5 Tips For Marketing To Real Estate Agents

First, I would like to thank Jessica for requesting this topic!

Real estate agents can be a great source of repeat referral business for the roofing contractor.  How can you tap into this market without wasting time and money?

Before getting into specifics of how to market to agents I would like to give you a couple of cautions to keep in mind.

First, when designing your marketing plan for real estate agents remember that there are about as many (if not more) real estate agents as there are roofing contractors.  This makes it critical for you to spend your time in the right places and with the right agents.  Just like in the roofing industry there are a lot of agents just sitting around without much work.

Second, you have to be prepared to say no to some agent’s requests.  I have had agents ask, after a roof inspection that was bad and was jeopardizing the sale, to just say something to make the potential buyers feel good about the roof.  You may be asked to give estimates of how long a roof will last, and you may find yourself pressured to withhold negative information for the sake of getting the deal done.  Hopefully this will never happen to you, but you should be prepared.

Now on to the marketing part.  Here are Five Tips.

1 – Find out who the busy agents are. This one can be tricky.  Just because an agent spends a bunch of money on ads doesn’t mean they are busy.  How can you find out who the busy agents are?  One of the first things I would do is visit local real estate offices and speak to either the Broker or the Office Manager and ask them who their busiest agents are, they will often be more than happy to tell you who is really producing and also who the up and comers are.  This will give you a good list of targets.

2 – Focus on agents who work with Buyers. Typically it will be the buyer in the transaction that will request a roof inspection and you would like to be the roofing contractor the agent recommends.   However, you should also try to get in with busy listing agents who will recommend that their customers get a roof inspection ahead of time (not all do this) so that they can market the home with a clean roof inspection.  Also, it will often be the listing agent who will make recommendations to the seller as to which contractor to choose to have any requested repairs made.  That said, if I had to choose I would choose the buyers agents to target first.

3 – Meet agents face to face. Take in helpful information to the agent.  Become a resource.  Agents are people too and they usually choose contractors they are comfortable with and feel will be there for them to help them out.  After you have finished step one ask what times are the best to catch the agent in the office and then drop by and introduce yourself and your company.

4 – Don’t be put off by the first rebuttal. Don’t feel bad if you don’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling on your first visit.  Just be cordial and persistent.  Agents will eventually appreciate your persistence and over time will be more inclined to send some work your way.  Establishing familiarity will go a long way for you over time.

5 – Offer to speak at the local Board of Realtors meetings or at local real estate office meetings. Brokers will often invite companies to speak at their weekly meetings as will the local Board of Realtors.  Check with them and ask what sort of roofing related topic they would feel would be beneficial and do a short presentation on the subject (don’t forget to bring bagels and coffee).   Make sure to bring some sort of leave behinds that highlight how an agent can benefit from working with your company.

I hope this information helps.  Face to face marketing with agents is more time consuming but will get you much much farther than would any sort of mailer or flyer.  One other tip, make sure that any agents you do currently work with refer you to other agents in their office.  Their recommendation can go a long way in getting you in with other agents.

Please let me know your experiences in working with agents in the comments section below.

Are You Using Twitter To Market Your Roofing Business?

You have probably heard a lot about Twitter recently. It has been mentioned in connection with major world events and even on Oprah. But how can it help you grow your roofing business?  If you were to do a quick search for “Roofing” on Twitter you would see that there are already hundreds of Roofing Contractors trying their hand at this new form of marketing. Are you one of them? If not, you should be. Why? What is Twitter and how can you get started?

Let’s start with what Twitter is. Twitter is a combination of a blog and a phone text message. It is sometimes referred to as “microblogging”. When you send someone a text message on your phone you have probably noted that you are limited to how long the message can be. The same is true of Twitter. You can type a mini blog post that is limited to 140 characters.

What is the benefit of this form of marketing? Twitter is easy to use, free, very popular, free, and it doesn’t take a lot of time. Does it get any better than that? Once your account is set up you can use Twitter to let your “followers” know about new jobs, new products, promotions, discounts, important news about your business, direct them to your website, encourage them to sign up for your newsletter and more.

