Roofing Podcast: Hook Better Leads

Contractors say they want more business - but you and I both know LEADS are slipping through the cracks- Contractors are not working leads well, they’re sloppy- There isn’t clarity on who’s working what, or the last touch.So how to remedy it? Ben Hodson, the CEO of Job Nimbus and I chat about how to ensure each lead you've worked hard to get – is taken care of, systematically. https://jobnimbus.com

Should you join a mastermind? Getting around like minded people can be a major accelerant to any business, but how do you sort through the good and bad groups? What's best for you? I chat with Hunter Ballew of Roofing.com and RepCard about leadership, and how to understand the pro's and con's of niched groups and Roofing focused groups.

Chad Diller of https://www.landscapeleadership.com/ Chats with me about why most Referral Programs fail, and what to do to fix it. Extremely detailed, killer consulting, all in a half hour listen! Do yourself a favor, finish the whole thing and take lots of notes!

I see one thing that ties many of the roofing companies that get over 5-10M together, and that's a Roofing Business Integrator! An Integrator is a detail-oriented operations person, we talk through how to find one, how integrators and visionaries can get along, and why this may be the missing ingredient to your next level growth! Hardline's Site: https://hardlinesc.com/

How does lead generation compare to marketing your brand / building a brand for roofing companies. We talk about what works, and how to think of your marketing efforts. From the perspective of two very experienced roofing marketers.https://hitedigital.com/bradley

We sat down with Karine Woodman, the brilliant entrepreneur behind 24 Hr Bookkeeper (just for contractors) and asked her about how to fix issues with cashflow in roofing businesses. She didn't hold back. https://24hrbookkeeper.com/

Joseph Hughes of contractordynamics.com talks us through the common mistakes he sees people making with Facebook ads, and how to remedy them:An intelligent marketing manager at a contracting company in California asked me that today on a Zoom call.Figured I’d be generous and share with you too #1) Low Lead Quality - this is solved by doing a few things: creating content that positions your company the way you want your market to perceive you, distributing content to make people aware of your brand, build value before asking for someone’s information, crafting messaging that turns the right people on and the wrong people off.#2) Lack of Conversion - aka not being able to get in touch with leads and set appointments. This is solved by having an automated lead-handling & follow up system, and also by manually following up with all leads immediately and frequently.#3) Not Understanding The Data - marketing is testing. You need to be able to read the data and make decisions about it. If not, you’re just throwing darts and hoping something sticks; it’s complete guesswork.Whether you’ve run FB Ads yourself or have hired someone else to do it for you, if they didn’t work (or they’re not currently working), it’s very likely due to a combination of the reasons I’ve listed above.Fortunately, they’re all solvable. Every problem has a solution. And you’re not the first one to try to solve this problem. The good news is that many, many people have already solved these problems. All you need to do is tap into the solutions, and the sky's the limit.

How can we fix the relationship between marketers AND contractors? It feels broken sometimes, particularly when you look at the angst from contractors in Facebook groups. We share what we think might be going on, a Better Way.Roofer Marketers Website: https://roofermarketers.com/Questions:How do you have Appropriate Expectations with a marketing or Lead Generation company?What’s the Marketers fault? What’s the sales process’s fault?What’s the difference between Pay-Per-Click, and Pay-Per Lead?Speed to Lead - Touch Points - Great Salesmanship?How Can We Have a Better Relationship?

John Dye is a Supplementing King, and runs The American Contractor Show, and has been inside hundreds of contracting businesses learning about what works and what doesn't, we chatted about self-respect and authenticity as well as what creates success, and the meaning of success.Check out their website & show! https://www.americancontractorshow.com/Some of the questions I asked:You’re regularly inside a lot of companies - What’s the difference between a successful company? And one that’s not?What do you see as the difference with the companies that are really set up to grow?Why is Self-respect, Self-worth, In Contracting?Why is Authenticity important in your marketing?Is it bad to be SATISFIED? And Challenging yourself at odds?What do you need to do get to the next level (if they were ‘stuck’ at 5M for instance?How do you LOVE what you’re doing? How to you cultivate PURPOSE in a contracting business?

I sat down with David Taggart, none other than The Roof Papi, of A5 Roofing, and talked to him about his new venture (and the hardest parts about starting a roofing company.) Here are some of the questions I asked:What are the 3 Hardest parts of starting a roofing company? 1. How do you pay yourself, and how much do you pay yourself?2. How to market to people in the wintertime / or other off seasons3. Work / life balance - you can’t keep everyone happy… What are the most important decisions?What are some basic business set up things you didn’t think about previous to doing it?How do you start a roofing company?Who should do it? // Who should not?

