By Ethen Kim Lieser
Dmitry recently sat down with Joe Radcliff to gain his keen insights into the Madsky Program and LC Nussbeck’s business model. Both Dmitry and Joe have had experiences with such platforms, and they have mostly turned out to be negative. On Madsky’s website, it says: “When a storm happens, we can respond quicker than any other solution in the market giving you the plug and play solution to respond immediately to any size catastrophe.” For Dmitry and Roofing Insights, “plug and play” really isn’t the best course of action when trying to offer the homeowner the best value.
Right to have an opinion
Some have questioned whether Joe had received a cease and desist order because he has been relatively quiet about his thoughts on the roofing industry. Joe may have, but he doesn’t remember, and if he did, he would have ripped it up and thrown it in the trash. He is adamant about the fact that he has a right to have an opinion — and his opinions aren’t very high on Madsky and LC Nussbeck.
‘Death of the industry’
Joe believes that Madsky and other similar platforms will one day kill the roofing industry. For one, there are too many of these types of players who prey on honest homeowners and contractors. They also devalue the necessary work that needs to be done, take away company profits for future growth and cancel out bonuses to contractors who buy certain rebates or products. Finally, their credit ratings suffer because they’re buying their products through their own programs.
Just a sellout
Joe doesn’t mince words when he calls LC Nussbeck a sellout, as he went from being someone who fought against insurance companies to now working with carriers. In his opinion, Aspen is one of the worst companies out there. What’s worse is that they’re making no efforts to change their behavior. Madsky and LC Nussbeck are curbing the growth of high-potential smaller companies and contractors. Plus, you can’t fight the overhead profit and you have to remove certain line items from a job, which is allowing carriers to improperly pay claims — all for the almighty dollar.
Devil wears Prada
According to Joe, they’re like devil wears Prada. In order to further fatten their pockets, platforms like Madsky and LC Nussbeck bait smaller contractors to come in. Both Dmitry and Joe can easily see that the target markets are retail contractors who don’t really understand the insurance restorations industry. You need solid profit margins to sustain your company and have it grow, but these retail contractors are used to low profit margins and must do an incredible amount of work to just break even.
Customers deserve better
Joe says people like him are the first line of defense for consumers. You either do or don’t have damage. If they didn’t suffer any damage, it is your job to give them the satisfaction and security in knowing that they are taken care of. But if they do have damage, you must say, “I’m going to fight for you.” For Joe, this is what Madsky and LC Nussbeck need to learn.
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I worked for mad sky for about 4 years doing roofs. For the first two and a half years I had a very small management group and things seemed to go smooth. Starting the third year payment started getting more difficult and by the fourth year I had as many as six roofs unpaid over 4 months. I had to quit because at that point I was working for free!