So now that you are ready to get started. Here are Five things to keep in mind.

1 – Make your “Tweets” meaningful. I have seen a lot of roofing contractors put out messages that are annoying and excessive. You will soon see that if you start following someone and you start getting a ton of useless messages every day you will quickly “unfollow” them. You don’t want your “followers” to quickly tire of your messages and stop following you. If you are constantly selling without providing some valuable or interesting content your followers will soon loose interest.

2 – Don’t send too many “Tweets” each day. I currently follow one person who just today sent over 50 messages. If this keeps up I will have to unfollow them so that I can keep up with other messages. This is just my opinion, but if you are sending more than 5 messages a day, you may be sending too many.

3 – Spend some time on your Bio. Here you get 160 characters to describe yourself or your business. Take some time to really think about making this a meaningful statement that encourages people to follow your Tweets or to click on your web site link and check you out.

4 – Pick a good Avatar. Your Avatar is not a large blue version of yourself, it is the small 48 x48 pixel square image that goes next to all your Tweets. Spend some time making sure that the image looks good once it is shrunk down to that small size. You also want to make sure that whatever picture you choose gives a professional impression of you and your business.

5 – Look into using some of the Twitter Tools out there. These can really make your efforts on Twitter more effective and efficient. Here are a few to check out. www.tweetdeck.com www.hootsuite.com www.twhirl.com www.tweetie.com

Make sure you follow Roofer’s Marketing on Twitter by clicking the button at the top of this page and then send a Tweet to say “Hi”. Please let us know how you have used Twitter and what has worked, or not worked, for you.

Put Together the Puzzle of Title 24 Part 6

Ready to dig into the trade-offs? Here we go.

#1 – No Ductwork in the Attic. If this is the case the home is Title 24 Part 6 compliant and they can use any roof they prefer.

This strengthens my theory that the primary function of Title 24 Part 6 as it pertains to re-roofing is to take pressure off of the electric grid in the summertime, because a cool roof will only cool the attic which will make the AC unit a bit more efficient which will take some pressure off of the grid during periods of peak usage, however if there is no AC Unit with ductwork in the attic there can be no help to the grid therefore no reason to install a cool roof.

#2 – Existing ducts in the attic are insulated and sealed according to §151(f)10.

#3 – Insulation with a thermal resistance of at least 0.85 hr ft or at least a ¾ inch air space is added to the roof deck over an attic.

#4 - Radiant Barrier OSB. Building has radiant barrier in the attic meeting the requirements of §151(f)2. This one can get roofing contractors into some trouble because of how radiant barrier is to be properly installed. When you install radiant barrier OSB on a shake tear off you are supposed to remove every piece of skip sheathing prior to installation. This is something the radiant barrier industry has not talked much about with roofing contractors and many roofing contractors I have talked to were completely taken by surprise by this. LP TechShield used to have very clear install instructions for this on their site. I am very disappointed to see that they have removed any mention of how to install over skip sheeting from their web site (as of 2-10-10). I still have a copy of the old LP TechShield install instructions that clearly show and explain that skip sheathing is to be removed and that if that is not possible you should remove every other piece and that this would reduce the effectiveness of the material by at least 30%. Now their install instructions just make reference to maintaining a ¾ inch airspace under the material (ie. Don’t install over skip sheathing).

The more I research this the more upset I am getting. All of the radiant barrier companies are showing installs on new construction and are deliberately leaving out how to properly deal with installs on roofs with skip sheathing. I really feel this is wrong and misleading.

Here is a city that has it together and there is great information on radiant barrier installation here (go to page 5): http://www.roseville.ca.us/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=16444

Here is another explanation of why it will not work when installed over skip sheathing:
http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/publications/html/FSEC-EN-15/index.htm#roll

Also you should note that when radiant barrier of any kind is used ventilation becomes extremely important. Here is a good resource:
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/radiant/rb_04.html

Another important point is that as of right now (2-10-10) it does not appear that radiant barrier will qualify for the federal tax credit. See link below for more information.
www.energystar.gov

#5 – Double the Ventilation. In climate zones 10, 12 and 13, with 1 ft2 of free ventilation area of attic ventilation for every 150 ft2 of attic floor area, and where at least 30 percent of the free ventilation area is within 2 feet vertical distance of the roof ridge.

