3 Keys for Selling Storm Restoration Roofs:

This is my guide on how to effectively sign contracts/contingencies on the same day you meet a homeowner. In my career, I closed 80% of my clients on my first interaction with them. Now I am going to give YOU the script I created so you and your team can too!

I’m currently an Account Executive with Albi. Previously, I was a top producer in one of Illinois’ largest residential roofing companies.

In my 5 years in the storm restoration roofing industry, As a door-to-door (D2D) salesperson, I sold about $7 Million in roofs, siding, and gutters. 

How did I become an elite roofing salesperson and a perennial million-dollar producer? By dialing in my “pitch,” of course!

Statistics You Should Know:

• Only 2% of Door-to-Door sales occur after the first interaction

• 60% of respondents indicated the typical contractor consulted for an estimate shared this information.

• 92% of homeowners said the contractor they hired discussed the importance of high-quality workmanship and their plans to execute it.​

• 86% of respondents indicated the contractors who landed the job helped them understand the different product choices.

• 76% of contractors who won the job discussed the differentiators between them and their competitors.

• Homeowners are more likely to choose a company with a strong record of safety (90%), licenses/certifications (89%), and on-time/accurate deliveries (88%)

3 Keys to Selling Roofs

A  great salesperson knows the “why” behind everything they’re saying. In order to be successful in the highly competitive door-to-door storm sales industry, use these essential skills to capture your prospects’ attention and better understand their needs.

Here are the 3 aspects you should focus on when making your storm restoration pitch. I’ve included examples to show you how I did it:

1. Provide Value

Here is the “why” – It seems obvious since all selling is value-based, but if you are not providing value to your customer, you will have a tough time selling your product. Let’s also be clear, “value” is decided by the prospect, NOT what you feel is valuable.

When working on a new storm, I would never go to an area that got hit directly by 2.5-3 inch hail. As you know, those roofs will get approved about 100% of the time. However, I will provide those homeowners with almost no value because they do not need me to meet their insurance and advocate for them when the damage is apparent. Prospects inherently understand the value. If there is none, it will be difficult to close. 

It’s essential to make sure you and your company are a good fit for a customer before you decide to move forward with a claim. This will help you close the prospect and avoid headaches down the road.

Examples of providing value:

• “Do you know what is going on in your neighborhood?” “My company will handle the entire claims process on your behalf, no need to talk to your insurance.”

• “A lot of insurance companies are flat out denying claims or paying for patches/repairs.”

• “I stopped by your house specifically because I noticed the age of your roof, which looks to be about the age range susceptible to being damaged by this storm.”

• “My company is a one-stop shop; we will represent you in the claim and also complete the restoration of the home within the approved estimate from the insurance.”

2. Establish Trust

Here is the “Why” – History has given D2D salesmen get a bad rap. Over the years, several well-known scams have often exposed to trusting homeowners to harm. It is critical to view every interaction from your prospect’s perspective. View the situation as if someone person you don’t know just rang YOUR doorbell. Always freaks you out a bit, right? It isn’t 1992.

Have you ever heard the phrase people buy from whom they like and trust? This covers the latter. Even if you don’t buy into that phrase, one thing is for sure – people do not buy from people they find untrustworthy. 

I found that people who didn’t trust me wouldn’t outright say that out of fear of being rude. People who don’t trust you will often say, “I’ll think about it,” I have your card, I’ll call you back,” or they would say, “I’m not interested.”

I discovered that directly addressing this was the most effective strategy. By saying something like, “Hey, I realize that you don’t know me, and I am a stranger who knocked on your door,” I am acknowledging that interrupting their day with my pitch may be off-putting.

Examples of establishing trust:

• “Do you know Mr/Mrs. _____ a couple of doors down? I got their roof fully approved by the insurance.”

• “We are a local company; we’ve done several thousand restoration projects in this area over the last two years.”

• “Has anyone from my company stopped by to talk to you?”

3. Build a Relationship

Here’s the “Why” – Relationship-based selling produces more 5-star reviews, referrals, and brand loyalty. When I mastered the art of relationship building with customers, I noticed a considerable uptick in the number of deals referred to me. They accounted for nearly 50% of my income!

Over the years, I established a good rapport with my clients. I still have clients from when I first started that call me whenever severe weather strikes. They called me because I took the time and dedicated my attention to them entirely. I learned about them, their families, and their backgrounds. During the life of the claim, I would touch base with my clients every two weeks or so. At the end of the claim, when I got paid in full – I would send them a handwritten thank you card.

I just got a call from an old client the other day, whom I remembered is a big-time Pittsburgh Steelers fan. So I asked if he was calling me to vent about their most recent loss. 

If you’re a D2D sales rep and you’re not building effective relationships, you are leaving money on the table for yourself and your company. If you aren’t getting at least one referral from nearly every client, some other company is likely taking that revenue from you. 

Examples of building a relationship:

• “I know this sounds too good to be true, believe me I get that a lot – but this is what I do for a living.”

• Don’t over think it, take your time, slow it down: “hey how are you?”

Putting It All Together

After implementing these three key concepts, this would be what your pitch would look like:

“Hey there, how are you? My name is Chris; I am with XXXX Company.”

“I was just stopping by to introduce myself and my company. We just got your neighbor, Mr. XXXX right up the street, approved for a full roof replacement paid for by insurance. We handled the entire process for them.”

“Were you home for the storm by chance?”