Something for you shinglers... dunno?

Not wanting to turn this into any kind of pro/con of the NRCA... everyone's got their reasons, I suppose. But while going through their most recent offerings of training/install/sales technical manuals I saw this piece called:

"Homeowners Guide to Asphalt Shingle Roof Systems"

It is piece designed as a "leave behind" for your sales force.

Member price is $2.00 @ in a pack of ten, down to $1.30 @ in a 100 pack.

Non-member price is double.

My guess is that 80% of everyone on here, and 99% of anyone that contributes, probably does much better work than 99% of the mass market roofing companies you compete against so often.

I thought this little piece might be a very credible information source you could add to your pitch that makes a concerned homeowner dig a little deeper without it being a biased comparison between what you say and "they" say.

If your bid includes all the things, or even more, than the NRCA recommends, and the homeowner does their due dilligence, you may have a better shot at landing the job.

.... and if nothing else, at least the homeowner now has a piece of information that they can use to hold your competitor's feet to the fire if you lose the job.

FWIW

It's a little glimpse into how I approach sales/customer education, and thought it was worth a share to anyone so interested.

I dunno, maybe this thing's been around for 20 years and I never noticed it before.

Anyhoos.... y'all carry on now.

:)

I can tell your familiar with it clover. :laugh: There's a few tricks I use to help with that issue. Starting early in the morning is one of the main ones of course. I always put the cap sheet in the shade on the ground and only bring up one roll at a time and lay that before bringing up any more. When working in the sun with it, I kneel on the card board boxes it comes in to prevent scarring. If the stuff ever gets too hot just forget about it. :woohoo:

That stuff sure does like to scar around that temp eh? I loathe using it during the summer, ya can't even grab and pull!

The temperatures edged up to near 90 degrees here today and I was working in the full sun laying a GAF Liberty cap sheet on a 1.5/12 slope addition on the back of a residential home that some idiot had installed shingles on. Got there at 7 a.m. and everything was all good through the tear off but when it came time to lay the base sheet and drip edge it was getting pretty hot!

It was pretty much smoking when I started laying the cap sheet and I was thinking "Man, I sure do miss those old office days". :laugh: Thank goodness it was only 4 rolls! I was headed to the house by 1 p.m. :laugh:

I can really respect what you're saying Chuck, and would be lying if I said there aren't a lot of times I miss those days when it was just me, or me and a couple guys just gettin'er done.

Mike H. "who really spends hours shopping for a repair? Next to nobody."

This is one of the reasons why I chose to change directions after 25 years of residential roofing. Got tired of the "shopping". I never really did much more than make a living anyway which I can still do by only doing repair work. I average a 75% closing rate with the repairs. The closing rate for roof replacements went down to as low as 5-10%. :dry:

You have my respect for the kind of company you own and run. I just own a job. But it's not a bad job to own. I'd rather be working on the roof making a couple $650's for the day than running all over town doing "free" estimates for 3-4 days just to sell ONE roof replacement. But hey if the sale was for $65,000 instead of $6,500 or $650 I might be willing to get back into it. ;)

Amen!

A good sales person is capable of convincing the customer of their honesty and their ability to do right by the customer. Some of those sales people are good at it because they truly are good and they mean what they say. Others are crooks that can spin a good tale.

Anything that can be used to help a customer determine which is which is a good thing in my opinion. A good salesperson that is honest OWES it to the customer to help them figure out which is which.

Do you agree?

Todd www.emeraldstate.com

Chuck Said:

I just tell them the truth. Which is this. What say you?

I like it, and that's the kind of stuff that appeals to me. History is a good ally.

What does the competition say?

How does the consumer sort out your story from the other guy's?

The piece from NRCA would be useless to you in chasing down repair work. Just not worth it, and who really spends hours shopping for a repair? Next to nobody.

But if you're looking to help the consumer sort out the truth from the BS in a new-roof sale, that's where this little piece could come in helpful.

Great story.

It's strange how companies choose to market themselves. Not everyone does it the same. I sell ME and the fact that I'm a second generation roofer trained by my father who was a very well known and respected roofer.

Meanwhile I recently heard of a company that markets itself to homeowners saying they only use certified installers. Not roofers who were taught by their dad's and the like. :dry:

I just tell them the truth. Which is this. What say you?

Hi, Chuck here, owner of Chucks Roof Repair. I was born in the great state of Alabama in 1968. As the son of a very skilled and well respected roofer, I began learning the trade at a very young age. In 1985 I began working on roofs with my father full time. He taught me something that is very rare these days. To take pride in my work and to do the right thing regardless if anyone is watching or not.

Over the last 28 years, I have seen the residential roofing trade in general go from a skilled craftsmanship performed mainly by American Citizens to mostly foreign laborers slapping on shingles as fast as they can go. Often not slowing down to pay enough attention to the many detail areas which are of extreme importance to a roofs performance. Then there are the storm chasers and other tradesmen who will take on a roof job without much knowledge of these detail areas. This can easily lead to problems with the roof.

I have been a professional roofer for over 28 years and along the way I became a roof repair specialist. Whether you are in need of a major or minor roof repair, I can help.

Old School http://www.nrca.net/store/detail/homeowners-guide-to-asphalt-shingle-roof-systems---package-of-10/1276

I think the point I'm most trying to make with this post is that any of us can write anything we want in a proposal... and all it really is, is "our word vs. theirs".

I see this document and piece you can use to say "And just so you know, it's not just me saying this stuff is important, here's a little piece from the NRCA that you can use to..."

FWIW

You can have them all natty as far as I'm concerned but I could only provide you a very small handful because I'm not sought after for replacing roofs very often since I don't advertise it and that's the way I like it now days. ;)

Chuck Said: I dont miss the challenge of educating home owners about roof installations and answering all those questions over and over.

Please send them to me. I love "educating" those who are interested. Gives my job meaning. Otherwise, I am just another automaton serving time.

My biggest disappointment was the time a prospect asks me back twice after I gave the original presentation in order to justify the extra $1000 I wanted over another roofer on a $12K job. The simple explanation was that I was doing more work- and I spelled it out in the proposal. I didn't get the job, but he did call me to thank me for my time.

Homeowners Guide to Asphalt Shingle Roof Systems

Something like this usually ends up in the drawer with all of the other "owners manuals" no one reads.

I don't miss the challenge of educating home owners about roof installations and answering all those questions over and over. Maybe my mind is stretching it a bit but the way I remember, it was like being in the interrogation room with the FBI or something. :dry: