Above It All Podcast: Episode 25

Above It All podcast episode #25 features Owner Services Leader, Mandy Schweitzer, for Johns Manville Commercial Roofing. We are continuing to find ways to better serve our customers and offer them services and resources that will benefit them. Join us as we discover this new service group geared at helping owners protect their investments long term. 

Above It All is a podcast by Johns Manville dedicated to the roofing industry.  The goal of this podcast is to bring knowledge from a Johns Manville perspective on trends, innovations, and people shaping the roofing industry. Join us as we dive head first into enriching conversations about the people and passion that are an integral part of the JM experience.

Transcript

Daniel Robbins: Okay, alright. So here we are again for another episode of Above It All, a podcast dedicated to the roofing industry by Johns Manville. I'm really excited because today we're gonna be talking about something that's brand new, that's fresh to the roofing division, and I think it's gonna be of huge value to a good amount of our customers. So with that, we have to talk about Owner Services, Mandy Schweitzer, and she is the Owner Services Leader. Mandy, how are you?

Mandy Schweitzer: Great, how are you doing?

Daniel Robbins: I'm doing great. This is the first podcast we've had in the studio since COVID began, so it's nice to have someone in here finally.

Mandy Schweitzer: Yep, it's good to be here, it's good to be back in the office.

Daniel Robbins: So I wanna get to know you a little bit because I know this is a new role, you just stepped into it. You were working at another division for a little bit, but now you're here. What's your history, what's your background like, that brought you to this point?

Mandy Schweitzer: So I have a pretty long history with JM, I would say at this point, 18 years with Johns Manville. I came here straight out of college with a degree in chemistry, doing polyiso foam research and development. I did that for about five years or so and wanted to learn a little bit more about the commercial side of the business. So did some account management in the roofing system group, then did some tech specialist work in the roofing systems group, went on to product management for roofing, then at that point it was, "Okay, let's try something a little bit different with JM." An opportunity came up and I jumped on it and moved over to our IS group in the building insulation part of it as the Fiberglass Batts and Rolls Product Manager.

Daniel Robbins: Oh, wow.

Mandy Schweitzer: So did that for about five years and with a total time of about 10 years in product management and thought, "Okay, other opportunities might be out there for doing something different." And this one came up, the Owner Services Leader, so I was excited to see that opportunity, seize that opportunity, and have an opportunity to come back to the roofing division.

Daniel Robbins: It's very cool that you're back. You got some other experience at the company, which we've talked about this in the podcast before. JM really provides a great opportunity that if you wanna learn different industries and some of the different things that this company offers, they really create a career path for you if that's what you want. So kudos to you for learning all the various things that you have and taking advantage of that, very cool background. I'm glad you're here now with roofing, let's talk about Owner Services. So before we go into the real nitty-gritty details of it, and how it affects customers, or as the name entails, building owners, can you tell us a little bit about what it is?

Mandy Schweitzer: So the Owner Services Group is primarily involved in post-guarantee activities. So that means anything from helping an owner out with a transfer or they call in, they have a roof leak, we're gonna help them with that, navigating through that process, getting contractors out there. But I think more importantly and where this group is evolving to is having more proactive relationships, relationship building with the owner and the contractor. So, yeah, we play a role in helping the owner understand what's needed to make sure their roof stays in a water-tight condition, things that maybe aren't necessarily related to the guarantee, like cleaning gutters or making sure any areas that have caulking are upkept. And so we're helping them through that part of it as well.

Daniel Robbins: Interesting. So now that we've talked little bit about that, let's talk about the team. How many people are on the team and how are the realms of service, so to speak, divided up?

Mandy Schweitzer: So our team is broken up into, I would say, about roughly three buckets. The majority of the folks are in our Owner Service specialist bucket, there's about eight people in that bucket, they're the ones handling the day-to-day activities of handling leak claims, turning around transfer requests, anything that comes in for a post-guarantee activity, over-burdened solar, adding solar to a roof, modifications, whatever that might be. And then we have another person in our group and in that Owner Services specialist bucket, who's more geared towards our strategic accounts, which is very similar to our preferred accounts, but more consultant-based, a different type of customer that still drives a lot of business, and he has a very technical background and helps the group out with technical activities. So then the other two parts of the Owner Services bucket is our marketing side and our, I would call it, our life-cycle-type side.

