MCS Influencer Randy Chaffee says none of us operate in the industry alone; every good job reflects well on the industry.

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Randy Chaffee of Source One Marketing. You can Read the interview below, Listen to the podcast or Watch the recording.

Jenny Yu: Well, hello everyone. My name is Jenny Yu, and I'm here with MetalCoffeeShop®. And today I'm here for an Influencer response for the month of May with the Randy Chaffee of Source One Marketing.

Randy Chaffee: Jenny, how are you?

Jenny Yu: I'm great. How are you doing?

Randy Chaffee: I'm doing great. It's great to be here, as always.

Jenny Yu: As always, thank you. We're so happy to have you. Because this May, we are talking about training and skill development for metal. So we were wondering if you could share your thoughts about strengthening training pipelines through industry partnerships.

Randy Chaffee: Yeah. I think that's super important, Jenny, because we're only as strong as the ability to get the roof or the metal building or whatever it is that we're doing, built or installed. And we all talk a lot about and worry about, and especially right now in today's environment, material availability and price increases and costs. And we talk a lot about how do we market and close more sales. But at the end of the day, none of that matters if we can't get the roof on or can't get the building built. And I think sometimes we lose touch with that. And I think there's two factors there that I think is important. We think sometimes that we have a labor shortage, and we do. I don't think there's any arguing that, but I would like to challenge everybody to think that maybe we also have a visibility shortage.

Maybe we're just not being visible enough in our industry to let young people especially know, this doesn't have to be just a job, this can be a career. It can be a career whether it's in sales, whether it's in administration, whether it's in procurement or whether it's out on the job site. And I think we are probably not as good as we should be as an industry in getting that message out. And in today's world with... No, I'm going to back up and say, shame on us for that, because in today's world, not only with the print media, but with all the social media, the virtual like we're doing right here, there's opportunities by the minute, by the second, to be exposing people and especially young people that there's nothing wrong with this industry. I think I could be a metal installer. That looks pretty interesting. Look at the amazing work that's being done.

And so, I think we need to do better with that. And then also, with the pipeline, you start local. Everything starts local. Work with your local work centers, whatever those might be. Work with your local schools. I know the people that do a really good job are the ones that go out to the school fairs, the job fairs and stuff. I know that's not overly sexy, right? That's not like, oh, that's what I want to do today is go stand and talk to a bunch of high school juniors about my business because they don't care. They act like they don't care. But what if you get one person, one guy or gal out of that group that says, you know what? I could see myself in this industry. That's a big win. Continually exposing yourself at that local level. And then also at the state and regional level with events and with shows.

And I think the other place that we need to work on is the associations, work with your associations, work in tandem with them, local chapters as well as national, to promote the idea that this is a career that's worth discovering. And finally, I'd throw this out there because I'm on the supplier side of things in our world. We, as suppliers, manufacturers, have a responsibility that, again, I'm going to challenge anybody that listens that's on my side of the fence. We don't do a very good job with that, and we should. We should do better with working with our distributors and our dealers who then work with the local communities to help those contractors, those installers, those builders train, prepare and hire the people to come work for them. Because here's this funny thing, and I know that this should go without saying, but I can make all the widgets that I make, but I'm only going to sell them if my distributor buys them from me, right? I know this is all elementary, but my distributor's only going to buy them from me if his contractor buys them from him. And the contractor's not going to buy them if he can sell all these jobs, but he can't get them installed. So there's a direct link for us suppliers.

So, please listen on this and let's do better together. Let's do better. We need to work with all these, every level to try to help the labor pool, to try to help train these people. And we also want, my parting words on this, I think, is not just get them hired. Oh yeah, I think I'll go be a metal roofer, that sounds like fun. We need you to be a good metal roofer because it hurts the whole industry if we don't. So let's just not hire people and convince them that this is a great place to be.

Let's have the proper training. And that comes from the suppliers and manufacturers. That comes from the trade associations. And if we don't work together on this, so we need to hire people and get them convinced they want a career — and hopefully a career not a job, because the job means I'm going to work until I find something else, and then we're in this constant cycle of retraining. So we want to find people that want a career, but we want to find people that want a career and want to learn to do it right. Or we're going to continually be firing somebody because they're doing bad work. Then we got all the bad issues and we got the costs and we got all those negative things. And every bad job, whether your company did it or our competitor did it, reflects badly upon the industry, right?

Every good job reflects good on the industry. So we as a supplier, if you don't buy my product, I need every product you buy from my competitor to work spectacular for you. If I'm an installer and I don't get the job, none of us get every job, never happens. None of us could handle all the work. I need you to do a great job, right? Because if you put on a subpar metal roof, that hurts all of us in the industry, right? But if you put on a great metal roof and everybody, oh my God, you got that metal roof that they built down at Joe's place. Do you see that? That thing is beautiful. Whether that was yours or not, you're going to reap the benefits of that day in and day out. So build the pipeline, work the pipeline top to bottom, in conjunction with the associations, in conjunction with your suppliers and just don't expect everybody else to do it. Get involved. Just get involved.

