Cody Carnes- Technology and Best Practices for Roofing Sales - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Cody Carnes from Ingage. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro/Outro: Welcome to Roofing Road Trips with Heidi. Explore the roofing industry through the eyes of a long-term professional within the trade. Listen for insights, interviews, and exciting news in the roofing industry today.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Hello and welcome to another Roofing Road Trips from Roofers Coffee Shop. My name is Heidi Ellsworth and we're talking sales. I love sales. I love talking about in-home sales. We are with the experts in home sale presentations, and that's Ingage. We have Mr. Cody Carnes here to help talk about technology, best practices for roofing sales, and everything that goes around that great in-home presentation. Cody, welcome to the show.

Cody Carnes: Hey, Heidi. Thanks so much for having me.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Hey. You know what? I love this topic. This is going to be a great conversation. Your software and what you all do is really impressive. Before we start talking about that, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Ingage?

Cody Carnes: Absolutely. My name is Cody Carnes. I've been with Ingage now for about a year-and-a-half. I actually have been in the home improvement space as a whole, whether selling in the home or on the software side, for about seven years now.

I actually spent some time selling in the home for Renewal by Andersen here in Georgia, and I've also worked for some other large software companies. So really, just taking my experience from the past, using that as Ingage to help companies in the home improvement space really improve their sales process as a whole and help them win more business.

In terms of Ingage, really simple, we are the leading presentation tool for the home improvement industry. We're really helping customers replace old, stagnant, outdated forms of presentations like PowerPoint, keynote brochures, with something that's a lot more interactive, visually-appealing for the homeowner that allows the rep to really just close more business and increase their close rates.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: You work day in and day out with roofing sales professionals to really help them up their game with the right presentation and the right technology.

Cody Carnes: Absolutely. Again, it's all about that in-home experience. Really making themselves stand out, look different from the competition, other companies that might be coming in trying to sell to those customers as well.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's so cool. So I have to tell you, Cody, I actually made some pitch books back in the day. The pitch books that would go in and they'd flip over. I was in marketing and I was making those for the salespeople. Your program is so much better. A million times better.

I want to talk a little bit too about trends in sales. Because obviously, 30 years ago, we were doing pitch books, but now there's a lot of things that the salespeople are really helping to improve to close more deals, to take care of the customers. It's about closing, but it's also about taking care of that customer. What are some of the trends in sales that you're seeing right now? What are your suggestions for navigating these changing trends?

Cody Carnes: I would say one of the biggest commonalities I hear a lot has been around how when COVID was around, it was easy to sell. Sales reps could walk into a home, they would have to get in and out within 20 minutes. Sometimes they wouldn't even be let in a home. People were legit just buying everything, because they were home all the time. What's happened is they've gotten away from those processes and those things that would work for them in the home.

Now that it's becoming more difficult to show up and actually close that business with the economy, with everything that's going on today, it's really important to have a good tech stack. And that's not only using something like Ingage for that sales process, but also using other tools out there as well to help navigate that conversation in the home and really ensure that you're doing everything you can to win that business.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's so true. Knowing your technologies, building a stack that works for your company ... Not just for the salesperson, not just for the customer, but for the company too and for the manufacturers. Ingage kind of brings all of that together. When we're talking about best practices in home with sales representatives using technology, what are some of your suggestions for best practices?

Cody Carnes: I would say, first of all, especially if you're a company like a lot of companies out there nowadays that has a lot of tools in the tool belt with their tech stack ... It's really being comfortable with using those tools in the home. You don't really want to show up in front of a homeowner and you might be a newer rep, and not being comfortable navigating something like Hover or whatever it may be that you might be using for your company.

Because then, it's not going to help you like it's supposed to, and it really might hurt you in that sales situation in the home. My best advice would just be being very comfortable with all the tools that you have access to when meeting with those homeowners.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: What do you say to really good salesmen and women? Practice, practice, practice.

Cody Carnes: Absolutely.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right. Practice with that technology before you go sit in front of somebody. What are you seeing? We're talking about obviously the presentation. One of the things that I love about Ingage is the fact that it's constantly being updated with the newest shingles, availabilities during the material shortage, pricing, all of those kinds of things. By having that most current information at your fingertips, what have you seen the impact of the Ingage technology being on closing rates?

