Get Past the “NOT INTERESTED” Objection in D2D Roofing Sale

I’m NOT interested.

How often do you hear that at someone’s house?

They answer the door, look down, and see your logo. By the way, your logo doesn’t display your company name to them. Instead, it says, “I SELL ROOFS.”

So, when the homeowner hears that knock, they’re looking around, wondering:

Who in the heck is this knocking on my door?
What does the person at the door want?

Then, when the door opens and they see you:

They immediately size you up.
They think, I’m being sold a roof. I am NOT interested! This is especially true for the ~90% of storm restoration projects in the Midwest (because homeowners don’t quite know that their roof has hail or wind damage).
They say, “I don’t have a problem. I don’t need anything!”

After surveying literally thousands and thousands of people from across the U.S., I’ve found that 70% to 90% of homeowners who end up buying roofs from D2D salespeople had NO idea that they had problems with their roof in the first place.

So, we know that when we show up and the homeowner isn’t interested, that’s usually because:

They don’t think they have a problem.
They don’t even know you, which means they don’t TRUST you.

So, I want to teach you a very easy, practical tool and a simple strategy to help you overcome the, “I’m not interested,” objection the minute that door opens.

Before we get to it, I just want to say a quick welcome or welcome back. My name is Adam Bensman, The Roof Strategist. It’s my absolute joy and honor to be serving you because everything I do here — and on my YouTube channel, Instagram, my podcast (on Apple and Spotify), and in my all-in-one sales training, sales strategy, and sales system used by thousands nationwide — is designed for one simple reason.

And that’s to give you and your team ALL of the tools, strategies, resources, and training you need to smash your income goals and give every customer an amazing experience.

So, if you’re new here, I have a freebie for you — our brand-new FREE training center. You can get access to it by texting “FREE” to (303) 222-7133 or by clicking this link.

Now, it’s time to dive deep into how we approach customers when they tell us they’re not interested.

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Background on the “I’m Not Interested” Objection in Roofing Sales

I’ve done another video on this “not interested” topic, in which I teach you to:

Lean into this moment.
Use this opportunity of rejection to keep a customer engaged and speaking with you.

Believe it or not, homeowners have gotten a hold of this video. In fact, I’ve received hate mail, death threats, you name it! But if you look through the video’s comments, you’ll see a bunch of positive feedback from roofing sales reps who are looking for support.

I share that with you because the point is that no matter what you do, some homeowners just tend to get upset. It’s their home and their castle. I understand that. We live in a free world as long as we operate above board, complying with local and state laws for door-to-door sales and soliciting business.

And the reality is you can’t and never will please everybody. In fact, I could literally take a pot of gold over to try to give it to some homeowners, and they’d still complain and find something wrong with it.

So, although this approach may seem like it takes a tremendous amount of persistence and grit, remember:

You already heard “No.”
There’s literally no worse place you can go from there.

When you’re using this plan, it means you got rejected instantly, and you took a microsecond to try to overcome that rejection.

If you still get rejected, you’re no worse off than before. In fact, you could be better off if you’re developing that skillset of leaning into discomfort and learning how to face rejection head-on.

What the Homeowner in D2D Roofing Sales Is Thinking: A Story

Now, I want to pause for a moment and share a quick story with you about a gentleman named Gerald.

Now, Gerald was in this neighborhood where I had ended up getting four customers. I stopped by Gerald’s house every time I was in that neighborhood, and I told Gerald and his wife that their roof was in horrible shape.

It was dilapidated, crumbly, and faded. And I knew that Gerald and his wife were going to need to come out of pocket at some point and buy a brand-new roof.

But a minor hailstorm had hit recently. There was small damage in a fringe area, but I’d done numerous roofs in the neighborhood.

Still, every time I stopped by Gerald’s, he’d shoo me away and say, “I’m not interested!” He was actually rude, but I didn’t take it to heart. Instead, I realized that:

He doesn’t know me AT ALL.
It’s my job to show him something that he’s unaware of and help him make a decision.

After all, Gerald’s thinking, My roof is fine! I don’t have any leaks, and I haven’t seen anything.

And if you’ve lived in that house for 20 years, like many homeowners have, and a stranger shows up trying to sell you a roof, you’re thinking the same thing, and that’s:

Hey, I don’t have any damage.

My roof’s FINE. I don’t have any leaks.

Who the heck does this guy think he is?

THAT is what’s going through the homeowner’s mind.

How to Start Overcoming the ‘Not Interested’ Objection

Now, we have a two-part mission. We need to get that homeowner to:

Give us their attention.
Grant us the opportunity to show them something on their roof that they had no idea was even a problem.

And after surveying many, many thousands of roofing salespeople (especially when it comes to storm damage from hail, wind, or hurricanes), I found this out:

About 70% to 90% of homeowners who end up replacing their roofs had absolutely NO idea that their roofs even had problems.

Why?

Because they don’t have leaks in their homes, so they don’t think there’s an issue.

With Gerald, I was able to get past the “not interested” objection and go from having him wanting to kick me off his doorstep to having him:

Give me the time of day and let me up on his roof.
Actually realize that he did, in fact, have a problem.
Choose me to do the work and absolutely LOVE it, telling his neighbors about it AND even inviting me over for dinner.

So, when I get resistance from homeowners who have spammed my videos with a bunch of hate comments, I realize that they’re just NOT my customer — and they’re NOT your customer. And that’s OK.

