Building Your Metal Roofing Business: Marketing Tips From Marco.

By Marco Industries.

Follow these marketing tips to help keep your sales pipeline full.

Unless word-of-mouth is enough to keep your crew(s) busy year ‘round, you need to actively market your services to potential customers to keep the pipeline full.

Fortunately, there are many things you can do to make sure your business is top-of-mind when someone is ready for that new roof.

Build A Reputation

The most important marketing tool you have is your reputation. Protect it. Smart consumers will ask friends and neighbors who have recently replaced roofs for recommendations. They will search the internet and read reviews. You need to do everything you can to make sure customers are satisfied and encourage them to leave positive reviews on services like Google. One negative review could cost many jobs. On the other hand, consistent positive reviews will act like your own personal sales force, promoting your company and setting you apart from the competition.

Get The Word Out

Make sure as many people as possible know your name. When someone is ready for roof work, you want your company name to spring to mind, or at the very least, you want them to have heard of you before. Yard signs at current job sites are a good investment. Distributing door hangers in the general area of current jobs is also a smart investment, as those neighbors will see the work you are doing and may be spurred to “keep up with the Jones” or do that roof work they’ve been putting off.

Naturally, a website is a must. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It just needs to be clean and professional, and provide clear benefits on why you are a great company to trust, along with a clear means of contacting you. Most people will look at your website before they decide whether or not to call you. If you don’t have a presence online, many will eliminate you from consideration feeling you aren’t established or are more of a “storm chaser” type of roofer rather than a reputable, reliable local contractor.

Be Prepared

Once a prospect has some candidates they are interested in, they will narrow the field by asking for more information. Be ready to provide them with customer references from those who you know will give you a glowing review. Make sure you stress that you have experience installing metal roofs (this is a different skill set than installing other types of roofing, and that may set you apart from the competition). Also, make sure they know that you do this work youself. Others may claim to have metal roofing expertise but then sub-contract metal projects. 

Offer to show them your General Contractor’s License and verification that you carry worker’s compensation insurance and general liability insurance to protect them from liability. Also, make sure you are up to date on OSHA safety requirements for roofers and are able to secure proper permits for the job—then communicate that proactively to prospects.

While those seem like mundane things, they can set you apart from the competition. By having those details in place and promoting that fact, you will come across as professional and prepared, and it will cause people to ask for the same things from any other contractor they are considering.

Explain Price And Materials

Smart consumers will get estimates from multiple contractors. Make sure you can explain to the prospective customer why the estimates they are getting may be different. Some quotes may include additional services that others do not, such as tearing off the old roof. Contractors may be quoting different materials, too. This can have a major impact on the price. One contractor may quote a much lower price, but they may be using sub-standard materials to keep prices down. Make sure you can walk them through the materials you recommend and why. Explain why superior materials, like those in the Marco Weather-Tite™ System, offer superior performance and better warranties, and will better protect their roof and everything beneath it.

There are many things you can do to build your business. Smart marketing is one of them. But it all starts with providing quality workmanship and using superior materials. Skimping can damage your reputation, and no amount of marketing can overcome that. So, start out by providing the best product you can … then build on that solid foundation with the marketing tips discussed here.

To learn more about Marco, visit www.MarcoIndustries.com. To contact Marco directly, you can email them here or call 1-800-800-8590.