Residential Metal Roofing Executive Report

Success Comes With Commitment

Issue #98 | April 13, 2018 | Todd Miller

In this issue of the Executive Report, we will continue our series on “What Does It Take To Be Successful?” Throughout 2018, this series will take a look at core attributes of successful home improvement contractors and, in particular, successful residential metal roofing contractors. In this issue, we will look at the attribute of “Commitment.”

As a quick reminder, though, Isaiah Industries’ Mid-Year Training event is coming up very soon – May 7 – 9 in Piqua, Ohio. If you would like to learn specifically how contractors successfully sell quality residential metal roofing, or if you’d like that training for your salespeople, this is the event to attend. We will spend the first two days in fast-paced training on in-home sales including building relationship, needs analysis, solution presentation, features and benefits, and closing. We will spend a lot of time, too, on training salespeople to sell themselves as we believe that is the most important thing they have to sell. The third day is an optional installation overview. Free online registration is available now. I’d love to see you that week.

So, let’s look at this idea of Commitment and how it impacts the home improvement contractor. There are lots of “handyman” and “we do it all” remodeling contractors who make their services available to homeowners. And, sometimes the services and products they offer are appropriate for the job at hand. No one would be better at running a new dryer vent, replacing a pane of broken glass, painting doors and trim, home decorating items, or perhaps making some minor interior modifications. However, when a homeowner opts for a major home project (such as roofing, siding, windows, or structural enhancements) or perhaps when they want something unique installed in or done to their home, they don’t need a “generalist” – they need a “specialist” – someone fully “Committed” to the particular trade or skill that they need done.

This is where things like training come into play for the specialty contractor. They need to take advantage of any and all training available for their specialties, and they need to include evidence and description of that training during the sales process. This is where they show things like photos and certificates – proof that they are committed enough to what they do to go get the appropriate training. This helps dramatically in building value to the homeowner and in selling your company as the proven, experienced, and trained expert that they need when it comes to having specialty things done to their home.

This concept of Commitment comes through in one other way as well. The successful residential metal roofing (or any other home improvement specialty) contractor is Committed to the product they sell. For example, if a metal roofing contractor begins offering asphalt shingles every time they run into a price objection from a customer, it goes without saying that they will never sell a metal roof. Price objections almost always come up in the sales process. No one invites you to their home and just immediately starts carrying bags of gold coins out of their bedroom and dropping them at your feet, do they?

The contractor who truly believes that metal is the best option for their customer will not drop to an inferior product just upon a price objection or two. If you’re Committed to the product you sell, and convinced it is the best option for that home, you would be doing a HUGE DISSERVICE to that homeowner if you instead sell them something inferior! Remember – when you’re selling, you are selling to benefit the customer, not to benefit yourself! The salesperson’s world changes when they live into this fact.

Look at it this way – if you showed the required Commitment to a particular product to get the training and education necessary to promote, sell, and install that product – you also need to have the Commitment to follow through with the sales process when your product really is in the best interest of the prospect.

Residential metal roofing, like so many other home improvement trades, is a “specialty.” In order to be successful, you must be Committed to learning your craft as best as you possibly can, and then presenting your product to your customers in a way that demonstrates exactly how Committed you are to a better future for them and for their home.

As always, good luck out there. Please contact me whenever I can be of service. And I sincerely hope to see you at our Mid-Year Training where we cover so many things for the benefit of your company.

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