Page 17 - The Compass 2017 | Volume 12 | Issue 3

Brian is Brian Neaton, a friend of the family whom Bill
has known most of his life, as he coached Brian most of
his childhood. Brian would work with Bill’s three sons
in the business during summers and breaks, eventually
taking a full-time job.
“About five years ago, Brian put himself through night
school while working for us and earned his degree in ac-
counting,” Bill shared. “Eighteen months ago, I brought
him into the office. My bookkeeper was retiring. Brian
has done a terrific job of picking up where she left off.
He’s now our GM for our residential division. I’m really
proud of him.”
muSt HavE ‘Buy-in’
Brian’s isn’t the only young face in the company. Brian’s
longtime friend and Bill’s son, Matt, has been with Four
Seasons KangaRoof in some form or fashion most of his
life. He graduated from Michigan State with a degree in
education, but while doing his student teaching, the re-
alization he would be in a classroom, surrounded by four
walls all day, was too much to bear. “Matthew sold me on
the idea of taking up the family business. He broke his matt BurkharDt With
mother’s heart,” Bill said with a snicker. Bill BurkharDt
Some contractors’ sons would walk into their father’s
business with a comfortable management job on day one.
Not Matt. Bill wouldn’t have it. He wanted Matt to earn signed up at Profit Day. He had been to SGI trainings and
his stripes and had a specific way he would be groomed. gone to meetings. Still, he never fully committed to the vi-
“I told him he can expect to be in the field for at least sion.
three to six years. He’ll start with running a roofing “Elmer is a great guy. But we finally parted ways about a
crew. When he has that crew running nicely, he will train year ago. He wouldn’t sell the way I wanted. In general, he
his replacement. Then, he’s going to run a sheet metal thought I was too negative,” Bill shared openly. “I kept say-
crew. And when he has that crew humming along, he ing that’s not it. I’m trying to implement a proven system.
will train his replacement. As the company grows, we’ll Eventually, it didn’t work out. It was best for both of us.”
bring him into the office,” Bill explained. “But only then.
To Matt’s credit, he didn’t complain. He’s following the tHE FuturE
plan, and the transition has been great.” Change is sometimes difficult, but change is eternal, espe-
Matt shares his father’s strong work ethic, and he cially when trying to operate a profitable business. Bill may
takes instruction well. Yet he doesn’t always agree with have lost one salesperson, but he soon hired another. Joe
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his dad or his decisions. Matt might have been Bill’s Radlick is the newest member of Four Seasons KangaRoof .
biggest opponent of adding a residential division. Matt “He’ll be leading our new siding and window division. He
didn’t understand the need to divert from the company’s has extensive industry background in the field and in sales.
core business—until Bill took him to an Executive Per- He’s worked for a couple of pretty big home services compa-
spective a couple of years ago. nies,” Bill said. “Once he gets the new division up and run-
“I brought him along with me, because I wanted to ning, our intention is to train him how to sell on the roofing
hear everything again. I knew there was plenty I prob- side, as well.”
ably didn’t pick up the first time. And I wanted Matt to This is all part of Bill’s plan for 2017 and beyond. Four
®
hear and experience another perspective, outside of his Seasons KangaRoof has come a long way in just these past
dad’s,” Bill explained.
“At the end of the week, we’re having
dinner in Florida. And we’re having a it’s impossiBle to miss the four seasons kan-
good time. Matt leans over to me and garoof trucks rolling DoWn the street. Bill
says, ‘You know, Dad, you really messed BurkharDt’s vehicles have Been an increDiBle
up.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ Matt says, ‘You marketing tool for the company.
should have taken me down here two
years ago so I knew what you were try-
ing to do. I could have had your back
when we were going through all those
changes. Now I understand what you’re
trying to do, and I’m pumped”.
Not everyone on Bill’s team has been
an easy turnaround. One of Bill’s most
trusted employees, someone who had
been with him for years, never fully
bought into the RSI system. His name
was Elmer. He was with Bill when he

THE COMPASS | Issue 3 | 2017 17