Latitude™ empowers The Ohio Painting Company to keep painting in even extreme weather
For Nick Goebel and Kevin Sillaman—co-founders of The Ohio Painting Company in Springboro, Ohio—the most important thing is delivering quality work to their customers every time.
“Our whole approach as a business is to do things right,” Goebel says. “Painting’s not rocket science, but there is a right and a wrong way to do things.”
That’s why they prefer to use Latitude™ Exterior Acrylic Latex whenever possible. Between its moisture-resistant coating and innovative ClimateFlex Technology™ that allows it to be applied smoothly with air, surface, and material temperatures ranging from 35ºF – 120ºF, Latitude allows The Ohio Painting Company to paint with confidence no matter what Mother Nature throws at them.
“We have a long history of working with Sherwin-Williams,” Goebel says. “The vast majority of all the coatings we currently use are from Sherwin-Williams—and of those, Latitude is our go-to when it comes to exterior coatings.”
Built to Endure
Sillaman says Latitude earned its go-to status because of how it performs in Ohio’s often-unpredictable weather.
“In Ohio, you get a lot of rain during the spring and fall, and that will shut you down,” Sillaman says. “You always have to be aware of the forecast. But when we use Latitude, we can continue to go ahead and paint—even if there’s a chance for rain—because is as little as 30 minutes, that coating’s got a seal on it to protect against rain.”
Sillaman says it’s no marketing exaggeration; he’s seen it work with his own two eyes. Years ago, he had just finished applying Dark Brown (SW 7520) to a fascia and hadn’t even started cleaning his sprayer before it started raining. And not just raining—it was an Ohio downpour.
“The rain started pouring down,” Sillaman says. “I’m standing underneath the soffit, staring at the water puddle growing beneath my feet. And when I look out at the fascia, there is no color at all coming off that wet paint. And I just thought, ‘That’s amazing!’ That’s what the Latitude formula does for you.”
Latitude’s ability to hold up in extreme weather—from the blistering heat of summer to unexpected storms—has added up to significant time and money savings for The Ohio Painting Company.
“On a total revenue basis, of the $3 million in jobs we do per year, at least 60% of that is exterior,” Goebel says. “We’re in Ohio. If you can’t work with remarkable temperature durability or uncertain weather and still get things done, then you’re just going to fall further and further behind. Latitude lets us do what we do best as painters: persevere and grind through, no matter what’s on the horizon.”
He estimates that because of Latitude, “we probably get back at least 30% of what would otherwise be dead time. That’s a lot of time. Essentially, we gain another two months out of a year of operating. That helps the bottom line, helps our books, and helps our customers.”
Fitting the System
Another reason The Ohio Painting Company prefers Latitude is that it fits their system well.
“We prefer reliable systems,” Goebel says. “We like to do two coats, and customers like to hear that we do two coats. Some paints are thicker and are positioned as offering ‘one-coat coverage’, but for our system, we prefer a two-coat process. It really assures that we have a nice, smooth finish, and our customers love it. Latitude has been a great fit for our traditional approach.”
For best results with Latitude, Dennis Fiorilli—Director of Product Excellence at Sherwin-Williams—recommends using the right applicators.
“Latitude can be applied by brush, roll or spray,” Fiorilli says. “When applying by brush and roll, we suggest using the Purdy® XL® brush and a Purdy Marathon® roller cover. Using the right tools will help you to achieve the best finish.”
Goebel and Sillaman say their local store and their sales rep, Andy Potts, has been a huge help to their business. And as members of the Sherwin-Williams PRO+ Program, they say they’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of the PRO+ app when it comes to job costing and keeping track of financial records.
“We operate a transparent business with a transparent pricing model,” Goebel says. “We try to stay on top of job costing, so that way our prices accurately reflect what it costs to do business with us. The price isn’t gouged or increased, but we’re also not selling ourselves short and running ourselves out of business. The PRO+ app has been great for keeping track of the products we purchase.”
“Through the app, we can export those out as a CSV file and import them into our CRM (customer relations management) system, with all the location information of the stores we purchased at and everything like that. We don’t have to worry about recording or copying printout ledgers from invoices or calling the store to bug them about records. It’s all right there. Whether I need to find details of an old transaction, a product data sheet, or the price of a one-off product we need for an odd job, I can find the accurate data I need in the app.”
Concluson
Latitude has empowered The Ohio Painting Company to maximize their productive time spent outdoors without fear of sacrificing on quality for their clients. Goebel and Sillaman say they would definitely recommend Latitude to other painters.
“When Latitude was first introduced to us, I was a little bit skeptical if it could live up to the claims,” Goebel says. “But as soon as I saw it in action—the way it held up in not just rain, but heat and direct sunlight—I knew it was going to be our coating of choice. And I have the confidence to tell our customers that they’re going to love it.”