Even when we approach roofing sales from a place of heart and service, showing up to try to help someone save a ton of money:

We might get rejected, and that’s okay.
We just have to realize that we tried and say, “Hey, you know, I’m sorry I upset you. I could have helped you, but that’s on you.

With this approach, you can do just that. You can start to open homeowners up to the idea that you’re there to help, and you may even be able to turn them into close, dear friends.

D2D Roofing Sales Script for the “Not Interested” Objection

Now, let’s get into some roleplay, so you can get a better idea of how to respond to the “not interested” rejection in door-to-door roofing sales.

When that front door opens and the homeowner says, “I’m not interested,” here’s what we want to do:

Cut right to the chase.
Acknowledge what they just said.
LEAN into it.

You can start doing that by saying something like:

Hey, I understand you’re not interested, and I don’t blame you for not being interested.

Then, we want to mention another customer, ideally someone else in their neighborhood.

Disclaimer: I’m working on a video on this topic — Don’t BS. Why bring that up? Because you don’t want to make stuff up and say something like, “Oh, I’m working with the Guilfords,” when those folks don’t exist. Do NOT make up names and do NOT play tricks or use gimmicky stuff on people. I absolutely hate this, and when people tell me they do it, it drives me nuts. I do NOT agree with it, and I do NOT condone it.

So, remember, this particular approach only works if you’ve had the chance to show some other customer damage that they didn’t know existed. To do that, again, you’re going to say something like:

I understand you’re not interested, and I don’t blame you.

In fact, Peggy wasn’t interested AT ALL either until I showed her the photos of her roof.

That right there is the HOOK.

After the Hook: How to Spark the Homeowner’s Curiosity

Now, I want to break down the psychology before adding a bit more to this. Again, here’s the first part:

I understand you’re not interested, and I don’t blame you for not being interested.

In fact, I wouldn’t be interested either, especially if you don’t have any leaks coming into your house before you close that door.

Peggy, about four doors down, wasn’t interested either until I showed her these photos of her own roof.

She couldn’t BELIEVE what I had shared with her.

At this point, you’ve acknowledged the homeowner, making them feel heard and respected. Plus, you aren’t being pushy, and you’re NOT telling them that they should be interested. Instead:

You’re simply acknowledging what they told you, repeating it back to them.
You’re highlighting why they’re not interested, and that’s because their roof isn’t pouring water into their home. Why would they think there’s an issue? After all, Peggy also wasn’t interested until she saw the photos of her roof.

Then, when we mention that Peggy saw these photos, suddenly, there’s a MYSTERY involved, and the idea of “seeing is believing” comes into play. It’s a story, it builds curiosity, and it piques their interest.

In fact, some homeowners may respond with:

What is it that you showed her? What did she see?

NOW, they’re going to give you a moment to explain what’s going on.

How to Put It All Together

Let’s bring all of this together into a concise intro. Then, we’ll talk about how to keep the conversation going.

Again, that first goal when you hear, “I’m not interested,” is simple. You JUST want to:

Keep the conversation going.
Keep the door open by meeting the homeowner where they’re at and highlighting something that piques their curiosity, meaning something they want to hear more about.

So, here’s what you can say:

Hey, listen, I TOTALLY understand you’re not interested, and I don’t blame you.

I probably wouldn’t be either, especially if there’s no water pouring inside your house.

Listen, Peggy, four doors down, was not interested either until I showed her the photos and videos that I took up on her roof during my free inspection.

Now, I’m NOT implying, sir, that you have anything wrong with your roof.

Still, I’m guessing that your roof age is about identical to Peggy’s. And I provided a 100% FREE, no-obligation photo and video report for her.

There are two possible outcomes to this report:

1. You get a clean bill of health, with a confirmation that everything looks good. Plus, you’ll get to see it with your own eyes.
2. I find some things. Now, if I do, I’m going to show you what I find, so you can see it with your very own eyes — and so you can be the judge. And I’ll happily walk you through the next steps, whether you choose to go with me, you pick someone else, or you choose not to do anything at all.

Now, I understand you weren’t interested.

So, how do you feel about a complimentary, no-obligation inspection?

I’ll hop up there and take photos and videos, and I’ll show you what I find.

Do you have any objection if I grab my ladder quickly?

I wrap it all up with that negative objection, and of course, I’m giving you the LONG version here.

Remember, that may be too long for some homeowners, and it may not be for others. In fact:

If the homeowner is interested, they’re paying attention to me. In that case, I can keep communicating with them, and I AM going to take advantage of that.
If I can tell that they’re trying to hurry me along, I can trim some of that up.

After training literally tens of thousands of roofing salespeople, I’ve learned that, for this training to really stick, I need to give you the LONG version because:

You’re going to retain the parts that make the most sense to you.
You’re only going to put certain parts of this into practice.
If I only give you a small portion of all of this and you just use a tiny bit, it’s just NOT going to work super effectively.

So, when we approach that homeowner and we keep that conversation going, they ARE going to give us that time. And you can simply say something like:

When was the last time you had your roof inspected and routine maintenance conducted?

Hey, where are you guys at in the process?

Hey, I understand you’re not interested, and I don’t blame you. Peggy wasn’t interested either until she saw the photos and videos I took.

That’s ALL you need to keep that door open and further the conversation.

After all, at the end of the day, we are selling the most boring item in the entire world, and that’s roofing. It also happens to be one of the most expensive items that anyone’s going to have to buy to maintain their house.

We get the opportunity to create an amazing experience for them while they go through this process, and we can smash our income goals along the way.

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