The #1 TRUST Destroyer in D2D Roofing Sales

People buy from people they know, like, and… TRUST.

So, what if there’s another T word that will help you maintain this high level of trust, so you can get a “yes” and walk out of the house with a signed deal — and maybe even a pocket full of referrals?

Now, if you screw up this one T word (not trust, the other one), it can absolutely:

• Kill the trust that you’ve built up.
• Kill the deal, so you walk out of the house with NO DEAL.
• Leave you in a spot of being accused of being a sleazy, slimy salesperson.

Now, I’ve been called those terrible names before, and it makes my skin crawl because I really try to do the right thing and live from a place of integrity, honor, and service. I genuinely want to be of service to others and do the absolute BEST I can.

So, when people start pointing their fingers at me, I realized that it was the mistakes that I was making unconsciously or subconsciously that ended up killing the trust.

That all boils down to this one T word that I’ll be teaching you today and how, again, it can either help you close deals or it’ll kill deals. So, I’m going to share it with you, starting with a story.

First, I just want to say a quick welcome or welcome back. Adam Bensman here, The Roof Strategist. Everything I do here — and on my YouTube channel, in my program, and at my speaking events —  is designed to help you and your team smash your income goals and give every customer an amazing experience.

And I do what I do because I’ve observed that:

• About 66% of roofing salespeople quit or get fired in their very first year.
• I want to help make sure more people who join this industry stay successful from as early as their very first week, so they can change their lives and get access to incredible opportunities for themselves and their families.

Again, the reason that I share this story to open this up is that so many people are very similar to me and how I came into the business from a not-so-good spot. So, here it is.

Background on Trust in Roofing Sales

When I first got into roofing sales, I was a massage therapist earning under $20,000 a year, living on $4.20/day in groceries (and I never went out to eat).

So, finding this amazing opportunity that accepts virtually everybody with open arms equally — as long as they can apply themselves — was incredible for me.

Now, the roofing sales industry IS changing more and more all the time, and it is attracting:

1. Good people who are really here to make a difference and who are not purely driven by greed
2. The bad apples who are poisoning the industry, scamming people.

And those good folks who really want to serve well can end up making mistakes that KILL TRUST, just like I shared before.

So, I want to share with you:

1. How to avoid that by becoming a little bit more self-aware
2. How important this one little T word is in the sales process

To do that, I’m going to:

1. Share a story with you to exemplify pretty much every single one of the mistakes that you can make, so you don’t make them.
2. Teach you that T word and how we can maintain that in the sales process to help you CLOSE MORE DEALS and walk out of the house with a pocket full of referrals.

Now, let’s rock and roll.

Discovering the Trust Destroyer in Roofing Sales: My Story

About 12 years ago, my wife Sheena and I walked into this gym in Madison, Wisconsin. It was one of the bigger gyms there, and I wanted to get a gym membership.

So, I walk in and sit down. Now, this gym didn’t advertise rates anywhere on their website. It’s really weird. Instead, you had to:

1. Set an appointment with a salesperson.
2. Go into their office and close the door.
3. Sit directly across the table from the salesperson, who has his computer open towards him (and away from us, so we can’t see the screen).

Now, the office overlooked the gym with a wall of glass, and the blinds were closed.

As I’m sitting there, I’m looking around for a rate sheet. There is none. So, I say, “Hey, we just want to join the gym. What are the rates? What does membership look like?”

Then, he proceeds to ask us all of these questions while referencing his computer that I can’t see. It was like this.

How would that make you feel — to have a salesperson interact with you like this?

Wouldn’t you’d be:

• Wondering what am I looking at?
• Feeling somewhat uncomfortable not being able to see my screen?

After that, we reached the rate discussion, and the gentleman:

1. Grabs a scratch piece of paper.
2. Writes something down.
3. Slides the paper over to me on the desk.

So, I peeled it up, and I see that it’s $150/month PER PERSON to join the gym. At that point, I:

• Think, Are you kidding me?!?!
• Keep looking around for any type of rate sheet (there’s none).
• Look at him and say, “Dude, this is ridiculous!”

So, then he grabs that piece of paper, writes down a new number, and says, “How about this?”

Suddenly, the rate drops a bit, falling to ~$125/month.

Now, Sheena and I are thinking, This is INSANE! $125/month for this gym membership is a little excessive. So, I say to him, “Listen, man, we each want a year membership. Do you guys offer discounted rates if we do like a year-long commitment?”

Again, he grabs that piece of paper, writes something down, and slides it over to me. Now, it’s at $60/month per person. Now, I’m thinking, HOW did we go from $150 to $60?

That salesperson planted this seed of DOUBT because, at this point:

• I don’t trust this guy AT ALL.
• I’m fully aware that there’s NO rate sheet — and that, every time we ask, he peels away more money.
• This seems like a total GIMMICK to take us for whatever they can.
• I say to him, “What if we do a full year and I prepay for the year in advance for both of us?”

