you sell for them. Now the customer has to come in and they don't do this every day. They're not dealing with X company, they're not in sheds. They're not dealing with Y company over here in carports. They're not dealing with Z company over here in chicken coops, they're dealing with Sam Byler, Sam Byler's shed lot, whatever you want to call it, they're dealing with him. That's all they're going to remember.

Shed Geek:

So that review becomes very important to you, especially in a territory when you are in the community, because that review is part of your influence and you're trying to influence the community to buy a product that you sell, that you believe in, that you can stand behind, but they never see it for the, the reputation of the other company. They only see it for you. So, it's getting to the point now to where dealers can they understand the process. Building gets brought here for free, two or three buildings set up, we do our best to sell it, but sellers are getting wise enough now to be like I'm going to research before I start my reputation on the line for your company when you're not willing to have my back whenever something goes down. That's what comes to my mind when I think of reviews when reviews meet. Personal accountability. Where reviews meet reputation management. My reputation's on the line. This is my business.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

We're starting to see. We're starting to see less. A year, a year ago, two years ago, what would happen is you would have a new manufacturer come on the scene and they would recruit a handful of dealers and there would be a lot of buildings sold for well below what was current market rate on the buildings. And what was really happening was is dealers were getting exposed and ahead of themselves. And I'm going to be completely transparent.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

At one point in time, Dayton Barnes was right there. We had to overcome, I want to say it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 buildings that were not going to ever be put up A company that had promised us, you know, hey, get us the buildings, we'll put them up. They just went out of business. They were out of business, plum out of business, and from a you know, from a business perspective. That was when I was brought on. There was another partner at that time who helped us navigate through some of that, but that was just going and creating relationships right, and I have to give a shout out here You're not going to hear me talk a lot about specifics, American Steel. We really like American Steel here. They've done a great job. They service a ton of states. They bailed us out. They came to the table, took almost every one of those orders with some wiggling.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

We had to definitely give up some cash, but it kept the business alive. And that was five years ago. You know, the start of that was five years and it took us about two years to get everyone fixed. But you're not going to find anywhere online where someone bought a building from us and was skated on cash. That's not going to happen. You know, I couldn't put my name, and Eric would never put his name next to something where a customer ends up without a building.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

If there's a way to see it through, we'll figure it out. If we've got to call a zoning department, if we have to call whoever, we do it. And we do it because we want to be helpful and we want to see the project through and we get paid. We get paid for a service. We're not just.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

You know I think to jump off what you said, Shannon, and maybe a little bit of what Sam said too Dayton Barnes always comes at customers and says we are selling X manufacturer building. We look at it from car dealership perspective and say, well, that dealership is terrible If you buy a brand new Chevy pickup truck and it's a problem. You can take that pickup truck anywhere. It's on Chevy's responsibility at that point. And that's kind of the you know all of our branding when we put up, if we put up let me use American Steel, for example authorized dealer is on everything that we have. We are an authorized dealer for them and the end product is ultimately at the responsibility of American Steel.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

And, knock on wood, they don't make many mistakes. They're pretty darn solid and if you sell a lot of buildings, you're going to have one or two here or there that are missed. That's just the way it is. But Sam couldn't have said it any better the installers, the installers, the installers, the installers, that is it. You can have the best sheeting, the best tubing, you can have the best benders, you can have the best equipment, the best staff, but if those installers don't know how to put together a metal building, guess what? You're in a big, big, big pinch. You can have it all right, but if you can't finish, you're not going to last long.

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Sambassador:

Yeah, that's one of the big deals to me. You can take a shed out and you can set it up pretty bad and I can come in and I can fix it in less than an hour. I've seen some steel buildings put up that you can't fix them. You just got to tear it down and basically start over. It's just a whole different ballgame as to what you're looking for. There are mistakes.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

you can make. There are mistakes you can make on a metal building that literally require it to be torn down to be fixed. It has to be completely removed from where it sits to be fixed.

Sambassador:

We had one a couple years ago that was like that.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

It was crazy Sam.

