# best way to get leads?



## midwestrestoration

I opened my roofing company last spring....

But I have not found Good solid way to produce roofs...

I also have a painting company for the last 5 years or sooo....the lead process is not he same at all...painting is easy...I throw an ad in the newspaper and easily get decent paying jobs...

As for roofing...I ont get the serous clients who want full tear offs rarely...I get "replace a gutter" "fix 10 pieces of rsding" nothing of value...
Any ideas? 

Its also hard because I put so much of my time and effort into painting...

I really want a website, but can't find an affordable company to do it....

I use footbridge for painting....there awesome but my area is taken in roofing with them....

It just seems like roofing advertising is just plain out more expensive..
I can throw a painting add out there for $100 and easily get a hand full of bids and a few thousand in work....

What is your take on the situation ?


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## LCG

As a painter. What exactly do you know about roofing?


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## midwestrestoration

I have a crew who does all the work.. I do help tear off and clean up... Deliver the tools and pick up... I do all the estimates and measuring myself...I know the process for the most part ..obviously i couldnt be left alone to run the job myself but i understand it..

we dont have much work though..... im pretty decent with the sales process... ive yet to be stumped by a home owner....

its really just getting the bids were having trouble with...or atleast the ones i want...


we tryed subbing but considering im not on all the jobs...its hard to make money with it....


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## LCG

Where are you located?
What is the population of your service region?
Are you in a storm region? Hail, wind, etc?

Plan on flailing for awhile. It takes a lot of money to figure out exactly what works.

There are a lot of threads around here that address advertising. It not a one size fits all type of thing.


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## bluecorona

midwestrestoration said:


> I opened my roofing company last spring....


Maybe this is a stupid question, but did you create a business plan for the roofing business? Did you create a budget? If it were EASY to just up and create a roofing company, generate leads, and make a bunch of money, everyone would be a roofer 

Growing a business takes money and/or time and/or intelligence and/or creativity. You can succeed with a mix or an extreme abundance of any one of them. At present, I'm trying to determine which asset you bring to the table. So far, it sounds like money and time are out. Let's hope you're smart and creative 



midwestrestoration said:


> But I have not found Good solid way to produce roofs...


What have you tested? Just the newspaper ads?

Have you taken the time to determine your max cost per acquisition for various types of roofing jobs (from full tear offs to replacing a few shingles)?

Before you invest in marketing, you might want to build a marketing model based on the economics of your new business (using assumptions if you don't have enough data yet).



midwestrestoration said:


> Any ideas?
> 
> Its also hard because I put so much of my time and effort into painting...
> 
> I really want a website, but can't find an affordable company to do it....


1. Build a website. Use another company. Budget $2,500 - $5,000 for it. Don't have that much? Paint more houses. Save money. Re-start roofing business.

A good website can generate a hundred qualified leads per month. It's NOT a place to be penny-wise and pound foolish. Every time I hear a contractor tell me that they can't afford $5,000 for a website, I think, "are you out of your friggin' mind?" 

It's like trying to start a home service business and saying you can't afford a truck/van. Okay, I get it. You don't have any money. But you can't exactly pull a red wagon full of tools around town on your bicycle. You've got to find a way to afford a truck/van. 

A website isn't that much different. 

I know, I know, your buddy only paid $250 for his website. Stop following your buddies. Most of them don't know what they're doing either.

2. Invest in SEO

3. Test PPC 

(I'm sure we're going to see a dozen responses that PPC doesn't work. Candidly, 90% of you probably mismanaged your account. Another 5% didn't test it long enough. It does not work in all markets, but it's not because PPC doesn't work - it's typically because either a) your competitors are idiots and are overpaying for clicks or b) your sales process stinks which results in you not being able to afford to pay a high enough cost per click to generate the clicks necessary to get profitable sales)



midwestrestoration said:


> I use footbridge for painting....there awesome but my area is taken in roofing with them....