The weather tracking of the past is long gone. Derik Kline shares the secrets of the future for finding hail hits, and avoiding non-value added work.The Timeline + Outline of some of our discussion:- Pre-1995 Leaks- 95-2007 - Noah, Storm Prediction center- 2008- Hail Map (Max Hail size)- 2013 - Dual Pole Radar, Competitors are software companies, no weather companies- What is it now?- What’s next? - 15 roofs that hail damage. Weather technology next. Avoiding non-value added work.Hailtrace's site: https://hailtrace.comOur site: https://hookagency.com

Some of our notes from the episode:This might feel like a ‘soft’ topic…You might think this doesn’t effect your bottom line.Having a positive mindset will effect every thing you do for positive What is the real cost of a Negative mindset ?How can you have a positive mindset while leading a roofing company?When something real + negative happens in your personal life- how do you avoid that bleeding in?- Exercise w/ best friend at 630 - Work is work - separate them. Work is not my life.How can SUCCESS confuse some people about over-identifying with their business / identity. How can you help others on your team have a positive mindset?How do you stop jumping in all the time?- Not giving people answersWhy is letting people fail important to you?How do you make sure people can bring mistakes to you?- Therapy - Allowing people to fail- Pain has to occurCheck out Mars website: https://mars-roofing.com/Our website: https://hookagency.com

Mistake #1 - Not having a compelling vision to get excited about.Mistake #2 - Owner not having been trained in sales themselves. (You have more authority to stand on - be respected) Mistake #3 - Putting your best salesperson as the sales managerMistake #4 - To grow you need to hire more sales people - (sales support) Mistake #5 - Not knowing your numbers (your closing ratio, your pipeline, your selling cycle) Mistake #6 - Not having a strong culture of prospecting. Mistake #7 - Thinking that you don’t need accountability. Check out Sales Transformation Group https://www.salestransformationgroup.com/Hook Agency https://hookagency.com

We want to make it easy and just state: The Ideal Marketing Budget is 20% for Google Ads, 20% for SEO, 20% for Angi Leads, Thumbtack or Other Lead Aggregators – and the rest for marketing manager, print materials, video marketing and other miscellaneous efforts. But REALLY - you should assess what has worked for you in the past, and how could you double down on that. We talk about these things in detail in this video with Josh Swisher.

Not everyone is meant to be a marketing manager, and it takes a certain unique set of skills. Greg Cadwallader from Secured Roofing and Restoration in Florida talks about key efforts, what to look for, and what to do with your time if you are a marketing manager or assistant for a roofing company to level-up the company.

Love Angi Leads? Sound off in the comments! Had a bad experience? Share that in the comments. Besides $35-$85 bucks a lead, for leads that also went out to 3 other companies that you have to compete with – the real cost of Angi Leads is that it can drive your prices down and your customer service may suffer?

I talk to Dallas Werner of First American Roofing who breaks down the pro's and con's to different Roofing Sales Comp Plans:10/50/50 split OR… 10% of the total collectedA Better Alternative? This is his preference which he explains in detail:% Of the profits - Based on the margin amount (40% margin not mark-up, after we take out an overhead percentage.) Once its taken out… sales rep get 40% of that profit. First American Roofing's website: https://firstamericanroofing.com/Our Website: https://hookagency.com

Did you know that 91% of people say that will send a referral… and only 11% of people only ask for a referral!Drive more leads with a platform that allows you to incentivize them easily for contractors – https://www.getthereferral.com/

Jim Johnson of Contractor Coach Pro talks about 5 keys you need to master before high-performers will want to work for you. Some of them are very challenging. For more – chat with CCP: https://contractorcoachpro.com/

Digging into the questions about how to do this! Great interview.Grow your roofing business with a system that has been proven to generate higher closing ratios and increased profit margins: https://www.restorationreferralsystem.com

In this episode Tim connects with Blake Suttle from TotalScope to talk about how to make your roofing company more profitable.Check out what Blake and his team are doing: https://totalscope.com/https://hookagency.com/

In this episode Tim connects with Katelynn Strawmatt from Paperboy Marketing to talk about the 10 elements of an effective flyer.Check out what Katelynn and her team are doing: https://www.sumoquote.com/https://hookagency.com/

We sat down with the legendary Dustan Biegler of Apple Roofing to discuss some of the biggest bottlenecks roofing companies find themselves in, and how to navigate them.

In this episode we talk with Tommy Mello about using all of the tools at hand to find the best employees out there.

In this episode Tim connects with Ryan Shantz of SumoQuote to talk about how to get higher-ticket remodeling jobs.

In this episode Tim connects with Jeff Wraley of Groundwork to talk about how to qualify leads sooner while reducing the time wasted chasing bad leads.

In this episode Tim connects with Shawn Hill of NiceJob to talk about using the voices of your customers to refine how you are projecting yourself and your brand.

In this episode Tim connects with Nick Peret of Summa Media to talk about the impact that technology can make on your business, regardless of the size of your business.