Cody Carnes: It's very crazy to think about. A little side story. I just came back from a conference, Top Rep, over in San Antonio. Right outside of San Antonio and New Braunfels. We're able to see a lot of customers when we go and visit those conferences in person.

There was this one company in particular that was there that three or four of their roofing sales reps literally walked up to me and shook my hand and was like, "I love your software so much. It's allowed me to be in the home, and once I'm done with a presentation, the homeowner's begging me to sign my contract and move forward."

We're on average ... By allowing them to just create that more visually-appealing presentation in the home, wow that customer, be able to navigate more flexible, we're seeing our customers see anywhere from a 3% to 10% lift in their close rates. And that's not only very impactful for the business, it's also very impactful for that sales rep who's obviously trying to support their family and put food on the table as well.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's amazing. That's awesome. Let's talk a little bit about the salesperson. They're going into the home. What does that look like? What's that journey on Ingage in that presentation? I know everybody can build their own presentations, but what's best practices of what the salesperson will go through using Ingage with that homeowner?

Cody Carnes: Obviously, every company, their process is going to be a little bit different. We're actually able to give analytics on the backend to a sales manager, to an owner of a company, so that those people can have full visibility into something like that.

So if I'm a sales manager at a company and my process is knock on the door, show up ... Maybe I'm going to go do an inspection and build out the job, and then I'm going to sit down at the kitchen table and I'm going to walk through my company story. I'm going to show you work that we've done maybe in your neighborhood, videos of what the installation is going to look like, customer testimonials, et cetera.

As a sales manager or owner, I'm able to dive into those with the analytics that Ingage gives you on the backend to actually ensure that my rep is following that process. If I have a top performer, what is he doing that my bottom performers aren't doing? If I have someone that's struggling really bad, what have they been skipping over? What have they not been showing? So that you're really getting the most out of this tool that you're investing in.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love that. I love the fact that the sales manager can follow the presentation through the analytics, because I've heard crazy stories where some salespeople won't even talk about financing or won't talk about the new colors. I know that manufacturers are very much about getting their product information and their new colors and everything in there.

I would love you to expand a little bit more on what you've seen when people have used the analytics and have really been able to say, "This top performer did this." What were they doing that was different from the guys and gals who weren't doing so well?

Cody Carnes: I would say one of the biggest things is the navigation of the conversation. A lot of times, I would say, you build out the script and a lot of sales reps obviously want to stick to that script and go in that flow the whole time. But a lot of times, every homeowner you talk to is different.

After you ask those questions to figure out, "Why am I here? What's wrong? What are the issues? What's really important to you?" Maybe I get them to tell me three or four reasons why they've had bad experiences in the past from other companies, et cetera, whatever it may be. A lot of times looking at those analytics, you'll see that those top performers are really bouncing all around in the presentation.

They're not swiping that homeowner to death and boring them just going through their sales pitch that they've done a million times. They're going from company story to install, that really might've been 30 minutes away from that point in the presentation, because that's what was important to that customer. Really using the navigation flexibility within Ingage to cater that conversation to that homeowner that they're actually sitting in front of.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And that's what you and I were talking about earlier. It's that journey. For the homeowner or for the consumer, you want to be able to ask your questions, be listened to, and be able to get the information that is most important to you.

And I love what you're talking about. The navigation of being able to, "Okay. These guys really care about underlayment." Probably not, but they really care about underlayment. Let's go down that road and let's go talk about that. Talk a little bit about how Ingage integrates with other sales tools. There's a lot of sales technology out there. How are teams using it with other technology?

Cody Carnes: I would say the first one that really stands out to me is we've created a very seamless experience with all the price quoting tools in the space. So that, again, once the rep shows up, they're able to go ahead and build that job out in something like a Leap, a Vendo, a One Click Contractor, or a SumoQuote.
And then, once they build that out and it's time for them to go sit down and actually build the value to close that sale, they're able to just tap a button, launch Ingage from that tool, and then go through their sales presentation. And then, as soon as they're done, they're able to just tap the back button and then go right back in and close that job, so it creates that nice seamless experience. That's one of the big ones.

