4 Easy Tricks to Grow your Roofing Business This Year

2018 was a record year for many roofing companies; but continued growth continues to be a top priority moving into 2019. As more roofing companies compete for local market share within the residential roofing industry, acquiring new leads, and nurturing customer relationships is becoming increasingly more important in order to remain competitive. Look to grow your roofing business in 2019 with the following tips.

4 Tips to Grow Your Roofing Business This Year

Invest in Technology – Software is Key:

In today’s technology bubble, the only way to keep up with the competition is to invest in technology that can help streamline your entire roofing business. Remaining competitive while still relying on paper files and Excel spreadsheets is becoming nearly impossible. CRM (customer relationship management) and ERP (enterprise resource planning) software are completely changing how roofing businesses operate on a daily basis, consolidating processes, increasing efficiency, and reducing the departmental manpower needed to run a business.

CRMs give roofers the ability to track communication and information regarding customers anywhere, anytime, helping businesses to focus on lead generation, prospecting and customer communication.

ERPs allow contractors to automate the business-side of a roofing company, which can include procurement, ordering, accounting, finances, etc.

All inclusive roofing business management software like AccuLynx, combine CRM and ERP features, allowing roofing businesses to track all conversations with customers, seeing which salesperson is dealing with which job, building templates, ordering aerial roofing measurements, supplier integrations for your material orders, and seeing where individual jobs are within your sales pipeline. By reallocating resources previously used to rummage through filing cabinets, send crews on top of roofs for measurements, and calculate estimates, you can greatly strengthen the efficiency of your roofing business with software.

Market Your Brand:

Establishing your company reputation as trustworthy is key in establishing dominance within your local market. You can start by applying resources to ensuring your brand and your digital presence are consistent and up to date, providing potential leads with positive reinforcement and the information they need to make buying decisions. While investing in branding efforts may seem like a low priority, consider this:

According to market research from BrightLocal,

“A positive online reputation is one of the most powerful marketing assets a business has to convince new customers to contact them. The social proof contained within reviews and star ratings helps consumers short cut their research and make decisions faster and with greater confidence than ever before.”

Your brand is one of the most integral parts of establishing recognition and associating that recognition with reputable actions.

An easy place to start is your logo and website – making sure these crucial business assets are consistent across your company, as well as up to date contact information can help potential customers find you and contact you, instead of your competition. You can also take this brand awareness into the field – ensure that your trucks, documents and even work uniforms reflect and establish your brand.

Read: How to Start a Roofing Company

Improve Your Communication Approach with Customers:

When a prospect asks to see some of your previous work, don’t take offense to their request. They are not trying to undermine your legitimacy – rather, they are doing their due diligence before before they make an investment with you in regards to their home. Providing samples of past work, through before and after pictures, and customer testimonials can help cement the trust and brand recognition created through your prospecting efforts, and legitimize you as an industry expert.

Ensuring that your customer service and communication are an active part of the process will continue to reap benefits, even after a project is completed. If you do a terrific job installing new step flashing on a customer’s house, and they they call you a few months later with an issue, being unresponsive will likely net you a poor review online, which can have a long lasting impact on the profitability of your business. Follow-up is just as important as the actual service itself when trying to maintain current customers and attract new ones.

Read: How 3 Businesses Used a Roofing Contractor CRM to Work Smarter

Ask for Referrals and Close More Sales

Perhaps the most successful way to sign on new customers is through referrals. In the reputation-based society, your brand reputation, and your service performance can make all the difference when it comes to generating referrals . If one of your customers loves the job you did on their new roof, don’t be shy and ask them for a referral.

“7 out of 10 customers will leave a review if they are asked to” [source] so take advantage!

Referrals from previous customers automatically establish a higher level of trust and act as a confirmation of faith in you as a roofing contractor and the quality of your work. Brian Cornelius of GAF writes,

“Every time you deliver a successful result from a customer, ask for a referral… Referrals are free and have the best closing percentage of any lead you will get.” 

The closing ratio of referrals is much higher than those of non-referrals. In fact, referral-based leads usually close somewhere between 50% to 70% of the time (compared to 10 to 30% percent for non-referral sales.) [source]

In 2018, there will be more competition than ever for established, qualified roofing contractors. With modern technology, creative marketing, and a process for referrals, you can show your customers and prospects that you are the best roofer within your market, and grow your roofing business faster than your competition.