Roof ventilation is so important and this trade off really validates the effectiveness and importance of adequate and balanced ventilation. For more information check this site out:
http://www.ohaginvent.com/whyventilate.asp

#6 – Minimum R-30 Insulation in the Attic. This is my favorite trade-off. I live in a climate zone in California that is required to comply with Title 24 Part 6. My WINTER electric bills are about 3x as high as my summertime bills. If I were to install a cool roof or one of the other trade offs, they would help me a little in the Summer but would do nothing to help me with my bills in the Winter. Who is the real winner in that? PG&E if you ask me. I want the option that will both make my home more comfortable and energy efficient all year long. Just my opinion…

How should this influence roofing marketing?  It would be good to advertise that you are well versed in the trade-offs and that you would be happy to provide a complimentary “Title 24 Part 6 Compliance Evaluation” in which  you would make your recommendation for which option is best, regardless of the roofing contractor they choose.  This is your chance to be the expert and really stand out from your competition.

Please let me know what is your favorite option for compliance with Title 24 Part 6. Have fun!

Is There Only One Way To Comply With California Title 24 Part 6?

You have just showed your customer the available cool roof products and gone over the costs. “Do I have to use them?” “I wanted a black roof.”  These will be just a few of the comments you may hear customers make followed by “I heard there are other things I can do instead of using a cool roof.”

Are you ready to talk about the options available to your customers? Does your marketing address the fact that your customers have options?  If so, you will be able to help your customers make the best decision and maybe make a little extra money along the way.

First let’s talk about some of the reasons your customers may not want to go the cool roof route.

Before I go into this I want to say up front that there will be circumstances where a cool roof will be a good option, or the only option that will work. I am also only talking about cool roof’s in a residential context, not commercial. And finally I want to mention that I am all for energy conservation and doing what is good for the environment. That said, I am not a huge fan of cool roofs. Why?

To start, they are very expensive, at least when you are talking about cool asphalt shingles. Right now roofing manufacturers must use a specially coated granule that is much more expensive than a standard granule.  As of right now most cool shingles run almost double the cost of the equivalent non-cool shingle (with the exception of some white shingles that are getting CRRC approval).

In addition to the cost there is the issue of color. Right now the available colors are limited and even though some are introducing darker versions of cool roofs many still have a washed out look to me.

The next issue I have is that I am skeptical of the ability of a cool roof to really save the homeowner money. At least enough money to make the additional expense worth the cost. According to some cool roof literature a cool roof will reduce the typical attic temperature by about ten degrees. Really, that’s it? Will that really save most people a substantial amount in the summertime? It will reduce some of the load on your AC unit on the hottest days but will reducing your attic from 150 degrees to 140 degrees really change the feel and comfort of your home? Will it really save you a substantial amount on your energy bills? What does it do for you in the winter? I know that there are some passionate discussions about this, however at this point I am not convinced. I am not addressing the “heat island effect” argument, just the individual homeowner benefit.

The last thing that I find troubling about cool roofs is addressed here: www.roofcalc.com/RoofCalcFAQ.aspx#8 Look at the answers to the questions “Will installing an ENERGY STAR-compliant roof product save me money no matter where I live?” and “Can I expect the same level of savings over the entire lifetime of my roof?” You may find the answers surprising.

The good news is there are six allowed trade-offs that may work for your customer instead of using a cool roof. In part 3 I will go into detail on each of the available trade-offs.

In the meantime please let me know your thoughts about cool roofs.

Are You Ready For California Title 24 Part 6?

If you do not do business in California, congratulations. However, it may not be long before your state adopts similar regulations so don’t gloat in your good fortune for too long. What changed in California and how does it affect Roofing Contractors there? How can roofing contractors incorporate these changes into their marketing and make the best of the new regulations for their business and their customers?

What is California Title 24 Part 6? It is the Energy Efficiency portion of California Building Code. Enacted in the late 1970′s this portion of the building code has done much to reduce per person energy usage in California.