If you get a decent flow of leads for the painting business, can't you get a crew to run and manage those jobs so that you can focus 90% on getting the roofing business up to speed?



midwestrestoration said:


> It just seems like roofing advertising is just plain out more expensive..
> I can throw a painting add out there for $100 and easily get a hand full of bids and a few thousand in work....


What's the average revenue associated with a roofing job?

How does it compare to your painting business?

My guess is that roofing jobs would be more. The ads are more expensive, but not within the context of the margin on the line (your margins might stink in the beginning, but you're not competing in the ad space with yourself - you're competing against companies that already have roofing dialed in!).

If painting is comparable, stick to painting. Clearly, you've got some elements of it figured out. Incidentally, Harvard Business did a study about companies that try to get into ancillary lines of business. Guess what they found? Most fail. What should they do instead? Get better at what they already do. According to their study, there's way more money and profit to be had by becoming the BEST painting company than there is for your roofing division.

Hope this helps.

Ben


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## keyhousemedia

In my experience marketing roofing companies, most are fly by night and the industry has a huge distaste for these types of contractors. I would suggest creating a business plan and thinking long term, not just trying to go for the quick money. You will find that reputation and trust is a major factor when buying a roof.


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## nmarshall603

You nailed it. So many new companies. I used to write down all the new ones when we had a storm. I used to have a contest all summer long for my reps when I GM'd another company for whoever brought me the most business cards from competitors. They would get 100 bucks and the guy who brought in the most companies I never heard of would get 50. I emphasize business cards because you get those form customers you sign and guys arent stealing yard signs. I used to get like 50-60 new companies every summer. Somewhere I have a shoebox full of defunct and out of business companies. 





keyhousemedia said:


> In my experience marketing roofing companies, most are fly by night and the industry has a huge distaste for these types of contractors. I would suggest creating a business plan and thinking long term, not just trying to go for the quick money. You will find that reputation and trust is a major factor when buying a roof.


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## Grumpy

nmarshall603 said:


> You nailed it. So many new companies. I used to write down all the new ones when we had a storm. I used to have a contest all summer long for my reps when I GM'd another company for whoever brought me the most business cards from competitors. They would get 100 bucks and the guy who brought in the most companies I never heard of would get 50. I emphasize business cards because you get those form customers you sign and guys arent stealing yard signs. I used to get like 50-60 new companies every summer. Somewhere I have a shoebox full of defunct and out of business companies.


I used to pay a bonus for competitor contracts/proposals (scalps).


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## nmarshall603

I had to end up changing it to business cards because guys would bring in signs. 

One lady gave me a stack of 30 cards from guys telling her she needed a new roof. She was in her 80's and a widow, she didnt need a new roof. When her sons house needed a new roof 5 months later he called me and I gave her a 200 dollar referral reward. My company paid for some of her prescriptions and things she needed.


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## nmarshall603

The best way to get good leads:

Build a good company with quality people.
Use the KISS principle. Keep It Simple Stupid
Take care of the customers you have.
High quality workmanship. It costs more but it pays off long term.
Company safety plan. Avoid OSHA at all costs. Invest into fall protection, first aid kits and hydration. Have safety meetings and classes.
Word spreads when youre a good company. Customers come to you. When you do have to go get customers you've laid the groundwork on selling them on why they should go with you.


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## midwestrestoration

Basically i need a good web site.... Im really amazed on how different painting and roofing are.....

the advertising is soo much easier for painting... I can see how trust is a big issue... i just need a fool proof way to get jobs that is affordable...obviously i dont have a ton of money considering the majority of it goes into painting.... 

i was going to try angies list...i do good on the painting end... but roofing is $700/ month vs the $316 i pay for the painting.....


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## Ender

I think you need to advertise as much as you can, and measure each ad. Kill unprofitable advertising methods, scale up profitable ones. You'll figure it out.


