Digital Transformation: How to Boost Sales in the Roofing Sector

By ForceManager.

According to an industry outlook report conducted by the Freedonia Group the U.S. demand for roofing is set to reach around 270 million squares by 2021, a 4.9% year-on-year increase to $19.9 billion.

This surge is driven primarily by the shifting stance of insurance providers requiring homeowners to replace older roofs with more modern, weather and damage-resistant products. Combine this with the number of aging residences in the U.S. - with roofs coming towards the end of their life expectancy - and you start to see the reason by behind such positive forecasts.

However, this doesn’t mean sales teams can sit back and put their feet up expecting business to walk through the door. In fact, competition has never been higher - especially when bidding for large construction contracts. So, in order to stand out from competitors sales teams must diversify, become more efficient and minimize time spent on non sales-driving activities.

In 2019, this is directly related to digitalization. Most of the industrial sectors are going through a digital transformation that is helping companies to become more efficient and boost results at the bottom line. In the roofing sector, the implementation of new technologies could help overcome 3 major challenges faced by outside sales teams on a daily basis: data entry, data retrieval and data accuracy

Data entry

Construction sites aren’t ideal locations for field reps to suddenly pull out their laptops, fire up an excel sheet and start entering sales data. Preferably it could all be done via their smartphone or tablet. Something they could use to quickly record a site’s (opportunity) value or type of roofing materials needed and within seconds, have it back in their pocket again. This saves reps a great deal of time and energy, encouraging them to adopt and use your sales management system while simultaneously increasing their efficiency out on the road.

Data retrieval

Have you ever come across the acronym of the 5 “P”s? Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance

It rings true in field sales perhaps more than in any other industry. Access to accurate data on prior site visits or conversations with prospects/clients is key if sales reps are to sufficiently prepare for an upcoming meeting where a deal could be won or lost. Each sales rep in the U.S. spends around three hours a day driving from visit to visit. New technologies such as Artificial Inteligence (AI) allow sale teams to make the most of their time behind the wheel by preparing for their next visit. Systems such as Cognitive, ForceManager’s AI program, enable a direct interaction with the app, so users can retrieve their last emails with a client, hear the notes they took in their last meeting and create and send new reports. All while driving, so they know what is important for them.

Data Accuracy

Because the sales data is being entered in real time, sales managers have 360-degree visibility of their sales process, are able to uncover blockages in the sales funnel and work closely with their sales team to amend them. This flexibility allows sales teams to modify their strategies in a fast way, making sure the whole team is aware of the new direction to follow.

Overall, digitalization can help sales teams to overcome some of the most pressing challenges they encounter in their day-to-day work so they can offer a more efficient service to their clients. Specially in a rapidly growing market like the roofing sector, it is key to keep up to date with digital transformation to make sure sales teams can focus on what they love the most: building relationships.

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