How You Can Sell More Roofs Even If You Suck at Selling

Hey, Adam, here at The Roof Strategist. Today, we’re going to talk about how to sell when you suck at selling.

The reality is when I got into this field, I really sucked at selling. And I still made six figures. I still sold over $1,000,000 — $1.4 million to be exact — in my first eight months.

Since then, I’ve helped produce tens of millions of dollars in sales through coaching and working with people, and I’ve helped even the weakest salespeople make a TON of money.

I want to share a few strategies you can use to make that happen.

Roofing Sales Strategy #1: Say “Yes”

First and foremost, we’ve all had this experience. We walk into the house, and a homeowner offers you a glass of water. What’s our instinct? Our instinct is to say, “No, thank you,” because we think it’s polite.

I want you to rethink this.

I know this might sound subtle, but when you say “Yes,” what happened in your relationship and your customer’s mind is they just gave you a gift, and you received it.

All of the sudden, there’s a different level of rapport that happens. Now, when I sit down, they offer me some water, and I say, “You know what, that’d be great. It’s been hot outside.”

We all know it can get brutally hot when you’re outside. Now, they feel like they just served a friend. And they’re all trying to be polite just like they would be with a general service guy who comes into their house.

The minute that they serve me this water, and we’re sitting to talk, suddenly, the dynamic changes. It may be subtle, but I want you to say “Yes.”

I even said “Yes” to a guy who wouldn’t do business with me until I drink a beer with him (consult your boss on this one, by the way). I thought, What the hell? I can have one beer with this guy. And I actually earned the business. It was a great job too.

Takeaway: Say “Yes” if they offer you something, even a snack. Say “You know what? That’s really kind of you. I’d love that. Thank you.” Just be grateful and take it. Also, once you leave, they’re going to think about you when they clean up, and that can go a long way.

Roofing Sales Strategy #2: Educate the Homeowner

When you suck at selling, the most important thing is communication and how you make people feel. I want to tell you the one line I use that helped me transition to closing a ton of business. It’s going to shock you, but it works — and here it is:

Mr. or Mrs. Homeowner, I want to explain this process to you and how it works. The reality is you can choose anyone you want to do your roof because it doesn’t matter who you choose to go with. Ultimately, you’re going to pay your deductible. No more, no less. That’s it.

So, let me tell you what’s important for you to consider when choosing someone to do your roof. You want someone who is going to educate you in the process and who you trust and believe in. You also want someone who’s going to be there for you not only through the process from start to finish but afterward too. And someone who you feel has your best interests at heart.

Now, I do hope that that’s me. But I do want you to know that you can choose anyone. And you don’t need to choose based on price. All you need to choose is based on the assessment. Because, ultimately, the insurance company is going to go ahead and set the price. It’s up to the contractor of choice that you choose to go to bat with the insurance company and make sure that the claim is settled in full —appropriately and fully. And that’s what my team is here to do for you.

Notice that I said that they can choose anyone they want? The reality is they can. And the minute you bring that up is the minute that trust happens because they know they literally can choose anyone — and because, in the reality, all of us roofers are competing against each other.

The only people who win are chosen based on who they know, like, and trust. If you do that and you say that line — “You can literally choose anyone” — and quickly follow that up with — “I do hope that that’s me” — suddenly, that homeowner is going to think:

Hey, this guy is laying it straight to me. He’s led with honesty and integrity. And he’s educating me on the process.

So, if you’re not comfortable selling, which is okay, you want to make sure they understand the process. Once you take up a homeowner on his or her offer, educate them on the process by saying:

Mr. or Mrs. Homeowner, here’s the deal. I want you to feel comfortable in the decision you make. All I’m going to do today is educate you on how that goes. I do hope we’re able to do business together. But if not, you’re going to be really comfortable with whoever you choose.

Even though you’re encouraging them in a way to look at other options, which they won’t by the way, when you develop this level of trust, they will turn to you.

Takeaway: The more you educate a homeowner on what’s going to happen, the more comfortable they’ll be with the process. You’ll notice I said with “the process.” That’s because, when you’re the one educating them, the more comfortable they are with the process goes hand in hand with how comfortable they’ll be in choosing you.

Roofing Sales Strategy #3: Build Rapport

When I sat down with homeowners, I never even asked for the close. Now I do, and I train people to close, but back then, I still made a ton of sales because of the rapport that I built. If you sit down and you say, “Let me set the stage” and “You can choose anyone,” they don’t feel like they’re being sold.

Boom. Now, their guard is down, right?

Then, you ask, “Have you filed a claim on your home before?” Most of them are going to say “No.” That’s when you say:

Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to file a claim if you haven’t already. The adjuster is going to come out. Chances are, when they assess your damage, they’re not going to do it right the first time. It’s not out of negligence, and they are not bad people. These guys are doing a lot of homes right now, and things get missed.

So, my job is to review what they do, make sure that everything’s written up properly, which by the way, is not a discussion on price. And if any roofer here that you’ve spoken to or will speak to tells you it’s about price, that’s a giant red flag that you need to run away.

So, Mrs. Homeowner, I’m going to go through that paperwork. And we’ll assess the property. I literally plug in my numbers into Xactimate.

Again, education. Explain what you’re going to, what your team will do, and how the process goes, so they know what to expect.

All I literally do is type in X number of feet of this, Y number for that, and it’s going to populate the price. I’m not concerned about the price. That will get handled through the software. I just want to make sure it’s handled properly.

Then, what we’ll do is we’re going to sit down, you’re going to pick your roofing shingles. We’ll walk outside, you can look at your neighbor’s roof, we’ll talk to you about the different options. You pick your shingle and the color, and my team is going to show up. We’re going to get this done probably in a day, maybe two.

Afterward, we’re going to walk through everything, make sure you’re satisfied. And you’ll leave with a warranty for X number of years [however many years the warranty is]. How does that sound?

They’ll say, “Oh, that sounds great.” The chances are no one else has walked them through the process because everyone’s pushing the agreement. Instead, you say:

Oh, no, you don’t have to worry about the price. All you got to do is sign here on this thing. It’s a contingency agreement. I’ll go to bat for you. All you pay is your deductible. Maybe I can eat the deductible.

You don’t even have to be good at selling to do this.  

Takeaway: People get fearful when they don’t know what to expect. So, the minute you scratch every itch in their mind, and they are crystal clear about what this process looks like, they think, Hey, I know what’s happening. This guy’s got me covered.

How to Take Your Roofing Sales to the Next Level

If you do want to take it to the next level and flex your sales muscles, check out my video on How to Use the Contingency as a Sales Tool. I’m sitting in this exact seat at the kitchen table, which is where sales happen. When you use the transition to the contingency agreement that I explain in that video, you’ll get signatures on the spot.

And if you don’t get that signature right then and there, don’t worry. You can follow up. I have a follow-up process that I have aced because I sucked at sales and I had to follow up. All of that is included in my Marketing Battle Pack. It includes scripts for emails, text messages, and phone calls, as well as strategies for handling that follow-up in a way where you don’t feel like you’re nagging. Also, check out my video on Mastering the Follow-Up.

Recap: You Don’t Have to Be Good at Selling to Make $$ in Roofing Sales

If you suck at selling, it doesn’t matter. Take people up on their offers. Then, educate them on the process. Answer their questions and make them feel comfortable.

If you can do that in this business, you will be a sales pro — I guarantee it. Also, check out my Marketing Battle Pack. It will give you instant access to lots of great downloadable material plus a playlist of videos to support every single thing that’s in there. So, you can watch it, and you’ll know exactly what to do. All you got to do is enter information and then click Print.

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