Jenny Yu: Yeah. I love it. I mean, it's such a holistic answer to this question. So thank you for really getting all those levels that are so important.

Randy Chaffee: Well thank you. You're welcome. And thank you for the opportunity because that's a hot button with me. None of us operate in the industry alone.

Jenny Yu: Exactly.

Randy Chaffee: And we can't operate alone. We have to operate together. We go compete for the job. And at the end of the day, if I'm competing against you, I'm going to do my best to get the job because that's what we do. But at the end of the day, we've got to keep making the pie bigger because even if I don't increase market share, which we're always trying to do, but 5% of a million dollars is better than 5% of $500,000. I mean, that's simple math. So let's just keep increasing the pie, and we all win. And so get involved. Get involved. You've just got to get involved. Awesome.

Jenny Yu: Thank you so much, Randy.

Randy Chaffee: You're welcome. I appreciate being able to chat about stuff I'm passionate about, so thank you.

Jenny Yu: Thank you. See you next time.

Randy Chaffee: Oh, you got it. Bye-bye.

MCS Influencer Randy Chaffee says that by working together, mentors and their protégés can come up with the best solutions.

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Randy Chaffee of Source One Marketing. You can Read the interview below, Listen to the podcast or Watch the recording.

Jenny Yu: Hi everyone, it's Jenny Yu here with MetalCoffeeShop® today, and I'm here for an Influencer response for the month of April with Randy Chaffee of Source One Marketing. How are you?

Randy Chaffee: Hey Jenny, I'm good, how are you?

Jenny Yu: I'm doing great. Yeah, just a lovely, peaceful April so far.

Randy Chaffee: Yeah, good. Well, it's peaceful up here in New Hampshire where it's cold. I'm up here, as you can see, I'm in my car at a customer event. So came on, turned the heater on, ready to go.

Jenny Yu: I love it. Well, we're wondering if you could share your thoughts on this month's topic on recruitment, retention and quality. And specifically, we're hoping you could share your thoughts on building loyalty through mentorship and apprenticeship programs.

Randy Chaffee: Yeah, I love to. Yeah. And I think I love that subject, Jenny, because, you know, we spend so much time in any part of the industry, whether we're suppliers, or whether we're trying to get new people. And to continually turn over people is incredibly costly, not only just in dollars and cents for the whole recruiting and training process, but it's costly for team morale. Everybody wants to become part of a family, right? A team. When you have constant turnover, it just continually gets in the ways of those relationships. So, I think it's important to obtain good people, but then how do we keep them?

I think a lot of that is, at the early start: do we offer apprenticeship programs to help people find out, is this even for me? Because not always is everything a good fit. Maybe you just don't belong in the metal world, right? Maybe it just doesn't fit you. Well, then I think apprentice programs will help you get a feel for is this where I want to be as a young person, or it doesn't have to be so much age, but if you've never been in the metal, you're looking for a new career, as opposed to just, it's a job and we'll hire you cause we need people. Let's make sure it's a fit first, right? For both sides and make sure it's right. So I think that's where the apprenticeship comes in.

And I love the mentorship, Jenny, because, and I think my, what I would like to say about that is, is, is a term that I've kind of coined recently and like to use, which is a "hybrid mentorship." See, we think of mentorship as older people, whether it's age in general or length of time in an industry, teaching the younger. And that makes perfect sense. It has to happen. It needs to happen. But I think we should be more open to that and make that more available.

But I also think that we need to look at the reverse of that, which is taking the younger people and let them mentor the folks that are a little bit older, either again, in age or length of time, because the views of a 20 or 30 year old is not the same. They don't have any of the same life history to draw upon as somebody in their 50s, 60s and 70s. So I think while in the 50s, 60s and 70s, we've got experience, we've got all that miles under our belt, right? But we don't understand what you all are thinking if you're 25 years old. It's been a long time since we've been there, and the world's changed.

So I think if we can have situations where people mentor each other, and it's not just this old guy or old gal pointing fingers and palm at the desk and telling the young people, this is how I done it. This is how you need to do it. Let's ask questions and let's listen and say, well, this is what's worked for me, right, Jenny? But what do you see from your age group? What could work for me? What could I do differently?