What changed in 2009? Title 24 Part 6 changed to include the requirement that all residential re-roofs in climate zones 11-15 (California was broken up into 16 climate zones) would be required to use CRRC (Cool Roof Rating Council) rated Cool-Roof shingles or one of six alternatives.

What makes a Cool shingle Cool? In terms of Asphalt shingles, which are the most common re-roof material, a shingle must have increased reflectivity and emissivity. In other words it cannot absorb as much heat, and it must release stored heat quicker than an ordinary asphalt shingle.

Sounds great, what’s the problem? The problem is that Cool shingles are quite expensive (most are close to double the cost of a 30 yr. laminate) and offer a very limited range of colors and styles. As a result many homeowners are shocked at the additional cost of a re-roof now that most areas are enforcing the new regulations. This has been a real concern for many roofing contractors who are already struggling with the loss of business due to the economy and lack of easy financing for new roofs.

If you are a roofing contractor in California how can you adapt your marketing to include these new requirements? These changes are a real opportunity for roofing contractors to differentiate themselves from their competition by taking the time to learn about them, being able to explain them, and to help your customers make the best decision about which option to choose to comply.

One of the first things I would recommend would be to add an “Understanding Title 24 Part 6 and Cool Roofs” section to my web site. Customers will be looking to you to provide information about this. Those that don’t, won’t, or can’t, will be left behind. You will need to make sure that you can clearly explain the allowable trade-offs and why you are recommending the solution that you are.

I would also encourage you to immediately add an offer for a free “Title 24 Compliance Consultation” to all of your advertising. I would try to create a need in the mind of prospects that they should be educated on all of their options before choosing a roofing contractor and that if they are talking to a contractor that does not educate them well on all of their options they should call you before making any decisions. “YOU HAVE OPTIONS” would be the theme of my marketing.

In Part 2 we will discuss what the six available trade-offs are and how you can help your customers pick the best one for their situation.

Good Marketing Can Overcome Customer Concerns

I travel a lot for work and occasionally I eat alone.  The other night while eating by myself I wondered how the family at the next table would react if I asked to sit down with them and join in their meal.  After chuckling to myself as I considered the consequences it dawned on me that most of the time a roofing contractor is just as much an unknown stranger to the homeowner as I am to the family at the next table.

So what?  Sometimes as roofing contractors, or roofing salespersons, you can get so comfortable going into total strangers homes that you can forget how unusual and uncomfortable it can be for the homeowner. This is especially true if the homeowner has not previously been exposed to you or your company.  Imagine all the thoughts going through their mind as you pull up.

“Will he (or she) be honest?” “Will he try to rip me off or will he give me a fair deal?” “Can I trust the recommendations he makes?” “Should I even let him into my home?”

How can your marketing help put the homeowner at ease before you arrive?  How can your marketing connect you with your customer?

First, we must give marketing a broad definition.  It includes a lot more than your yellow page ad.  Have you ever had a customer tell you that they see your trucks all over town, even though you only have one truck?  That is the power of marketing with vehicle lettering.  In a small service area this can be a very powerful tool to get potential customers comfortable and familiar with your company.  Yard signs can also be very effective at accomplishing this in your target neighborhood.  You are no longer a complete stranger because, if their neighbor trusted you, you must be o.k.

Second, your marketing can soothe customer concerns by featuring testimonials.  You can tell your potential customers how great and honest you are, but it really means nothing when it comes from you.  However, if someone likes you enough to give you a testimonial, it can go a long way to building trust.  What is the best form of testimonial?  A video testimonial with your customer singing your praises is far and away the best and most powerful testimonial that you can provide.  Outside of that, a testimonial with a picture of the people and their names (not initials) can be effective, though not nearly as effective as a video testimonial.

Finally, look at places where you can incorporate a list of Frequently Asked Questions (or something similar) that address common questions and concerns that your potential customers may have.  This can show your prospect that you recognize, and have thought through, their concerns.  Combine this with a testimonial of a customer describing how you overcame their concerns and you are miles ahead of your competition.