Sambassador:

Let's disconnect here for a minute on reviews when are you guys personally on reviews, how much attention do you pay? I'm just guessing at some age here. I know how old I am. I know how old Shannon is. I'm just taking a pot shot at you at your age here. I know how old I am, I know how old Shannon is. So, I'm just taking a pot shot at you at your age, based on where we're at in life or whatever you Google. Something you're looking for Is reviews, even on your mind.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

I don't go asking for them. I get the reviews I deserve. If I personally am working with a customer, I do ask them to leave me a review, and I know a lot of the guys do. But I'm not breaking people's door down for reviews. If we, if we get a bad one, maybe we pay a little bit more attention to it the next month to try to overcome that with some positives and we've, you know, we've had a handful of negatives. It's not something that's so on my radar that I go out of my way to make it a problem for myself or for others. I really feel like if you looked at our reviews, they're fair. I don't think we have there's a couple of reviews I can think of a couple off the top of my head that were just completely not relevant to the situation, but I would say we get the reviews we deserve more often than not.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

Not many people calling out the sales process. It's mostly the end product. I mean you've got the nail hammered in. I mean it's the end quality that customers care about. And if you put your name on the line, you know if somebody buys a building from Dayton Barnes, they are absolutely going to leave the review with Dayton Barnes, not with the manufacturer. Yeah, it's 99%.

Sambassador:

So flip that around. What if you're the customer? I?

Sambassador:

left the review.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

What if you're the customer I?

Sambassador:

left your customer.

Shed Geek:

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

I left a review when I was a customer, so that actually is how Eric and I started to get close was we had built a new home.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

Yeah, we had built a new home and you know we scraped and scrounged to get that done. And we scraped and scrounged to get that done and during COVID we moved in and they installed my building April of 20. And even through COVID, got it done and I made sure to leave a review. I took pictures, I sent them to Eric, I left him a really good review, I think on Google and on Facebook at the time, and he stayed in contact with me because the original pictures of my building were like on this desolate, deserted dirt pile and over time, you know, we added the grass, we added the trees, we added the backyard, you know accoutrement, you know all that stuff. And over time, you know, we just got to talking and I would send him leads because he was nice to me whenever it would come up. Oh man, I really like your building. Well, you got to talk to Eric. He's the man you know, and I think I must've sold him probably, I don't know 10 or 12 buildings and Eric's like man, you really got to start selling these things with me You're missing out here. And I put them off for a year, something like that, and I finally got to the point where I was like you know what he's right and I liked Eric enough. And Eric honestly, I say he changed my life. He did, and I love Shannon can attest to this.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

I know y'all don't know me all that well. I truly love this industry with a passion. I want to be here around this industry. I think that there is, oh my gosh, buckets of people. I mean you go to something like Shed Expo and you just trip over people who are, who have good stories, who are good. I mean, and that's the problem.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

When I say that there needs to be an atonement or there needs to be a fix, it's not because there's bad people, it's just because there's misinformation, there's lack of knowledge. I think we all can learn something. I learn. It's just because there's misinformation, there's lack of knowledge. I think we all can learn something. I learned something every day At least I tried to. I truly love this industry, and the people are part of it. I mean Shannon's been a big part of that over the last year. I don't think we said this. We met at Shed Expo and just got to be talking about you know different things in the industry, that that that bugged us and things that we loved, and you know, you all know, Shannon loves the industry, and I love it too. I mean, I really do.

Shed Geek:

I want to. I'm almost chomping at the bit at what he said. I know you were selling these, these carports, like so this is why reviews matter to me. But why customer service? You know, service after the sale matter. All of those things are important because you were making the guy money just because you were a happy customer. Your best salespeople will always be happy customers, like, there's so much of it happening that people just don't know it and that's why reputation management matters. This is so.

Shed Geek:

Review to me was kind of tie into, like this, this dirty little word okay, cover your ears, guys it's called influencer. You guys have seen this word happen in the world over the last five years or whatever. Lots of thoughts on the word influencer, but we'll set that to the side for now. What we know is that reviews matter and sales after the service matter and happy customers matter because reputation of a brand matters. And if you don't believe me, I do this practice all the time is I'll say, oh, I'm gonna get Sam fired up now you ready for this.

Shed Geek:

What happens to your psyche whenever I say Buc-ee's? I love doing this because it creates so much dynamic in the conversation. What happens when I say Buc-ee's? A whole plethora of thoughts probably come to your mind and what I feel like comes to mind for most people Clean bathrooms, clean bathrooms, large you know large number of pumps available. Right, you know there's going to be plenty of food. You know what I'm going to.

Shed Geek:

You know what I noticed here lately. When I walk into all other gas stations or truck stops, I get hit with a welcome. To fill in the blank here welcome to Hux, welcome to VP, welcome to Marathon. I never got a welcome in until Bucky's hit. And now all of a sudden everybody's like wait a minute, you know, is that their secret sauce is? Is that what's doing it? Listen, it's not one thing, it's a multitude of things that's creating this success, but that's one of them that you know you're going to get hit with. The employees are saying welcome into Bucky's so much they're tired of saying it, they don't even mean it, but they're driving it home. So much that they're going to say welcome to Bucky's, no matter what, so much that they're going to say welcome to Buc-ee's, no matter what.