In this episode, Tim connects with Thaddeus Tondu of HVAC Unleashed Marketing to talk through some basic strategies for making the most of your summer season.We go over good leads vs. bad leads and talk about diversifying your product listing.

In this episode we talk with Jeffrey Mosler of Nexa about handling staffing and understanding how the contrast of highs and lows in the busy seasons can play a huge part in deciding what help to implement into your business.

In this episode Tim talks with Patrick Kiessling and Lyle Blanchard of RedboxPlus, a rolloff dumpster company out of Minneapolis MN, about how their company tackles the subject of solid etiquette and catering to their customers as well as the customers of their customers.Check out the services of RedboxPlus here:https://redboxplus.com/https://hookagency.com

Tim connects with Dave Carroll of DOPE Marketing to talk about the importance and effectiveness of direct mail marketing and what methods and technologies are available to take advantage of.

Tim chats with Garrett and Marlena Williams, the brother / sister duo that runs G&M Outdoor Services, about their experience and success with HomeAdvisor.

Tim talks with Ashlei Rolloff of SVL Inc. and the Nerd Herd about some of the biggest marketing mistakes that are commonly made in the HVAC world.

Tim connects with Tom Reber from The Contractor Fight to talk about staying consistently profitable as a contractor.

Tim talks with Adam Bensman of Roof Strategist about the strategies and processes behind successful roofing sales and doorknocking.

Tim talks with Dave Sullivan from The Roofer Show about starting your business with a clear destination in focus. Also, the importance of knowing the numbers that it's going to take to make your business a success.

What happens when your storm damage roofing business runs out of storms to chase? This idea is a great starting point for storm damage roofing businesses to jump from when looking to grow beyond their current boundaries.

One of the biggest problems that electricians face in their marketing is getting themselves out on video! In this episode we talk about some of the strategies that can be used to break through those struggles and make video start working for you!

Tim talks with Todd Dawalt about charging customers for estimates and other smart decisions that will get your business better leads.

Tim chats with Doug and Michelle Myers of Pink Callers about the Shin-Fu method and being able to establish a good pathway into recognizing the difference between cold, warm and hot leads.Also, they talk about the stages that businesses go through and overcoming the "bottlenecks" that those stages can bring.

Tim chats with Jason Paris of Paris Painting about Traction, the EOS aimed to help entrepreneurs succeed.

Tim talks with Armando Jacox, Jr. about the biggest changes that needed to be made when shifting from heavy canvassing to a more digital approach when reaching out for leads.

Tim connects with Rob Ambrosetti to talk about educating sales and shifting a mindset of "pushing something that nobody needs" to a mindset that is closer to "offering something that anyone could benefit from".

Tim and guest, Lord Joshua Robert Bigger aka Best Damn Roofer, talk about building an audience using the assets of humor and stunts. They also cover the use of reactions and how they have dealt with haters.

Tim talks with Tanner Mullen about creating a better experience for the homeowners as well as "scaling the unscalable" and passing on the craft to the next generation in the craft.

Tim talks with Griffin Roer of Uproer, a performance-driven SEO & SEM agency, about using "wildcard content" to make big leaps in the world of SEO and ranking on Google.

Tim talks with Eric Anderton of Construction Genius about the next generation stepping into the construction industry and the struggles with finding solid employees that have the skill, will and are a cultural fit.

Torlando Hakes of Periodic (torlando.periodic.com) shares steps you can take to stop losing leads after you did all the work to get them! Periodic is a *more advanced* meeting appointment setter – with pro options. Check them out!

Patrick Shelton of Minneapolis' 'Current Resident' joins us https://currentresident.tv/ - Current Resident is a video production team that works with a lot of agencies in town, shares why video ads perform video, and a ton of video marketing statistics including:“By 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic — 15 times higher than it was in 2017.” – Cisco74% of #B2B marketers say video converts better than any other type of content.In the past year, the number of advertisers using video in direct-response campaigns across our platforms increased 3.8XThere are 432,000 hours of video uploaded to YouTube daily. Daily! “59 percent of business professionals feel they can give a piece of content their undivided attention more so today than they could just one year ago. 49 percent of respondents said they are more selective about the content they consume to one year ago.”From Facebook: Shopback used the Create to Convert method and saw a 5.5X better conversion rate and a 5.7X lower cost per registration from its video ads compared to using still ads alone. And on average, brands using both still ads and video ads saw a 17% higher rate of conversions compared to brands using only still ads.From Adspresso: According to this poll, almost 69% of marketers say video ads outperform image and plain text ads on Facebook, while the best medium for finding a new product is videos, according to almost a third of shippers.In one example, the agency ClearPivot sees 20% to 30% higher conversion rates with video on Facebook ads. Plus, 22% of people say they use video to gather info on brands.The first three seconds of a video ad delivers 47% of its value for your brand. In the first 10 seconds, your brand gets 74% of the ad’s value. Make sure you make the most of these critical first few seconds.