Maybe I'm not communicating with you well at all, because I had a great example. I listened to a talk once two or three years ago, and he talked about the age differences, right? Many of us are in age that we were alive and knew exactly who we were with, what we were doing when 9/11 happened. That was not just something we read about or saw some video on TV someday. We listened to what happened. We saw it happen live, so to speak, right? It's a different experience than somebody that just was one year old or not even born yet or has read about it and seen some video. And I realized how important that is because I'm older, but I didn't live through World War II. I'm not that old. So I read the history books. I watched the video. I know what an incredibly horrible thing that whole thing was. But then I can go, okay, well, what's on TV? I didn't live it. Right. And so it's not the same to me as somebody that's 20, 30 years old. If they're still around that actually was a 20 year old when that happened.

So I think we have to draw upon what people's life experience is. If you're 20s and 30s, you don't have the same life experience I have. And I need to understand that. And I can't talk to you the same way I might talk to somebody my age, because somebody in that age group, you either don't understand, you don't have the same experience or it's almost like, shut up, old guy. I don't want to hear what you're saying because that makes no sense to me at all. Right?

So I think we can learn from each other. And I think if we build a mentorship program, Jenny, that helps in a perfect scenario, in my opinion, a team effort. You're not just me mentoring you as an old guy mentoring a younger person. I would like to be mentored back as well. I want to learn how to operate in your world because I can't expect in maybe today's world, I guess I'm a little more new age than some maybe. I don't feel I can demand as somebody a little bit older in the industry. You just got to come on my way and do it my way because I've been doing it forever, because you know what? Maybe my way isn't right. Or maybe there's adjustments we can make. Maybe together, as a younger and an older person working together, we can come up with the best alternative.

That's what I would say is, apprenticeship's important to make sure once you have the apprenticeship program, you're not done mentoring all day, every day. And I don't mean you don't set up to have a mentoring session every day, but I think it's a learning experience all day, every day for the rest of your career.

Jenny Yu: Definitely. I love that. We can learn from anyone, whether they're older or younger than us. And it really shows how we need to value everyone on the team, including the vets, including the new folks as well. So, thank you. 

Randy Chaffee: Anytime. Always a pleasure, Jenny, thank you.

Jenny Yu: Same, thank you.

In Asphalt and Algorithms, veteran sales pro Randy Chaffee shares how he successfully evolved from a traditional road warrior into a modern hybrid sales leader—blending the best of old-school relationship building with today’s digital tools.

With over 40 years of experience in the trenches of the metal roofing and post-frame building industry, Randy delivers:

• Real-world strategies for selling in both physical and digital spaces
• Honest lessons learned from decades on job sites, conference calls, and livestreams
• Practical insights into using tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and virtual meetings
• Tips for staying relevant, visible, and connected in a fast-changing world

This isn’t about trends or jargon. It’s about showing up with purpose, no matter where the meeting happens—on the job site, across the country, or on Zoom.

If you’re a sales professional, manufacturer, or business leader navigating the demands of a hybrid marketplace, Asphalt and Algorithms is your no-fluff, field-tested guide to sales success in the digital age.

Click here to get your copy today!

MCS Influencer Randy Chaffee says social media shorts and live recordings both offer an incredible opportunity to build trust. 

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Randy Chaffee of Source One Marketing. You can Read the interview below, Listen to the podcast or Watch the recording.

Jenny Yu: Hi everyone, this is Jenny Yu from MetalCoffeeShop® and today I'm here for an influencer response with Randy Chaffee of Source One Marketing. How's it going today, Randy?

Randy Chaffee: That's going wonderful, Jenny. How are you?

Jenny Yu: It is March, it's almost spring too. It's right around the corner now. I can't wait. So this month for March we're talking about social media, and we were wondering if you could share your thoughts on using short form video and live content to build trust and authority.

Randy Chaffee: Oh man, I'll tell you, this is one of my favorite subjects. When I saw that, I was excited. I love, as you probably know, I love social media, I love the force multiplier effect that it brings and I really believe in short form. Long form's great, and it's got a spot. I think long form is great for educational opportunities or a podcast interview-type scenario, but what I really like about short form is it's quick, it's in and out.

And that's what we all want in today's world. I don't care who you are. I'm an older guy, been around forever. And I still, I'll find things like on TikTok that I'm interested in. And if they don't go to what I want to see in about seven nanoseconds, I'm already bored and flipping because I can't stand to wait like three seconds, you know. And I think everybody's that way now. We've been trained that way. So I think we need to give the audience, if you will, what they want, what they prefer.

I think shorts and lives both offer an incredible ability to build trust. An age old saying is people buy from who they know, like, trust and feel safe with, right? And that's an old Ben Gay-ism — a good friend of mine, author extraordinaire. And I think when you do shorts, when you do lives, you have an opportunity to be there in person as opposed to just a static post.

Those are fine too, but when you just put up a picture and some graphics, some verbiage, yeah, big deal. Everybody does that. They don't get to see your personality. They don't get to see who you really are. And so when we do that, you develop a real, I like to say, equals opportunity because it does. And so I like the shorts because of the fact that it's just short, and you can get right to the point quick.