If you use your marketing as a tool to connect with your prospects, before you ever meet them, it can make a big difference in the way they feel when you arrive to give them an estimate or sales presentation.  Be a welcome and trusted adviser, instead of an unknown stranger.

Why Do They Buy?

Does this quote apply to the roofing business?  If so, how?

You don’t buy coal, you buy heat;
You don’t buy circus tickets, you buy thrills;
You don’t buy a paper, you buy news;
You don’t buy glasses, you buy vision.

- ANONYMOUS

You don’t buy a roof, you buy _______ . If you ask me, no one lays around daydreaming about buying a new roof.  So, when your customers sign the contract why are they really buying?  There can be many reasons, understanding those reasons can help make your marketing more effective, and your sales easier to close.  Let’s look at some of the common, and very different reasons your customers not only buy a new roof, but choose you to do it for them.

The most obvious reason to buy a roof is out of necessity.  So, we could say “You don’t buy a roof, you buy protection.”  A roof protects our family, our valuables, our health, our investment, etc.  During this difficult economy this seems to be the primary motivator for the re-roof market.  If that is the case in your market look for ways to incorporate this into your marketing.  Look for ways to stress that this expense is small in comparison to the value of what it protects.

Another motivator for purchasing a roof is to fit in (or stand out).  This was a big motivator over the past couple of years.  When everyone was refinancing and fixing up their homes it created an environment where a new roof was just part of keeping up with the Joneses.  If you have neighborhoods still experiencing this phenomenon then your marketing should focus on ways to stand out from crowd with new and interesting roofing products.  So in this case we could say “You don’t buy a roof, you buy status.”

Often the decision to buy a new roof is a mixture of the two.  The “desire” to attain greater status in the neighborhood is rationalized by the “need” for a new roof.  This can be your toughest sell as usually the need is not as pressing and a new roof could wait, but the desire is there.  In this case your marketing has to appeal to the desire first, but be backed up with sufficient facts so that the buyer can convince themselves of the need.

These are just two basic reasons someone may purchase a new roof.  Take some time to analyze what drives the buying decisions for the majority of your customers and make sure that your marketing is appealing to the right source of motivation.

In addition to the reasons someone is buying a new roof it is important also to analyze why they are choosing you as their roofing contractor.  What needs are you filling?  You may be a high end contractor and choosing you could be a status symbol in itself.  You may be a value oriented contractor satisfying the customers need for a good deal.  You may be known as an exceptionally honest contractor and you fill the customers need for protection (from shady contractors).  It is important to identify the reasons customers choose you and incorporate those into your marketing as well.

If you can successfully answer the question “What are my customers really buying?” and incorporate that into your marketing, your customer will already feel drawn to you and your company before you make a sales call, and this can lead to a much more productive and profitable 2010.

What Did You Say?

I heard an ad on the radio the other day that nearly made me choke on my coffee.  After I regained control of my car I had to think of how few ads catch my attention like this one did.  Then it made me wonder if roofing contractors would ever be willing to use such a provocative method.

When I say provocative I don’t mean in the sexy sense, I am using the definition “likely to bring a strong reaction.”  I can’t tell you the number of times roofing contractors have told me that they will never say anything about the competition or other brands.  They tell me that customers don’t like that.  On some levels I agree, however I don’t know that it is totally true.

So, what was the ad that caught my attention?  Before I tell you the ad I will say that it dealt with a problem that many roofing contractors face – low quality, cheap competitors.  The ad was for the Shane Company (you know, your friend in the diamond business).  The first sentence was spoken by their deadpan spokesperson.  He said something to the effect of:

‘Our competitors diamonds are so cheap that they look like a chunk of frozen spit.’

That is the line that had me swerving down the freeway.  Then he went on to really add the pain by saying that if you were to buy such a cheap, cloudy, milky diamond you and the loved one you gave it too would never really be happy with it.

I love that ad.  You may start thinking that customers don’t really like that.  After some research I have to disagree.  Let’s look at some of the most successful companies and whether or not they use this strategy.  Here are a few:

Apple vs. PC  -  Whopper vs. Big Mac

Verizon vs. AT&T  -  Ford vs. Chevy

I could go on.  These companies call out the competition and people love it and respond to it.  This gives them the chance to identify with the company they prefer and helps them to really buy into it.

