Leading Change: Beyond Tried and True Strengthens Customer Retention and Builds Growth | What’s Your Edge?

Many of us at the helm of our companies are often faced with implementing changes to remain competitive and relevant to our customers, and to create more customer and business value to achieve long-term sustainable growth. This was the case for Kelly Van Winkle, President and CEO of King of Texas Roofing Company, when she took the reins of the third-generation company. In this episode of “What’s Your Edge?“, Kelly tells us how small incremental changes helped strengthen customer retention, accelerated customer acquisition, and fostered a more customer-centric business.

For over 40 years, King of Texas Roofing has installed commercial roofs on multi-purpose structures, ranging from office complexes, sporting arenas, and retail centers, to large industrial warehouses, food storage, data centers, churches, and medical centers. The company is licensed in 16 states and averages 20-25 large-scale multi-million-dollar projects each year. In recent years, the growth in Texas and Oklahoma has kept Kelly and her team busy. In addition to managing the construction load, Kelly recognized that long-term success required some internal changes.

Some of the changes included shifting the company from a directive to a more collaborative culture, instilling a stronger focus on customer-centricity throughout the company, and recognizing that it needed to balance the “tried and true” techniques, skills, and protocols of the “King of Texas Way” with new technologies and techniques.

We’re so excited to hear Kelly tell us how she went about successfully making these changes. Welcome to “What’s Your Edge?” Kelly!

Embracing Change for Sustained Growth

Those of you familiar with VisionEdge Marketing know we are avid fans of Peter Drucker and love his quote that the “purpose of business is to create a customer.” Kelly, I know from our previous conversations that a large portion of your revenue, as much as 90% in some years, comes from existing customers, many of whom have been with King of Texas Roofing for 15 or more years.

What are 2-3 of the practices you and your team employ to improve customer retention?

You are correct, at King of Texas Roofing, customer retention is paramount. Our customers include building owners, property managers, and general contractors. Roofs are one of the biggest investments for anyone constructing a building. It’s imperative to get a roof properly installed and regularly maintained because even the smallest roof leaks lead to catastrophic expensi