I love lives. When I'm with customers, I like to do lives where I'm maybe at a trade show, an association meeting, whatever the case may be, because then you really bring the feeling of the road, the feeling of where you're at to the folks that are not there with you, right? It just brings a whole different feel to it. And again, because with lives especially, there's no fixing it, there's no editing, it's really who you are.

As somebody that's done a fair amount of these now over the years, I can tell you this: the biggest thing if you're not used to doing them is do them, just do them. And number two, nobody expects perfection. As a matter of fact, less perfection is better. If you're too perfect, people aren't gonna like it. I know that's counter to what a lot of people think, right Jenny? But people aren't looking for the Hollywood, and you're in LA, right? They're not looking for that Hollywood, whatever that little thing is that they clip down in the old days. You probably don't remember, that's old. I'm aging myself, but nobody wants that perfect Hollywood production. There may be places for that in a long form educational maybe but if you're jump on and spend 30, 40, 50, 60, 90 seconds with a thought just jump on and do it with your cell phone. You can say an "uh" or an "um" or you forget what you're gonna say for a minute — just keep on rolling. Don't go edit that out because that's what makes you real, raw, organic and authentic, and that's what people want.

I don't know that makes any sense at all, I was rambling for a minute. And I just took a short into a long almost, didn't I? See? Don't do what I just did. Exactly. Because I just saw what I thought about it. I mean, literally, you asked me the question 13 seconds before we went on. So that's the best way to do it right there.

Jenny Yu: Yes, and it was very authentic and organic.

Randy Chaffee: Exactly off the cuff.

Jenny Yu: Well, thank you so much Randy. We always count on you for authenticity.

Randy Chaffee: I'll be authentic if nothing else, that's all I got. Thank you. 

MCS Influencer Randy Chaffee says it's time to get rid of old biases and embrace women in the metal industry.

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Randy Chaffee of Source One Marketing. You can Read the interview below, Listen to the podcast or Watch the recording.

Jenny Yu: Hello everybody, my name is Jenny Yu with a MetalCoffeeShop® Influencer response. I'm here with Randy Chaffee of Source One Marketing. How's it going, Randy?

Randy Chaffee: Jenny, it's going great, how are you?

Jenny Yu: I'm doing well, thank you.

Randy Chaffee: Awesome. We always have some great chats, I love it.

Jenny Yu: We do, thank you. And this month we are going to chat about something that I care about, which is women in the workforce, specifically in metal. We were wondering if you could share your thoughts on specifically the role that men can play, male allies, in leadership to advance women in the industry.

Randy Chaffee: You know, that's a great question and I'm glad we're talking about it. I love women in the industry, right? I think that, as a matter of fact, that the National Frame Building Association (NFBA), which I'm on the board of directors for, we have a Women in Post Frame event, for example. I love to support that event because I've been around strong, good quality women for a long time, and I don't think it's even any more a matter of "should they" or "could they." It's like, why are we even thinking that way? There's an incredible amount of quality women that do things every bit as good or better — there I said it, whether you like it or not, men. So let's just forget that old school stuff and understand and support.

And you're exactly right, we can be their ally. We don't need to push them aside. They don't need to just — and I say just, I don't mean to be negative, but they're not just the office girl, right? If that's what it is, that's a great important part, but they could be a crew leader, they can be a superintendent, they can be an engineer, they can be a salesperson, they can be anything they want to be. And we're missing such a valuable — forget the social part of it — just from a business standpoint, they're so talented, and we're just silly to pass up on 50% of the quality people to do quality work.

And so I think as men know, we work and live in what's still somewhat of a male-dominated world, it is what it is. But the emphasis needs to come back onto us as the men in the industry to support women in a big way, to take them under our wing where they need it. Sometimes they don't need it. But if they do? Support them, be there for them, suggest them and work with them as equals and as true partners. It's a mindset that older school things creep into play sometimes. And I think we got to get rid of that.

And I go to this NFBA meeting coming up with the women of post frame. I attended it last year, Jenny, and I was a little scared because I was only one of one guys in the room of 100. I stayed by the door but still, with that said, it was just amazing to be around the high quality that's out there. We're shooting ourselves in the foot in the industry if we don't recognize that and just get rid of the old biases and all that stuff. Are you the best person for the job, regardless of all the stuff, right? I don't care who you are. If you're the best at the job, that's who we should have. And we should embrace that and promote it and love it. That's what we should do.

Jenny Yu: Excellent, I couldn't agree more.

Randy Chaffee: Awesome. I knew you'd agree. I'm pretty smart. Jenny, thank you.

Jenny Yu: You are. Thanks, Randy.

RCS Influencer Randy Chaffee says once you develop the culture of safety, it becomes easier to create a program. 

