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The roofing business is a highly competitive industry. When it comes to marketing, the work you produce plays a significant role in advertising for your business. People only need a roof, probably once in the lifespan of their home.
If you do an exceptional job, the customers will not only commend the work and refer you to others who need work on their home – word of mouth, the most credible advertisement a roofer or any business person can have.
But how do you get that first client, and how can you manipulate your roofing lead generation plan for optimum success. The conventional marketing strategies need incorporating in this business as with any, including advertisements, direct mailings, social media, trade shows.
The key component for a thriving roofing company or any business for that matter is generating quality and qualified leads for that business. Strategies used in decades past have reached their expiration. Channels that leaders once found effective now having no impact.
It becomes the owner’s responsibility to determine the latest strategies but if you can’t keep current, find someone who can do the work for you.
Types Of Leads
It’s essential to understand the process of developing business leads, whether you’re a roofer or in any industry. You need to follow a plan that is up with the times.
Placing classifieds or TV and radio announcements might have had a massive impact in its time, but today these are the least reliable marketing tools. Leads answer to ploys that are fresh and visible. Go to https://www.lovelandinnovations.com/blog/10-residential-roofing-sales-tips/ for guidance on roofing sales.
There are two types of leads you’ll find in business, including B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Consumer). Those leads that go Business to Business will be more costly than Business to Consumer since residential opportunities are less “sophisticated” than what a commercial project would involve. How do you get either of these leads? Let’s look at some tips.
Generating Leads As a Roofer
It’s tough being in the roofing business as far as having clientele. Return customers are unlikely. If you do your job right, there’s no need for a customer to come back with hopes that the work will stand guaranteed for at least a decade. As a roofing professional, your business relies on new customers coming in consistently.
The optimal piece of marketing is good work. You can’t do better than perfecting your craft. Having a “masterpiece” to show for your efforts is the ideal marketing scheme because there’s nothing like word of mouth as a reference. It’s the perfect advertisement when a customer can see evidence of your craftsmanship and speak with someone who received your services. Here are some other methods meant to bring customers to your door:
** Old School But Still Effective – Canvassing
Roofers will find this to be an old-school concept, and it is, but it still has an impact on consumers. You’ll never find a better approach than face-to-face consulting, with the most success being after a major storm. Some useful hints include:
- Develop a compelling script to follow without it sounding scripted
- Create a clear goal: make contact and collect information, set an appointment, work on the sale
- Prepare for any result
- Follow up with the customer
** Snail Mail Or Email Still Effective
Yet another old-school method is mail, but it is still as effective as it was back in the day. While mailboxes are not generating as much mail as they did even merely ten years ago, people anxiously await the mailman bringing something for them as they do with their email accounts which are more likely to be jam-packed.
Mailings are affordable for either a general platform or postcards, both of which will generate a listing of people who might not have otherwise had access to your information.
** What Is SEO?
People are starting to mumble under their breath that SEO is fading, but that is the furthest from fact. SEO is critical for providing the most valuable content to those who need to read it.
There are different facets for Search Engine Optimization, like technical SEO concerned with the overall website. Then you have the primary keywords along with content marketing and backlinks with numerous factors contributing to you finding yourself at the top of the ranking.
As a whole, business owners, particularly contractors or roofers, will have little knowledge of marketing concepts inclusive of SEO or Google ranking, making this a concept that requires outsourcing or consultation from someone with a specialty in the practices.
It is something to work together with an expert to achieve so your target consumer will find you when they search. It’s better/ to be at the top of the list than somewhere near the bottom or worse, not showing up on the rank at all. Many companies like G&A Certified Roofing North are taking advantage of this tool.
** Social Media Advertising Schemes
Social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook are cost-effective mediums for a business to develop leads, including those in the roofing industry. You can work with certain apps that will allow you to input a specified area where you want to focus your work projects, perhaps in a particular neighborhood or development where you might already have a job scheduled.
Some of these apps offer algorithms that will showcase the ads to those in the neighborhood who could be potential customers. While these residents see the work happening, the digital ads create the most attention so that when they need work, they remember your brand.
