Dodge common estimating mistakes

By Emma Peterson.

Learn from a master of roof estimating  

If you have been around the roofing industry for long enough, you’ve probably heard John Kenney’s name. John, who is the CEO of Cotney Consulting Group, has over 45 years of experience in the roofing industry. His story starts in the Northeast corner of the United States as a roofing apprentice. From there, he progressed from laborer to foreman, then estimator, chief estimator, vice president and chief operating officer at a variety of roofing companies. He has become well known in the industry not only for his excellent workmanship and skills, but for his dedication to helping other professionals grow and develop. John is an active participant on multiple roofing associations around the world, including the Canadian Roofing Contractors National Technical Committee, the Institute of Roofing – IOR (Great Britain), the International Federation for the Roofing Trade (IFD) and the Board of Directors for the Roofing Technology Think Tank (RT3).

Last year he stopped by The Coffee Shops™ for an episode of Roofing Road Trips®. In conversation with Karen Edwards, he spoke about one of the ways he is helping industry professionals – his estimating classes. These are a great way to boost your business, as estimating is the foundation of any good roofing business. John elaborated, “Everything else cannot even be near correct if you don't have the skills and the necessity to put proper pricing together, that's where you start.”

These classes, which can be taken online and sometimes in-person, are a great opportunity to learn everything from estimating sequencing to labor understanding. John explained his goals with his workshop attendees, sharing, “I want to make sure you're engaged and you're getting the most out of it. I also follow up and encourage any of the students that take this, the class participants, to let me know if they have any issues after if they didn't understand something. I even will review an estimate with anybody that takes one of my classes.”  

Ultimately, if you’re new to estimating and need to learn or have 20 years of experience and just want a strong refresher, these classes and workshops are a great opportunity to learn directly from an expert. John explained, “You all allowed me to make the mistakes over my 45 years in the industry. Now I get to transfer that information over to you, so you don't make the mistakes.”  

Read the transcript or Listen to the full episode to learn more about John’s estimating courses. You can also check out his website to find out more about signing up for his classes.