Roof Sales 101: Things to Know Before You Start

By IKO.  

Everything you need to know about roof sales to start selling on the right foot. 

The lifeblood of the roofing industry are the salespeople who work to create leads and convert them into customers. It is always wise to brush up on new sales strategies and processes so that your salespeople can successfully sell roofs.  Follow this guide from IKO, which will walk you through the everything your should know before you get started in sales.  

Heading right to knock on a door without any preparation is often a mistake. The world of roofing sales is not unlike other sales positions, where the company should provide you with appropriate training before you begin. If you have experience with sales, then you may need training to understand roofing. If you have experience with roofing, then you may need education in sales. Ideally, you’d receive training in both. Every company you work for will have different offerings and brand identity, not to mention they may use different sales techniques for different kinds of customers. You will need to know all of this and more. 

Your training should consist of at least these basic components: 

• Estimating: If you are responsible for providing homeowners with the estimate or bid for their roofing work, your company should walk you through the estimating process. You should be able to tell customers all of the different roofing materials they will need and what they will cost. Estimating will involve getting on the roof, measuring it and typically using software to create your homeowner’s estimate. Every company does this differently, so it is important to be aware of how your company does it. 

• Products: From shingles to underlayment and flashing, your company will offer different products. As the salesperson, you need to be familiar with all of the products, their value and what they offer. Together, a set of roofing products may make up a roofing system. For example, IKO has PROFORMAX™ integrated roofing accessories that work best with IKO shingles. From certain manufacturers, using a whole system may enable a homeowner to receive a different limited warranty than they would otherwise. 

• Insurance process: Many homeowners are overwhelmed at the process of making a claim through their homeowner’s insurance plan. Salespeople who can guide homeowners can help build trust, put them at ease and ensure that the whole repair or reroofing process goes smoothly. While a roofing company cannot sway adjusters and cannot cover deductibles, they can still offer invaluable support to help homeowners. As the salesperson, you should be able to tell the homeowner exactly how you can support them through the insurance claims process. 

• The value of repairs or a new roof: You’ll spend much of your time listening to a homeowner’s worries or stresses, otherwise known as “pain points.” You’ll then need to communicate how your company and a new roof or roof repairs, in general, can relieve those pain points. You are offering them a solution to a painful problem. To that end, it is wise to understand the value of a roof. 

Beyond the training you receive from your company, there are a few things to consider on your own before you start talking to homeowners. 

• Mindset: Potential customers will reject you frequently. If you work door to door, you will typically receive more rejections from homeowners than approvals to get the roofing work done. That’s just the nature of any sales position. Although, those who sell to customers who reached out to their roofing company first will be rejected less. Still, rejection is common, and the better you can prepare yourself for this mentally and keep yourself from becoming guarded or frustrated, the more successful you’ll be. Some salespeople have naturally cheery dispositions and can easily protect their self-esteem from rejection and hard days. Others struggle with it. Try to remember that you’re offering something many people genuinely need. “No’s” have no reflection on your character or worth as a person. And getting to “no” quickly is best, so you have more time to focus on the people who will say “yes.” We’ll explore how to get to “no” quickly later on. 

• Honesty: When a homeowner asks a question that you don’t know the answer to or that you’re not sure of, tell them so. Making promises that the roofing team can’t keep is a bad idea. Setting expectations you can’t live up to will also backfire. It will look better on the company, and you’ll keep the homeowner’s trust if you are honest when you don’t know. Make a note to discover the answer and get back to the homeowner, which will help develop rapport and trust. That said, it is better to have the answers. So, make sure that you know everything you can about typical questions homeowners ask. With experience, your knowledge base will grow. 

• Care: Most successful salespeople will argue that caring about the customer and their needs is critical. You are not trying to trick or overly pressure someone into buying a roof from your company. Strategies that apply too much leverage like this may be successful initially, but the homeowner may cancel as soon as you leave. That’s because they aren’t really sold on the value of what you’re offering. The secret to many successful sales strategies is to care about what the customer really needs and then to try to offer it to them. 

Learn more about IKO Industries in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit www.iko.com 

Original article source: IKO