** Chasing Storms
Storms create havoc for homeowners causing damage to their property, especially the roof. Some roofing contractors employ storm tracking applications to let them know when there’s a storm in their local region. It’s ideal for businesses to understand where someone might be having a problem with their structure.
Unfortunately, most people don’t consider the roof unless there’s a leak somewhere in the house, most of which develop following a storm. When roofers pay attention to where the storms are happening, they’re one step ahead of the game. By reaching out to that general location, you can create a list of potential clients relatively easily.
** Content Marketing
Creating content is among the latest and the greatest. When you post content presenting yourself as an authoritarian in your industry, it also brings credibility to your business. The more relevant, in-depth, and useful your content, the more likely people will call you. The idea is to be consistent, switch it up regularly, and develop a flow of organic traffic.
Over time the audience will grow to understand you, know you, start to like you, and trust you. From that point, each customer will decide if you’re the right service for them. Go here to learn how to sell more roofing.
** Attending Trade Shows
For any contractor but especially with roofers, attending trade shows is beneficial. You can scope out the competitions, potentially convert leads to paying customers, make your business visible to those who don’t know you and develop new partnerships.
It’s essential to use the show to your best advantage. Anyone who comes to your area should receive something to remember the experience, like a valuable sample of something. You can give educational literature, sponsor contests, give out coupons, and so much more.
If you don’t follow up with the people you meet from the show, you’re losing a large percentage of business that could have accrued into sales. The suggestion is that nearly 80% of these experiences’ leads never get followed through, where most of them would have equated to sales.
** Review Site
Your reputation will determine your success and means everything for your online presence. Positive reviews are imperative to help you grow as a business. Consumers engage in numerous searches before they determine where they want to do business. The customer wants to ensure that the contractor is legitimate, there’s no opportunity for a scam, and reviews are available to back their claims for good work and upstanding services.
Sometimes it doesn’t stop with mere reviews and testimonies, though. Clients want to check ratings on Better Business Bureau and go the extra mile which makes sense. A new roof is a substantial investment.
One thing a roofer can do is allow a review site or several to review the business. You want to make sure you use the most reputable of these, so consumers believe the information and grow to trust the company.
What To Do If You Don’t Know What To Do To Bring In The Consumer As A Roofer
It’s not uncommon for business leaders, especially those in the contracting field, to have little knowledge of handling the business’s marketing aspects. These professionals are busy maneuvering through their daily operations, which is their skill and talent, including building structures. Developing a list of customers is not necessarily their forte.
Again, when you’re good at what you do, the best roof will be the number one piece of advertisement you can present to the public. From these pieces of work, word of mouth will spread at the quality for which you’re capable. It speaks volumes. But you want to reach a larger demographic. In order to do so, you have to employ more up-to-date methods for reaching out to your target, so your business expands.
The methods presented here are a few ideal ways to sell roofs. If you don’t believe you have the time or the knowledge to incorporate these, it’s worth the investment to outsource to a professional who can. You will get an incredible return on investment from the customers you acquire with the techniques used.
Final Thought
Roofing is a competitive industry, probably more so than most. While customers generally consist of a one-time project, the work that you do for them can generate a great deal of business from people who see the result, references the customer gives, video you show on your business website, and so much more.
It’s an ideal advertisement. But in order to be competitive, you need to strategize a more in-depth marketing scheme meant to make you stand out from everyone else.
Not everyone can create the type of plan to generate the leads to make a business successful in a competitive market. Still, some specialists will come to help your company to generate the leads you need to get your contracting business where you want it to be. That investment will ultimately pay for itself.
Between you and that outsourced marketing agency, it’s essential to keep the strategy fresh and current to bring you into the spotlight with a target audience so that new clients continue to sign on. Roofers need to have a continuous flow of consumers coming in. That’s the business’s basis. Initially, attracting the target group will ultimately come down to craftsmanship and partnership with an expert.
You may also like: How Long Does Generating Leads Take?
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