Would this work for Roofing Contractor Marketing? If done properly.  The Shane Company ad did not specifically mention any competitor.  What it did do was point out an easily identifiable difference between their product and the competitors (in a humorous way).  It also explained how the customer would likely feel after they purchased the inferior product and reminded them that they can easily avoid that pain and embarrassment by shopping with them.

These are principles that could easily be incorporated into a roofing companies marketing materials. Take some time to identify points of difference between you and your competitors and then don’t be afraid to talk about and advertise those points.  But what if my competitor just copies me?  That is o.k.,  in my next post I will talk about a little utilized marketing fact “If you say it first. you own it.”  It never sounds as good to a customer to hear “Oh yeah…, we do that too.”  So, go ahead, be provocative, your future customers may just like it, even if your competitors don’t!

We all know that the internet is where the vast majority of new customers are starting their search for a roofing contractor.  As a result many contractors spend a lot of money on their websites only to find that they do not show up in the search engines (most notably Google) for their area.  This can be very frustrating and I devoted December’s newsletter to discussing ways you can improve your web sites ranking in the search engines.

However I just came across a method that can almost instantly put your business near the top of the search engine rankings for your local area and I think it is something every roofing contractor should incorporate into their marketing.  The best part it is free and takes almost no time at all.

I will let this video from Google do the explaining

Don’t wait to do this.  Click Here to go to the Google Local Business Center and get your business signed up and listed right away!

Anytime roofing contractors can find FREE ways to promote and market their business, especially with a quality source like Google, it is a real win.  Please let me know how this works for you.  Leave a comment below.

How Can Roofers Make Home Show Marketing More Fun?

This past weekend my wife and I and some friends went to a local ski expo.  When we arrived and saw the place we thought we would be in and out in an hour.  Four hours later we were leaving with smiles on our faces.  What made it a great experience and how can roofing contractors make their home shows more productive and fun?

I have been to many home shows, worked a number of them and helped roofing contractors prepare for them.  However, I have never been to a home show that was nearly as much fun as the recent ski show I went to.  Now you are probably thinking “of course a ski show is going to be more fun than a home show.”  Why?  Are skiers more passionate about their hobby than homeowners?  No, I don’t think so.  People are just as passionate about their homes, and they spend a lot more money on them than they do on skiing.  However, we in the industry tend to think that having fun is not part of the sales equation.  I think when it comes to home shows we should try to make it more exiting and entertaining for the homeowner.  How?

Here are some of the things vendors were doing to attract attention and have a little fun.

1 – One vendor had a Plinko game going (you know, like the “Price is Right”)  Fill out an info card and get a try to win prizes ranging from nothing to a cheap keychain to a free lift ticket.

2 - Another had a snow chain installing contest where the fastest installer won a free lift ticket.  I am proud to say I won a free lift ticket!

3 - One creative and inexpensive game was a beer pong set up with small prizes like chap-stick or soda can insulators for getting the ball in the cup.

4 - One company had a “horse race” where each person got a number on a horse and they had a kid from the group roll dice and move the horse forward one slot each time the number was rolled.  My wife was excited to “win” a $20.00 off coupon.

5 - Many vendors had drawings for prizes if you signed up.

When I have worked home shows in the past I hated how people would come by and just look for the freebie to take without even talking to me.  These vendors had games that engaged the customer and we spent a lot of time talking and listening when we probably would not have otherwise.

We also found that winning a chap-stick was a lot more fun and satisfying than just picking it up off the table.  So, how can roofing contractors incorporate this into their marketing efforts at home shows?  Try to incorporate something fun, a golf putting contest for a free roof inspection, or that key chain or coffee mug that you were going to give away anyway.  Something to get the customers to stop and talk instead of snatch and run.  I’ll bet you’ll be the hit at the next home show if you are the only roofing contractor marketing himself in a fun and unique way.  Give it a try, you and your future customers will like it!