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## VisibleRoofer

In my 5 years of experience of working with roofing contractors across the country I have learned that the best way to generate roofing leads has been: Telemarketing, Door Knocking, Online Marketing and specifically targeting Roof Repairs throughout your service area and Full Color Ads in Home Magazine Mailers. These 4 methods have always been mentioned as the most consistent and best way to generate exclusive roofing leads.


______________
Roofing Leads


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## ReubenD

I do not want to disagree with others at all - but it does not take anything near $2500 or $5000 to set up a decent website. Instead of the scam types that email you about it go to the local college and find somebody that can do Wordpress on one of the 1000 or so free templates and have a website set up including domain and all for $300-$500 and 1/3rd that if you want to screw around with it yourself. 

So far as why only the repair jobs, until you are known , you will not be high on anybody's list to call. They have not seen your signs in front of the neighbors houses and nobody they know has used you, and you may or may not have references. 

Ask for what you want in the advertisements - Instead of saying all roofing work say special discount pricing on full roofs and tearoffs... Until you are really comfortable with the crew that is doing it though I cannot imagine you not being there to see what is going on with them and to make sure it is you that is the face of that business as well. Otherwise you are really subcontracting even though you don't know it and only difference is you are the only one that can take a loss. 

If you have a good client list from painting jobs do a mailer to then letting them know you are now doing roofs as well and if they liked your other work you may get some business or referral business from them. Just a few ideas...


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## amproof

I spent too many years in a cubicle before learning that outside sales is what I was good at. In that time, database and Web design are two things I learned that prove very useful in this industry. I'll help anyone with their website. Let me know what you need and I'll let you know what I can do.


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## rinksrat

midwestrestoration said:


> I opened my roofing company last spring....
> 
> But I have not found Good solid way to produce roofs...
> 
> I also have a painting company for the last 5 years or sooo....the lead process is not he same at all...painting is easy...I throw an ad in the newspaper and easily get decent paying jobs...
> 
> 
> What is your take on the situation ?


Here is the Solution to you getting more business.

1. Have a nice looking website that has 2 mandatory things on it. First, have your phone number above the fold (near or at the top). Second, have a place for customers to email there contact info and email address.

2. Get your website on the 1st page of Google. If you know SEO, than perfect. If not, than find somebody who will do SEO for you. *DO NOT* pay anything over $600 a month for this service and *DO NOT* hire any of those annoying telemarketers for call you every other week to do SEO or web design for your business.

3. Wait for your website to rank. Depending on how competitive your city or are is, you should start seeing some results in about 45-60 days. After 3-6 months you should be dominating the 1st page of Google.

4. Answer your phone. Once ranked and again depend on your area, its not uncommon to have 50+ leads a month coming in.

The best part is these are live roofing leads for *ONLY* you. These leads are 100 times better than any Home Advisor or Angie's List Service because with these services, its not only expensive, that lead is also sold to several other roofing companies that you will then have to compete against.

If you want to see a few examples, feel free to PM me. I would be happy to show you.


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## Doyle

be sure to market your roofing side with all of your painting clients. If you've already built up a customer base that trusts you then you'll have a much easier time getting a call when they need roofing services too. Beyond that, I'd advise you to hire a marketing agency or signing up on a lead gen site. In either case, it's important to look for reputation and to give the guys some thing to market, honestly. Do the best quality work you can and they'll be able to present a much more convincing look for you.


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## ileadings

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## Severe Weather Roofing

First, you should probably learn more about the roofing business.

Next, the best way to get leads is through digital marketing - SEO and PPC.

Also, make sure to keep getting reviews and testimonials. This will help you convert more of your traffic.


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## davidm

Severe Weather Roofing said:


> First, you should probably learn more about the roofing business.
> 
> Next, the best way to get leads is through digital marketing - SEO and PPC.
> 
> Also, make sure to keep getting reviews and testimonials. This will help you convert more of your traffic.


Definitely.

I would add, focus on a quality of your jobs. Then you will earn reviews (to increase conversions on your website) and you will get referrals.

PPC can be expensive but always look at ROI

www.ah-contractinggroup.com


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