# Dropping Like Flies, 2 Of The Better Competitors In My Area



## Ed the Roofer (Sep 15, 2008)

*Dropping Like Flies, 2 Of The Better Competitors In My Area* 
Dropping Like Flies, 2 Of The Better Competitors In My Area 

2 weeks ago I found out that a company out of a close by town, named ******** Roofing, had gone out of business and last night, I discovered that another company, out of a neighboring town, is also now out of business, as of last week.

He was the only one who had a more detailed proposal than my company 

I am sad actually, so see two seemingly deserving quality competitors get blown away.

I think that people are going to wind up getting a lot of disconnected phones when they start calling the companies from the Yellow Pages this coming year.

My new marketing plan should work out well to coincide with that, if I can keep my head above water for at least the next two months waiting for the results I expect to materialize.

I'll fill you guys in later, when I have the arrangements set in stone.

Ed


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

******** is gone? Wild. I bid against them last year a few times and they were cheap cheap. 

It's going to be a good year Ed. I estimated 6 jobs this week and sold 3 of those totalling $30k. I'm glad the competitors are dropping off though, our whole industry needs some cleansing.


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## Ed the Roofer (Sep 15, 2008)

Grumpy said:


> ******** is gone? Wild. I bid against them last year a few times and they were cheap cheap.
> 
> It's going to be a good year Ed. I estimated 6 jobs this week and sold 3 of those totalling $30k. I'm glad the competitors are dropping off though, our whole industry needs some cleansing.


Yes, they were cheaper than me and didn't use proper venting, but they were not "Affordable" or "Hogan" type cheap.

They were only about 25% less than me, while Hogan is typically 50% less and Affordable is even less than that, by far.

Ed


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## user182 (Jan 17, 2009)

*Cheap?*



Grumpy said:


> ******** is gone? Wild. I bid against them last year a few times and they were cheap cheap.


Do you think that is why they are gone?

If they don’t charge enough to cover overhead how can they stay in biz?


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## user182 (Jan 17, 2009)

*Proposals don't sell, people do*



Ed the Roofer said:


> Dropping Like Flies, 2 Of The Better Competitors In My Area
> 2 weeks ago I found out that a company out of a close by town, named ******** Roofing, had gone out of business and last night, I discovered that another company, out of a neighboring town, is also now out of business, as of last week.
> 
> He was the only one who had a more detailed proposal than my company
> Ed


I guess that’s proof that a detailed proposal does not help you sell more.

Proposals don't sell, people do


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## user182 (Jan 17, 2009)

*Oh really*



Ed the Roofer said:


> Dropping Like Flies, 2 Of The Better Competitors In My Area
> 
> I am sad actually, so see two seemingly deserving quality competitors get blown away.
> 
> Ed


If you are making all the money you want, fine. Otherwise it doesn’t make sense to have compassion for someone that is walking away with business that you need.

Tell your family about the compassion you have for competitors when you can’t afford to provide for them.

Tell them about it when the bill for health insurance comes in and you can’t pay it.

Tell your wife about it when you don’t have anything set aside for retirement, etc.


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## user182 (Jan 17, 2009)

*What makes you different?*



Ed the Roofer said:


> Dropping Like Flies, 2 Of The Better Competitors In My Area
> Hare was the only one who had a more detailed proposal than my company that I have ever seen and Veterans used their own crews with Legal Americans working on the jobs.
> 
> I am sad actually, so see two seemingly deserving quality competitors get blown away.
> ...


If your operating model, strategy’s & tactics are similar to theirs then how will you survive?

If you can specify one significant difference what would it be?


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## OUTLAW (Feb 16, 2009)

Ed,

You should try to buy their phone numbers. When people call and ask for them explain that they have gone out of business and you bought the number. You can help them with their needs (exept warranty work).


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## OUTLAW (Feb 16, 2009)

I have seen companies here going under too. Some of them that I had bid against were way too cheap. I suspect this lead directly to their dimise.


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## Ed the Roofer (Sep 15, 2008)

The cheaper company probably was too cheap, in their own hindsight and they just mailed in their bids.

The other guy, on the other hand, was priced in the upper stratospjere, sometimes slightly higher and sometimes, slightly lower than me.

The reason I miss that competitor, was that they did good work and they were a good quality company to get compared to. Now, which person is more adept at making the sale is the Game.

The other guy actually turned off many people with his overly sophisticated proposals, in addition to the video camera recordings he made to be viewed during his presentations, both of the exterior and the interior of the attics.

I am sure that additional professionalism sold him many jobs, where no one else called offered that degree of introspect, but conversely, I know of many instances, where I met with someone who had already interviwed him and they basically said to me, that they just wanted to get him out of their home, because he was too pushy, trying to point out everything on his attic video as a source of mold and needing supreme additional attention paid to it.

He may have even been right, but that is a hard sell, when no one else is ringing the same bell with thise statements.

Ed


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## user182 (Jan 17, 2009)

*Cleansing needed*



Grumpy said:


> I'm glad the competitors are dropping off though, our whole industry needs some cleansing.


We need a cleansing big time.

A couple of years ago the CertainTeed rep told me there are about 3300 so called roofing contractors around here.

That’s way too many. I know some roofers have left Michigan but there are still too many hanging on.

From a business standpoint I don’t have compassion for any of them. 

That may sound cold hearted but I’m not running the Salvation Army.

From a personal standpoint if they want to repent I’d be more than happy to have a “Come To Jesus Meeting“ with them. The reality is they will lie & cheat any way they can. They are making it too difficult for anyone to make a profit.

Even if they are a legit company you should have no compassion on them if you are competing to win.

If you were pitching in the world series would you have compassion on the batter, maybe take a little off your fastball?


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## user182 (Jan 17, 2009)

*Cause of Death Unknown*



Ed the Roofer said:


> The other guy, on the other hand, was priced in the upper stratospjere, sometimes slightly higher and sometimes, slightly lower than me.
> 
> The reason I miss that competitor, was that they did good work and they were a good quality company to get compared to. Now, which person is more adept at making the sale is the Game.
> 
> ...


More information would be needed to determine what killed this company.

Without first hand knowledge I would not be able to determine if the video presentation was the problem.

If they say he was pushy that could mean 2 things.

He could have been pushing to hard to get the deal or he could have been pushing to hard to get the prospect to engage in his process.

If they didn’t want to engage in the process it is probably the sales persons fault for not setting the agenda properly.

He should have told them how long it would take ahead of time. He should have set the agenda during the initial phone call.

If the HO expected him to be there for 15 minutes and he was there for 90 that would create a problem.


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## OUTLAW (Feb 16, 2009)

Wow, video and all! That is something else!

I for one am not much on the hard sell. I try to listen to what the people are saying and figure out what they are looking for. 

I can remember not being the highest bid only twice last year. Most of the time, I am 30-50% higher and the others are within dollars of each other. I can usaully tell pretty quickly if I stand a chance. Even then, most of the time, I don't get the order right then. More times than not, I call back in few days and get the order then.

Back on topic, I hate to see any company that hires only American roofers go down. That is how I operate. Follow the rules, pay the insurance, pay the taxes and then go under while crooked contractors that break the rules prosper. Where are the people that are supposed to enforce the laws?


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## Onarooftop (Oct 28, 2008)

Hi Ed,

Yeah, good thinking. You should get their yellow page numbers.


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