Again, he grabs that piece of paper, writes something down, and slides it over to me. And this time, the rate is $20/month per person. Now:

• We’ve gone from $150/month to $20/month.
• Not only did this NOT make me feel good, but it also made me angry.
• What was missing in that experience is the T word that this blog is all about — and that is TRANSPARENCY.

The Power of Transparency in Roofing Sales

Transparency is the number one thing that will help sustain and even build trust in the home.

And without transparency, there is NO TRUST. In fact, a lack of transparency WILL:

1. Kill trust.
2. Plant seeds of doubt.
3. Make people feel like they’re being taken.
4. LOSE you deals.

So, whether you’re in storm or retail roofing sales, this concept still applies.

Now, let’s bring this concept into the home to see how we can use it to maintain trust. I’m going to share some tips with you on how to be more transparent with your customers, so you can build more trust and close more deals.

Roofing Sales Tip #1: Invite Transparency into Your Process.

Transparency is absolutely key to maintaining trust in this business.

In fact, when you’re in the home, do NOT sit squared up to people like this.

You’d sit side by side because:

• Your customer can’t see what you’re looking at or doing on your laptop.
• That can feel like you’re hiding something from them or you don’t want them to see something.
• You can easily invite your customer to see what’s going on.

So, sitting next to your customer invites transparency, and we can sit next to our customers when:

• We’re using a device, like a phone, a tablet, or a computer.
• We’re reviewing the paperwork.

So, that’s transparency, and inviting transparency into the process is the first tip.

Tip #2: Offer a Flat-Rate Option.

As you show the homeowner everything on your screen, give them a flat rate investment option — and do NOT negotiate. Now, I’m not a negotiator, and if the price changes, the scope changes with it.

If we don’t do that, we can open up a giant can of worms. And I’ve learned this personally, through direct experience, because we had restructured our programs and packages after adding more. In fact,

I used to have just the Roofing Sales Success Formula & Complete Sales Strategy, my flagship program. Then, we added the Pitch Pro Movement, the community and mastermind to work together in a tight-knit group, with:

• An annual event
• Interactive live Zoom sessions
• Coaching, team support, and masterminds for owners and managers.

ALL that stuff was new. So, we had to find ways to put it all together and bundle it all up. Then, we added:

• Our supplement training presented by Drew Subtle
• Our Roof with Solar Sales System
• Flat-rate investment options
• Package-based discounts

We first rolled all of this out because I was watching our recorded sessions, with Matt presenting to our potential customers, and I was seeing the owners make all of these glances when we got to the investment options.

Why? Because Matt references this rate sheet (it wasn’t his fault). And he told me this:

Adam, the transparency is gone. We used to just share this on our website and right in front of them.

Now, we do that (and if you would like a demo to learn about any of my programs, click this link or text “DEMO” to (303) 222-7133.

When you do, you can see how transparency works with our system, how we share our screens now, and more. And if you want this, we offer investment options with:

• 0% interest for six months
• A one-time-only investment for the best savings

When we did that, we watched our closing rates SKYROCKET because people felt comfortable with that level of transparency.

And I find the same thing when we’re selling in the home:

1. If you’re presenting a retail estimate, you have to be transparent about all the investment options, the price changes, and whatever else (and, by the way, I know we’re not saying “price” in the home; I’m just using that term here for our conversation).
2. On the storm side, we have to be transparent with what that contingency agreement states and with how the deductible works.

Keep in mind also that maintaining high levels of transparency doesn’t stop once you close the deal. You need to maintain transparency throughout the process, including when you:

• Pick up the deposit.
• Accept their hard-earned money via a check.
• Walk them through financing.

Again, people need that level of transparency every single step of the way, so they know what happens. In fact, transparency WILL keep that level of trust that you’ve built, build it even higher, and help you get the deal.

BUT if you screw up or you are not transparent, you look like you’re hiding something. And no one wants that.

A Quick Story About Transparency

Now, here’s a quick, fun story on transparency. My friend Marcos, a fellow member of the Pitch Pro Movement, is in Orlando, Florida, and we went out four-wheeling down there, a day before an event.

I got there early, and he’s like, “Dude, let’s go four-wheeling!” So, we go there, and he knows I’m a nerd about watches — and he bought me a watch. As he gave it to me, he said:

The reason I bought you this clear watch is because you and I have transparency, bro.

And transparency builds deep relationships.

So, thank you for the watch, Marcos — and thank you for the symbol of transparency. Again, that building block that allows us to:

1. Build deep relationships with our customers.
2. Serve them in a heartfelt way.
3. Give great service.
4. EARN the deal.

So, that’s why transparency is the T word that can either help you gain and build trust OR kill that trust and kill your deal.

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Thanks for joining me, and I look forward to sharing more with you in the next blog.