Obviously, there's tons of technology in the space. We've got integrations with new tools like Rilla. We've got integrations with tools like CompanyCam, so that you can take photos of work that you've done and be able to easily ... Or take photos of inspection work or even work that you've done and be able to easily lay that into your presentation to show in the home as well. Our focus is to really create that seamless experience, not only in Ingage, but also out of Ingage with other tools as well.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: If I'm a salesperson and I'm going to the house and I get up on the roof, I do inspection, I take some pictures. What you're saying is those pictures now will automatically be able to go into my presentation, so that I can show those to the homeowner?

Cody Carnes: It's not going to automatically go in for you, but that content can live on a sidebar to where then it's very easily transferable right into Ingage.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Okay. That makes sense. That makes sense. So companies, like you said, CompanyCam ... You guys are so smart, because you're bringing all of the best practices, the best of breed I think is what they call it a lot, and bring it together to really create this sales presentation that fits the homeowner. That is so cool.

Cody Carnes: Exactly.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: You go to a lot of conferences and you said you just got back from one. I see you guys all the time at all the roofing shows, but you are going to be going to the Transform Conference in Texas, September 13th through the 15th. Tell us a little bit about that. What's the hands-on opportunity at the shows?

Cody Carnes: So I'll actually personally be there. I'm looking forward to it. It'll be my first Sales Transformation Group event. What we do is we set up at a booth. We have our iPads there. We'll be standing there at the booth, so even our customers can come by and talk to us if they need help with stuff, but we're really there for those people who might not know about us yet. For them to come by with their sales team.

It could be a sales manager, owner, whoever you are. We'd like everyone to come by. We're able to show you exactly how Ingage works, figure out exactly what you're doing. What products are you selling? Are you linked up with any manufacturers we have? Really show you as much content as we possibly can, so you can really start understanding how you could fit Ingage into your business as well.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I know Sales Transformation Group. They do great sales training for everyone, but they really focus in on commercial and service. Throughout this whole podcast, you and I have been talking about homeowners, because this just seems to make sense to have this great in-home presentation.

But it's just as powerful, obviously, in the office or with property management or building owners. Talk to us a little bit about what you're hearing from building owners and property management folks about this presentation style.

Cody Carnes: I would say, a lot of times, they're having meetings. Maybe trying to convince a larger group of people, rather than just a one-on-one interaction, to move forward with them rather than someone else. They're trying to take that additional step, that extra step, versus, "Hey. This is how much we're going to cost. Hopefully, I'm in the middle and they pick me instead of picking the other two or three guys."

It allows them to really create, again, a more professional presentation to actually showcase, "Hey. How do you differ from the other companies out there that we might be talking to? What are you going to do differently? What sets you apart?" Et cetera. Again, it's really going to wow them in that one-to-many setting versus just that one-to-one setting as well.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: A lot of commercial relationships are ongoing negotiated work. Year after year, they're doing their service and everything like that. Talk to me a little bit about contractors who are possibly using Ingage for that yearly presentation. It's not always just for sales.

Cody Carnes: You can also send content out using Ingage. It doesn't always have to be, "We're on Zoom." Or, "I'm in your home, face-to-face," whatever it may be. You can also take the links to presentations and share them to people via a web browser. And in that web browser ... Let's say, you sent me one.

Once I open it up, it's going to look like I'm in the Ingage app. However, it's just going to be in a web browser, because that person doesn't have access to Ingage. Maybe it's something where I have content constantly being sent out to them on a monthly, three-month, six-month cadence, something like that.

And then, what's great about that is I'm also getting analytics on when I'm sending content out, just like I'm getting analytics on how my team is using it. So that content I'm sending out, is it being opened and where is the time being spent?