Editor's note: The following is a transcript of a conversation with Randy Chaffee of Source One Marketing. You can Read the transcript below, Listen to the recording or Watch the conversation. 

Jenny Yu: I'm Jenny Yu with MetalCoffeeShop. And I'm here with Randy Chaffee of Source One Marketing. How's it going?

Randy Chaffee: It's going great. How are you? Good to see you again.

Jenny Yu: Yes. Our January 2026 influencer question is on safety and workforce culture. So, our question is, what do you think contractors should know about building a culture of safety rooted in identity and personal ownership?

Randy Chaffee: That's a great one because I think and I'm happy to see that so many associations and I'm involved with several that we're putting a lot of emphasis from the associations level on safety. It sometimes gets forgotten and especially in the more rural markets of of the country where maybe the likelihood of getting caught is less.

But the culture we need to build is based on something I just said, which is building a safety program. That is a culture and it shouldn't be based on, well, we better do it because we're building closer to a city and we might get caught. Dumb reason in my opinion. The reason should be we don't want our people hurt, right?

Number one, we don't want Billy to lose his job and to be in the hospital for the rest of his life with his family and 12. Well, it could be 12 kids, I suppose, but at home, right? We don't want that. So, it should be done for the right reason. But it you have to build and and that culture word comes back up a lot. You have to build that in because you can have a safety manager, you can have a captain, you can have whatever.

You can have all these policies and manuals and and and go out in the warehouse and do all this training and all that stuff, which you should, but if you don't have a buy-in from everybody, they have to do it because they they understand the value and what can happen to me and my family if I don't do this. And that's more important than because and I know some people say, "Randy, yeah, but you know what? I'm the boss and if I say this is what you're going to do." Fair enough. You are the boss and they should do it because you tell them.

But those get skipped if you're not around sometimes, right? Those get missed. They where they don't get missed is when the people understand there's some very serious stuff happens when you're on a 30-foot roof and you fall off, right? Or you don't handle the forklift, right? Or you on and on and on and on, right?

So, I think you have to develop that identity of I am part of this together. I don't want to get hurt. I don't want to see my buddy that we go have bruskies and beers with on Friday night after work get hurt, right? I know his wife and kids. I don't want him to have that happen. I don't want to show up and tell him, "Hey, I guess what Billy like got hurt pretty bad today." We don't want that.

So, we build that culture that we identify what we need to do. There's a reason for doing it. Not just me as the boss saying you're going to do it. It's me as the boss caring about you, your family, and what we do here. And I think if we develop that and and part of it is the proper training to continue updating on what we're doing, why we're doing it, the new features, and I think you can identify I think it's important to identify uh wins. We don't want any losses.

Losses in safety are always costly either to personnel personally to yourself as from a health aspect and they're costly to the business uh from a stand I with insurance and even if you did everything right there the insurance premiums go up there's a physical or there's a physical cost and a financial cost to have things go haywire when it comes to safety and I think we can't take that risk at all.

So, we have to identify, we have to build a culture, and Jenny, I think we we need to have every person on the team from the the the supervisor, superintendent, owners on down to the newest guy that's running that little magnetic nail picker uper thing, right? That's pretty technical term, right?

You know, that they've got to do things the right way and there's a reason to do it. And there's never you you can you can skimp I took five minutes longer for lunch. You can't skimp on safety ever. For ever, ever, ever. And I think the last thing I'll say on that is people like contests. This shouldn't be a contest, but recognizing we've had six months with no issues at all. We've had a year with no issues at all. We've had three years with no issues at all. This guy here gets an Applebee's card because he spotted something on the job site that was a mistake or a problem that could have hurt somebody. He brought it to our attention. He stopped the crews immediately. Those kind of things.

That's the identity part. We're part of the team here together to make this happen. And I think if we do that, you develop the culture. Once you have a culture, it kind of all takes care of itself with the proper documentation and stuff always, right? But you don't have to be out there hammering on somebody every single day if you've got everybody playing on the team, same team, playing from the same playbook.

Jenny Yu: Amazing. Thank you so much. That's, absolutely, I'm a big believer in the safety thing because we all had somebody in our life that's got hurt.

Randy Chaffee: Yeah. Somehow on a job it almost nobody doesn't know somebody might not be in the construction world even right but and it's it's lifealtering at times and we just don't want that when we can control it accidents call an accident can happen, but boy it should never happen because we didn't do all the things we just talked about right.

Jenny Yu: Exactly thank you so much.

Randy Chaffee: Absolutely it's always a pleasure to see you.

By Jenny Yu.  

To attract young people to the industry, companies need to meet them where they’re at and know what they want.  

Attracting the right workers for your crew is one of the most pressing issues in today’s labor landscape. In a recent episode of MetalCast™, Karen Edwards spoke with MCS Influencer Randy Chaffee of Source One Marketing about online tactics that can help contractors bring in the next generation of talent.  