Shed Geek:

So, Harley Davidson, something comes to mind when you hear that brand. There's some thoughts from all of us. John Deere, does it mean Kubota's? Not as good. You know whatever, it starts a whole conversation, and that's really where you want to be in the space that you're in, no matter how big you are, small you are or what you're selling, someone should know something about your brand.

Shed Geek:

We push the word trust into the Shed Geek brand. You may notice it, you may not. You may notice it more now, but we push the word trust in constantly because we know that people buy from who they trust. We know that if they trust our brand, they'll trust our recommendation. That does not make me an influencer who feels like I can just tell people go do things and they'll go do it. However, we do really work on our brand to maintain that image both in the public spotlight, but even behind the scenes whenever we're talking to people, and that's the brand that we've tried to build right.

Shed Geek:

What are you building when you're doing that? So reviews really matter to me because we live in a digital world now where the next generation will go and look at those reviews before they decide to make a purchase. It's just reality. At this point, you know they don't just find out from their neighbors, they go and research for their self before they go and make a decision. Impulse shopping still exists, otherwise you wouldn't have chewing gum sitting at the front of the gas station or Walmart, you know, whenever you, you know checkout lane. But for the most part, people are getting more educated and they're seeking more education nowadays and those things really matter.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

So we can have a whole.

Shed Geek:

I think if you're sitting, back.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

I think if you're sitting back listening to this, thinking, well, my reviews haven't been very good, are the reviews really reflective of what you deserve? And that's why I get the reviews I deserve. I believe that I'm not going to sit here and say I'm a five star every time, because sometimes we fall short. We fall short and you know what. Owning up to that is part of what you do when you do business Sending customers a few hundred bucks to satisfy them, or sending them a gift card, or sending out a Christmas card to somebody who is really happy. You never know what the next happy customer is going to bring you. They could bring you 10 of their friends. And I think that we live and die on referrals. I mean we love referrals around here, they're easy, they're easy sales. And I think that you know we live and die on referrals. I mean we, we love referrals around here, they're easy, they're easy sales.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

But I can tell you, look, take a look at your reviews. I mean, if you're struggling in a certain area, you might be working with the wrong people. Or hey, maybe give them a call and say, hey, this is you know, hey, this is Jared at Dayton Barns and you know I've been selling you a lot of product, but what I'm noticing is maybe it's just not as good as it once was. Or is there a lead time? Is there something that I can help with? Again, educate yourself, go a little bit outside your comfort zone and find out, because maybe you're operating in a four week or less lead time world when it's really eight weeks or less and you're really hurting yourself by not having all the facts. And I know sometimes you know devil's advocate what it is right. I can tell you a lot of times you'll get a review you don't deserve. Yeah.

Shed Geek:

But it's not all the time.

Jared Ledford (Shed Kings):

It's not all the time. It's not all the time. Nobody can say that you get what you deserve most of the time.

Shed Geek:

We could definitely talk more about it. As much as five or six years ago, you know, I worked with a power port manufacturer and we went in and cleaned up their bbb. We went in and cleaned up Facebook and, uh, you know, we learned our lesson on contracts too, because you know we've just never really been a contractual company on anything we do and after two months of the, a lot of the work being done, you know, the paycheck stopped flowing. I won't call anybody out because I really hope that that company is doing well now. You know and. We did our part to try to get them there. But you know, you, you you've just.

Shed Geek:

Do you care about reputation management when it boils down to it for your company? Are you paying attention to your reviews on bbb and google? And you know Facebook, anywhere else that you can, uh, the customer, could you know they're? They're trying to influence someone else's decision with their review. You know they're trying to say we had such a good experience, you should buy from these guys. It's going to be great, or it was so terrible that you should walk away. Don't even consider it, and a lot of you never even get a chance to serve a customer a lot of time based on the reviews. And you're right, Jared, you will get some bad reviews from time to time that are unfair. You know, everybody always says I got some bad reviews that I didn't deserve. No one ever says I got some bad reviews that I didn't deserve. No one ever says I got some good reviews I didn't deserve.

Sambassador:

Thank you all for listening to today's episode. This was part one of a two-part episode, so be sure to listen next week.

Sambassador:

to finish today's podcast