Then, it obviously lets me go back and say, "Okay. It's getting opened. But then, more times than not, once they get to the fourth page, they're stopping." Or, "They're spending a lot of time here." Then, it allows you to even refine and optimize that content that you're sending out to people as well.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: The communications. That makes so much sense. I can even see it for service departments, for obviously the overall re-roofs, but think about solar. If you're trying to get into solar, you put a couple of solar slides in there, you can see how long they stop and look at them. Now all of a sudden, "Oh. We need to talk to them about solar next time." I think it's brilliant.

Cody Carnes: Absolutely. I agree with you. That's why I work here.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it. I love it. Okay. How do contractors get started if they want to try out Ingage or actually just start? Tell us a little bit about ... I know when it comes to presentations, there is a fear factor of, "How am I going to do this? I'm not a graphic designer. I'm not a writer." How does a contractor get started with Ingage and how do you help them?

Cody Carnes: We take a very consultative, white-glove partnership approach. We understand also that some of these contractors that we're dealing with are running their business, they're checking on jobs in the field, they might be doing some sales themselves. We really want to make it as easy as possible for them to get up and running very efficiently.

First of all, what we've done is we've created a lot of templates. We have a ton of content that lives in our marketplace, so that once they sign up, they could take any content that they already like and all they have to do is drop in their photos, their videos, their branding, their coloring, et cetera, and they can be up and running very efficiently.

But then, our team is also going to help them. Our team is going to meet with them over the course of the first 30 to 45 days, really make sure that they're comfortable navigating the tool, but also they're going to meet with our internal design team as well. And that team is going to be able to give them tips and tricks that we've seen other companies do, because we've been in this industry now for about five or six years, worked with thousands of other companies doing the same things.

We're really able to help them get up and running. And then, we also have an option to where if they just can't do it on their own, they can also pay us a one-time fee, give us all the information, and we can actually build it all out for them without them even lifting a finger.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: What if they want to change it? What happens down the road if they want to maybe spruce it up or do something totally different? Is that an ongoing, obviously, relationship and service that you provide?

Cody Carnes: First of all, they're going to be trained up well enough to where most of the time they're going to be able to do it on their own. However, if for some reason they need help, they do have an account manager, so we do have an ongoing relationship with them as long as they're a customer of ours.

They can reach out to that person, set up a time, so that their dedicated account manager can hop on a Zoom call with them and help them make any changes or updates that they might need to make.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Excellent. Excellent. On the integrations, is that also something where contractors can look to you to help figure those out?

Cody Carnes: As a startup, we're pretty flexible in helping companies. That's always an area of opportunity where we're there to listen and hear maybe where new integrations need to be made, but also where maybe they already have something, and they just need us to help flip the switch and turn it on for them.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's what I was thinking too. Or even say, "Just push this button."

Cody Carnes: Exactly.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's it. Well, great. Awesome. For them to get ahold of you, what's your website? How do they get ahold of you?

Cody Carnes: The easiest way is just to go to Ingage.io. You can see case studies. You can look at even sample presentation stuff that we've done on there. And then, if you want to book a demo, there's a Book a Demo page, where you could meet with an account executive, find out more information, and see if it makes sense for you to sign up.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it. You can also get all that information on Roofers Coffee Shop in the directory, the Ingage directory. Plus, we have some great podcasts, other podcasts along with this one. Lots of great information to help you do that research, so you can make this decision to get involved and get Ingaged. I had to say that. This has been great, Cody. Thank you so much.

Cody Carnes: Thank you, Heidi. Thank you for having me.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Thank you and thank you everyone for being here today. I hope this helps. It always does. This is the technology that can transform your business. Also, if you're looking to meet up in person, Cody and team will be at the Transform Conference in Texas, September 13th through the 15th. So check it out.

You can find all this information on the Ingage directory, along with, like I said, all kinds of different podcasts, videos, and information. Please check out all of our podcasts, because there's such great information out there. You can find it under the RLW navigation on Roofing Road Trips, or on your favorite podcast channel. Be sure to subscribe and hit the notifications, so you don't miss a single episode. We'll be seeing you next time on Roofing Road Trips.

Intro/Outro: Make sure to subscribe to our channel and leave a review. Thanks for listening. This has been Roofing Road Trips with Heidi from the rooferscoffeeshop.com.