For over five decades, Randy has worked in the industry selling and building relationships as a purchasing agent and now as an independent manufacturer rep in the metal, post-frame and steep-slope sectors. “Up until the last few years, I did everything the old school way, which I still believe in and I still love. It's still people to people,” Randy shared.  

Over the last few years, Randy has discovered the value in engaging the next generation in the places they inhabit most: social media. “That's where they live. You can't expect in today's world that they're going to come find you,” Randy said. “If we want to hire new people, especially in the younger ages, we have to live where they live.” 

For long-time industry pros who are reluctant to invest in the digital sphere, Randy advises, “The real key is to get out of your own way and accept that you don't have to like it or love it or even care about it, but you better figure out how to use it.” Or, if you still aren’t keen on it, “you better hire somebody that does get it.” 

Attracting the right talent isn’t only about finding the right avenues to market; it’s also about understanding what your audience wants. The younger generations don’t just want the paycheck; they want purpose and lifestyle. “They want to do something good for society. They want to work for somebody that believes in sustainability. They want to think there's a purpose,” Randy explained. “And that's not bad. They'll leave you over that faster than they'll leave you over a couple of bucks an hour. You're never going to attract them if they feel like it's all just business, business, business and that's it.” 

That’s where the opportunity to use social media like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram comes in. With these channels, companies can attract young people by showing them what a day-in-the-life of a roofer looks like. “Show that early morning arrival and the crew busting each other's chops. Show them singing songs while they're building. Show them cleaning up at night. Show them the customer telling them what a great job they did today,” Randy said.  

“That's the stuff these younger people want. They don't want just a paycheck, because you know what? They can go get that somewhere else. They want more than that,” he added. “They want to see what you're about. They want to see the lifestyle of what it means to be a builder or a roofer. So, we have to sell that to them.”  

Listen to the podcast or Watch the recording to learn more about how to use digital tools to meet the younger workforce where they’re at.  

MCS Influencer Randy Chaffee says that if you're hiding from technology, you're going to fall behind.

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Randy Chaffee of Source One Marketing. You can read the interview below, listen to the podcast or watch the recording.

Alex Tolle: Hello, I'm Alex Tolle with MetalCoffeeShop.com, and I'm back for another metal influencer response with Randy. How's it going, Randy? So good. So, for November 2025, our question is: what are emerging technologies that have the potential to transform the way metal building projects are planned and executed?

Randy Chaffee: Alex, it's going great and you? Good. Man, I love this question because are we in a great time for technology? It's compounding and growing. So we've talked about this in other questions in the past. And I love where we're going if you want to grasp technology. And I think it's important in this world is it's much more than it used to be, not just steel and screws and stuff, whatever stuff is. It's so much more. It's building information. Modeling, right? That's something that's used a lot nowadays. It's the drones, it's aerial imaging, it's your eagle views and roofers and the different people out there that have the digital systems. It's the automation and robotics for the role-forming people, right? And the guys doing roll forming. I've been in some plants lately where it's like space tech stuff. It's like I found the Wizard of Oz behind a curtain.

And you're watching some of this stuff going on, and it's so much different than the old mechanical brake, with the big heavy ball that he has set in there, and you each measured a little bit, right? Now you set it up and walk away for the evening, and you've got a pile of trims tomorrow. It's pretty amazing, all the way from the supplier end, the manufacturing end, all through the the installer.

But I think the key is to grasp it, to understand AI, for example, and all the other things that are available. Y'all can't hide from that anymore. If you hide from it, even though you're doing great work, you're just going to fall behind the people that are using all the technologies available to them.

For example, I'm pretty close with some people who do a lot of in-home sales for metal roofing. They already have the whole project priced before they get to the homeowners. They start laying out the project and talk to the homeowners, for example, because they've already shot the Eagle View or whoever else they're using. They've already plugged it in. They already know exactly where the cost is going to be, if there are any discounts that they could or could not give, depending. The work's already done for them, and it's done accurately and correctly, which is a beautiful thing.

So I think the real thing is, people worry about all the technologies, and there are so many of them. And I get the fear. I know a lot of people close to me who fear technology and what it's going to do to jobs. I mean, let's face it. When Henry Ford made the Model T, there wasn't the need for as many blacksmiths, right? But they learned to build wheels or do whatever they did in the auto plant. So there could be some shifts, but I think the key is that they are never going to take the people out of this.

It's still a people business. It's still craftsmen putting the roof on. It's still craftsmen doing the trim work. It's still quality control people watching over what's happening with the robotics, with the equipment. So I think it's just a matter of making it quicker, faster, easier, more accurate and getting rid of the inefficiencies of your time so that people who are craftsmen that are good at what they're doing, whether it's estimating or whatever, or out on the job site, can spend more time hopefully doing more jobs and allow the technology to take that tedious, mind-numbing stuff out of the picture.

