Is Your Roofing Business Leaking Profits?
We’ve all had clients who’ve heard it. The dreaded Drrrrrip…Drrrrrip…Drrrrrip!!!! I recently heard a friend share this story of a lady who first noticed her leak one day during a heavy rain.
It showed up in the ceiling downstairs.
The next day she called a roofing company who, you guessed it, found some damage to her roof.
Insurance paid to replace her roof but the leak returned.
The roofer came back several times but couldn’t find the leak. This lead to an engineer survey, two holes cut in her ceiling and wall, several visits from multiple plumbers and a year later, she finally was able to plug her pesky leak once and for all.
Through all of this, she learned the leak and the cause existed for many years before it became apparent.
While the roof was the cause of some of the issue, the relentless drip was caused by a design flaw in the plumbing of her bathroom upstairs.
Just like homes, roofing companies and roof contractors have leaks in their businesses too. In fact, chances are very, very high that you are losing customers and, as a result, money every day and you don’t even know it.
Like I always say: You don’t know what you don’t know.
To make matters worse, according to a Goethe University of Frankfurt study and the University of Pennsylvania, the type of customers you are losing are “more profitable and loyal than normal customers.” The study found that these customers have “a higher contribution margin, a higher retention rate and were more valuable in both the short and long run.”
Now I know, for a fact, that if asked if you wanted more customers, you’d answer with a resounding “YES!” Especially if I told you those customers were easier to close, more enjoyable to work with, would spend more and be more loyal to you.
So, who are these customers and how are they leaking from your roofing business? Well, most roofing companies and roofing contractors have multiple leaks (my company included… unfortunately), but one of the biggest leaks and the one I’m referring to here, is the lost opportunity from insurance agent and Realtor referrals.
Insurance agent and Realtor referrals give you better qualified clients and better profit margins because they cost much less to acquire than pursuing a cold lead. And because they were referred by someone they already know, like, trust and already view as an expert, getting them to sign on the dotted line is almost a slam dunk. And as a result, there is almost zero sales resistance.
Tired of having to earn the trust of every homeowner you meet with? Want to show up, to your appointments, with the homeowner already trusting you? Implement a system where you get referred by professionals that your homeowners already know, like and trust. The trust your customer has, in their insurance agent and/or Realtor, who referred them, is automatically transferred to you.
Want to show up as the unquestioned authority and proven expert? Implement a system where you get referred by experts like insurance agents and Realtors. The expert status insurance agents and Realtors enjoy, is automatically transferred to you. Why? Because experts refer other experts?
Want to start working with higher quality customers, who are not looking to put you out of business or kill your profit margins by asking for you to cut your prices and give them freebies? You guessed it… Implement a proven referral system.
Want yet another benefit to working by insurance agent referral? Referred customers are more enjoyable to work with because they’re not skeptical about you. They’re not constantly looking over your shoulder and micromanaging your every move.
My roofing company has just over 600 insurance agents referring us business in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. If you don’t have a consistent flow of insurance agent and Realtor referrals, coming into your roofing business, then you have a massive leak that is costing you thousands, if not millions of dollars.
Put systems in place now to make it easy for proven experts, like insurance agents and Realtors to refer their clients to you and plug up that expensive leak once and for all.
Where Does Your Money Come From?
What types of customers does your sales process bring into your business?
I talk a lot about analyzing your business, to determine who among your clientele is supporting you in style and who is an anchor around your neck.
It’s vitally important to figure out how to get more of the former and less of the latter.
Who is a Perfect Customer? Where did they come from? How were they developed?
Who is an Inferior Customer? Where did they come from? Why do you keep working with them?
The answers to these questions lead to more targeted and cost-effective marketing.
Re-assessing which customers you spend money on, develop marketing systems to attract, reward, recognize and nurture improves marketing and bottom-line profits.
If you’re willing to take the time to find the answers to the questions above, you’ll no doubt discover that the 80/20 rule probably applies regarding your profits.
Now… What to do about it? The response is regrettably not as simple as just shooting everybody in the bottom 80%.
But clearly, it is a shocking and valuable piece of information.
Sharpen your marketing sword.
You’ll not only make more money, but you’ll be ten times happier because you’ll actually start working with more of your Perfect Customers...
The ones who are Easy to Close and Enjoyable to Work With.
Talk to you soon!
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If you’re ready to take a deep dive into the psychology of why you need referrals and learn how to get them at will…
Check out my Master-Class for Roofing Owners and Marketers HERE!