Daniel Robbins: Tell me, if I was a customer who wanted to know a little bit about this and we were in the elevator, what is your value pitch for what Owner Services is gonna bring to the table?

Mandy Schweitzer: We are gonna be that single point of contact through the lifetime of your guarantee and help maintain that roof as best as we can to help protect your investments.

Daniel Robbins: That's outstanding. So before we go, I was told that you have something fascinating story-wise that you could share with us related to your dog.

Mandy Schweitzer: Dogs.

Daniel Robbins: Dogs.

Mandy Schweitzer: Yes, dogs.

Daniel Robbins: Alright, so I wasn't given any backstory, so why are they fascinating? Tell me.

Mandy Schweitzer: Do you want the long story or the short story?

Daniel Robbins: Yeah, I want the long story.

Mandy Schweitzer: I think I'll start with the short story. [chuckle] So my husband and I, and my family, and my two boys, were finally in a position where we were ready to bring dogs back into our family, and it wasn't necessarily COVID-related because we had been previous dog owners, and like I said, we were at a point right now where it's like, "We're ready, we wanna bring dogs into our family again." And I already have two young boys who are a pain in the butt, so [chuckle] I don't wanna add to that, but here more recently, a good friend of mine went on a dog sledding tour and sent me a picture of a dog that was up for adoption and was telling me about the program and this dog sledding place adopts out. She rescues dogs and she also adopts out retired or sled dogs that are getting ready to retire. So I made contact with this lady 'cause the picture of the dog that my friend sent me was super cute and looked really young for his age and healthy. We went there and we met all the dogs that were up for adoption, ready to retire from dog sledding, and Cliff was the picture of the dog that my friend sent me. We knew we wanted to take him. He's about seven-years-old.

Mandy Schweitzer: But the thing with this place too, is, when they adopt out, particularly sled dogs that are retiring, they adopt them out as pairs because they're usually bonded with another dog, or at least always have another dog with them, so we knew we were gonna be coming home with two dogs.

Daniel Robbins: And they emotionally, they function better?

Mandy Schweitzer: Yes.

Daniel Robbins: Whereas like they can literally just go crazy if they don't have their...

Mandy Schweitzer: They'll go crazy. So they need a friend to help keep their nerves down, I guess, or their... So yeah, we ended up adopting Cliff, like I said, who's seven-years-old, and Hammer, who is about nine-years-old. I just got DNA test kits to see exactly what breeds they are, but they're what you would call Alaskan Huskies.

Daniel Robbins: Alaskan. This is like brand new.

Mandy Schweitzer: Yeah, we've only had them for a month at this point.

Daniel Robbins: Oh my gosh. Well, that's exciting. You got two massive 70-year-olds that you've adopted. [chuckle]

Mandy Schweitzer: Pretty much, yeah. And they're good, they follow me around...

Daniel Robbins: Don't quote my dog years, that calculation was off, but they're around 70, I'm thinking, right?

Mandy Schweitzer: Yeah, I don't know. We'll call it, sure. [chuckle] Yeah.

Daniel Robbins: Well, best of luck to you in your new adventure with your new huskies.

Mandy Schweitzer: Yeah, thank you.

Daniel Robbins: I'm sure they're cuddly.

Mandy Schweitzer: Yeah, they're sweet. They're good dogs.

Daniel Robbins: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast. That about wraps the time up. If anybody has any questions, please reach out to your your local JM rep about getting connected with Owner Services, or can people just contact Owner Services straight up? Or do we need...

Mandy Schweitzer: Yeah.

Daniel Robbins: How can they get in touch with Owner Services?

Mandy Schweitzer: So, two really good ways to get in touch with us directly is through the web, through email, ownerservices@jm.com, or you can call us. We do have a 800 number, it's probably one that you guys are very familiar with, if you've worked with JM before, but it's the 1-800-922-5922, option one to get a hold of Owner Services.

Daniel Robbins: Very nice, thank you so much. And that wraps it up. Thank you everyone for tuning in. We'll catch you next time.