And so if we look at it that way and quit being scared about it, because it's here, and I know it gets said a lot and — pardon my words on this, because I don't think it can be said enough — is, there's always a caveat to this and an asterisk to the fact that some jobs will change. I think that's probably accurate. Some jobs may go away, but there'll be other jobs that replace them. You just have to be thinking ahead, and are you in a position where you could be? Then maybe you should start looking at it soon and figure out where you fit in and how you can make use of it.

But with all that said, as the roofing company owners, it's not going away. Again, the old statement, you're not going to get beat by somebody that, because of AI, you're going to get beat because with somebody that's using AI and is just more efficient, they're faster, they're quicker, they're more accurate. And so I think it's key that we all have every aspect. I use it every day. I use technology every day in my rep agency world. And not so good sometimes, as you noticed, it took me 12 minutes to figure out how to get back on here after I got lost. But with that said, even when I get frustrated and mad, I still understand the importance of using this. So don't be afraid, use it, use all the technologies, because it's so much of an augmentation to what we do. And I think if we look at it that way, yeah, we're going to win every day.

Alex Tolle: Yeah, I think that's the most important part is looking at the technologies that you have adapted over time, using a computer every day or anything digital that we've implemented and maybe have been using for 10, 20 years now, and how scary that was when it first came out, but how much it's helped you or if you joined it really late, say you didn't get a website until 2025, then you're you probably see why people have implemented that technology sooner and now you're behind, you're late in the game. So you've got to implement it before you're too far behind.

Randy Chaffee: Exactly. Well, two things about that are, I'm old school enough, or have been around long enough. It's a nice way of saying older. It's not that funny. Anyway, I remember those weird things. You'll find them in a museum somewhere, called a payphone. And you'd pull up and dial 16 numbers with your hand freezing at the payphone. And I remember how scary but I wanted it when the first cell phone came out. It's like, you're kidding me? We're going to carry this thing around and actually talk to somebody from the road, from a job site? I mean, that just seemed like earth-shatteringly weird, right? And it wasn't that long ago. I mean, it seems like it now, but chronologically, it wasn't that long ago. So you're right. It's the changes are always scary at the start.

The other part, the last thing, what you said, you started to hit on, I think, is important, Alex, is that with technology changing, it changes so quickly. It compounds on each other so quickly that every day, every week, every month, God forbid every year that you go by and don't get started, you're going to find yourself, I don't want to say hopelessly lost, but you're going to be lost to where it's going to take a lot longer to catch up because anybody that's using this stuff technology-wise now, new stuff comes out every day.

And we scratch our heads and we poke around and we can't figure it out. And then we call somebody, you get frustrated, but that's based on having used it for a while. Now think about if you hadn't used it at all. And now all of a sudden, you're forced to use it. To me, it's like, you never were taught elementary school math, and all of a sudden, you found yourself 17 in a senior's calculus class, you might as well just get up and go sit in the principal's office, which I did a lot by the way. That was my relative school. Anyway, another story for another day. The point is you're so lost, you'll never catch up.

And so I think it's important to grasp it, jump on it, use it. Not all at once. Don't be stupid. I mean, if you haven't used any technology, I probably wouldn't go buy 12 drones and six robots and just invest $3 million on a bunch of stuff. But start somewhere. Start with AI, start tinkering with it, start figuring out what this stuff can do for you. And you'll be surprised how unscary it is once you get used to it. That's from an old school guy who's almost been around forever.

Alex Tolle: Absolutely. Who took 10 minutes to join this studio, right? I'm just kidding.

Randy Chaffee: And again, she had to bring that up, but sure, you know, I think that's a great point, though. I use technology every day. I do a lot of podcasting, a lot of other stuff. I'm using it all day long, and I still get points where it's like — why isn't this working? Why can't I figure it out, you know?

Alex Tolle: Yeah, well, I had you muted the whole last recording, so it's both of us. So we're always learning.

Randy Chaffee: Yeah, I know you did, and you blame me on it to which I didn't appreciate but, anyways, good stuff. I mean, I think it's a great subject and very timely. So I love chatting about that. Thank you.

Alex Tolle: Yeah. Thank you so much, Randy, as always, we will see you next month.

Color matters. It shapes confidence. It shapes satisfaction. And when we guide homeowners toward the right choice, everybody wins.

Walk any home show, scroll any contractor page, or stand in any distributor yard, and you’ll hear the same thing. Color matters. Homeowners care about it more than ever, and they’re coming in with stronger opinions and bigger expectations. Metal roofing isn’t just a performance choice anymore. It’s a design choice. And that changes the conversation. 

