There aren’t a lot of business owners who recommend Google reviews to journalists. They’re notoriously unpredictable – the reviews and the reviewers themselves, that is. That’s why I was shocked when Jim Stringham, owner and co-founder of Apex Exteriors in South Beloit, Illinois, turned my attention to a largely unfettered medium to get the goods, so to speak, on his roofing and Insurance Restoration Company. Once I processed his recommendation, I was even more surprised. Think about it: A homeowner or business owner who has just suffered property damage or loss after a major ice storm, hail storm, tornado, flood, or fire is likely in a sensitive state. Professionalism and workmanship are under a magnified lens. But there they were: Glowing reviews, one after the other. “I have been using Apex for five years, starting with the repair of a flat roof that no one else would touch. This ended several years of leaking following other half-baked repairs,” writes R.N. “Every employee we worked with was professional, polite, and had excellent follow-up on all our inquiries,” says A.G.U. It goes on along this vein. Apparently the bedside manor Stringham fosters amongst his team is working wonders. Since its first project in 2006, Apex Exteriors has made the Inc. 5000 list twice and produced profits to the tune of over US $50 million in residential contracts alone.
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SEPTEMBER 2016 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS
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