I’ve watched this shift for years. When metal first pushed into the residential world, most folks were happy with a small handful of colors because they were buying durability. Today the durability is assumed. People choose metal because they know it performs. The color is where they start showing their personality.  

And with metal lasting as long as it does, the message is simple. Pick your colors carefully. This will likely be the last roof you’ll ever buy. 

That truth brings excitement and pressure. Homeowners walk in wanting the perfect look, then get hit with dozens of colors, multiple finishes and several panel profiles. It doesn’t take long before the choices get overwhelming. One look at a full color wall next to racks of different panels and people start to wonder if they’re picking a roof or trying to solve a puzzle. 

That’s where we come in. 

Color does more than dress up a house. It shapes how a home feels. It affects curb appeal and resale value. It even colors how the homeowner remembers the buying experience. I’ve seen people light up the moment they find the shade that matches the picture in their head. I’ve also seen people freeze because they don’t want to make a long-term mistake. A metal roof lasts decades. The color needs to age right along with the home. 

Right now, deeper tones keep leading the pack. Charcoal, black, dark bronze and earth tones work across a wide range of siding styles from farmhouse to contemporary. In the right profile, those colors give the home a clean, finished look without trying too hard.

Low-gloss and textured finishes are gaining ground quickly, and in many parts of the country they’re moving past the more traditional shiny look. Homeowners like how these finishes cut down on glare and add depth without pulling too much attention. They also hide dust, pollen, fingerprints and, in many cases, even mask small dings or scratches that would stand out on a glossier panel. 

Even with trends, psychology still drives the final choice. Most people want three things. A roof that looks good. A roof that lasts. And a roof that feels like a smart buy. When the color lines up with how they see their home, their confidence jumps fast.

That’s why the color conversation needs to stay simple. Folks don’t want a lecture. They want guidance. They want someone to listen. And they want the options broken down in a way that lowers stress instead of raising it. 

Your lineup matters here. Offering a good spread of colors and finishes helps you meet customers where they are. Carrying proven coatings helps protect them from regret. And explaining the differences clearly helps keep them happy for years. 

All of this lines up with the message in Asphalt and Algorithms. When we combine digital tools, color visualizers and solid samples with real conversations, customers make better decisions. The hybrid approach boosts confidence, but the human side closes the gap. 

Digital tools are force multipliers. They help customers picture the outcome and keep your company in front of them. But the final decision often comes when someone takes a few minutes to talk through their vision. A sample board, a little guidance and a few honest suggestions make a big difference. 

Metal roofing is a long-term investment. The color they choose will live with them for a long time. You want them to look at it every day and feel proud, not wish someone had helped them think it through.

So keep it simple. Ask what they want the home to feel like. Ask what colors they’re drawn to. Ask what they’ve saved on their phone. Most folks already know the direction. They just need someone to help with the final step. 

Color matters. It shapes confidence. It shapes satisfaction. And when we guide homeowners toward the right choice, everybody wins. 

Stay focused. Stay helpful. And stay amazing. 

By Randy Chaffee, Source One Marketing. 

The next generation isn’t here to erase what we've built — they’re here to continue the legacy. 

If you’ve been in this business for a while, you’ve probably noticed that the next generation isn’t coming. They’re already on the jobsite! They may not swing a hammer quite the way you did, but don’t mistake that for lack of skill or drive. They think differently, learn differently and expect more from the work than just a paycheck. The question isn’t whether they’re ready for roofing, it’s whether we’re ready for them.

For decades, roofing has been about grit, loyalty and showing up no matter the weather. That’s still true, but the modern crew also wants purpose and balance. They want to see that what they’re building matters. They value mentorship, communication and yes, technology. To some of us old-school types, that can feel foreign. But remember when nail guns and cordless drills first hit the scene? We adapted then, and we can adapt now.

The best leaders in roofing today are the ones blending old-world craftsmanship with new-world tools. They’re the ones saying, “Let me show you why this matters,” not just “Do it because I said so.” They’re using drones, estimating software and digital photos to get the job done faster and safer, and they’re inviting younger team members to help lead the charge. 

We’ve got to stop treating technology like an invasion and start seeing it as a bridge. The new generation isn’t lazy or distracted. They just don’t see the world through a paper and clipboard lens. They grew up with access to information instantly, so let’s give them leadership that’s equally responsive. 

Roofing is still one of the most honest careers out there. It’s tangible, it’s essential and it’s rewarding. But if we want to keep attracting bright, young talent, we need to show them that our industry is forward-looking, not stuck in the past.

Train them well. Challenge them. Respect what they bring to the table. Because the future of roofing isn’t some far-off dream. It’s standing right next to you on the roof, holding the next tool and waiting to learn if you’re willing to teach. Like I said in my book Asphalt and Algorithms, it’s not about replacing the old ways, it’s about refining them. The next generation isn’t here to erase what we built. They’re here to build on it.