BEFORE You Talk Price, Do This and Close More Sales

If you're selling retail roofs, price conditioning is wildly important. This is warming up that customer so they don't get sticker shock and absolutely freak out by the time you reveal your estimate and the various investment options that you're offering, whether that's financing options or a cash discount. And we know that if you're watching this channel, you're likely not going to be the cheapest roofer out there. Why? Because those, as they're known as quote unquote chuck in a truck, often aren't super skilled when it comes to sales. And they're often the ones that are putting together those estimates. You know, the ones you've seen remove and replace roof x dollar amount. And that's pretty much it. And they do this because they know. And by the way, if you disagree with the statement, I invite you to challenge me in the comment section below. This is my experience. The companies that will write what I'll call loosey goose estimates, remove, replace roof x dollars. That's it. They do so for one reason, to dupe homeowners. Because to the average homeowner, shingles off shingles on new roofs on there. Right. Well that's not the whole truth now is it? I'll be talking about that more in this video. Quick welcome or welcome back. Adam Bensman here, the roof strategist and everything I do here on my YouTube channel, my podcast and in my all in one sales training and sales system that's currently being used by many thousands of people. We're being used in every state in the us, Canada, Australia, now Sweden as well for both retail sales, which is what we're talking about today, as well as storm damage sales. All of that is united around one simple mission. You remember what it is if you've watched more than one of my videos to help you and your team smash your income goal and give every customer an amazing experience. So if that excites you, hit the subscribe button so you don't miss an upload and hit that thumbs up button to tell me, hey, you're jiving on it and I appreciate you being here. Welcome. Now let's get back to this whole price conditioning concept and the idea of these estimates that are remove, replace roof with a dollar amount. Now first let's lay some groundwork. I want to talk with you like a friend. If you're out competing against another roofing company and you're looking at other estimates, would you agree with this statement? Most homeowners think roofing is a commodity. Roof off, shingles come off Shingles, Come on, I have a new roof. Would you agree that's a fair statement? Yeah, I think so. Most homeowners don't really know the wiser. They just say, shingles off shingles on new roof. Now, the reality is, you and I both know that's not the case. Not all estimates are created equally. We also know. And again, feel free to disagree with me and drop a comment in the comment section below. Most homeowners, they are shopping based on this factor where they're going to look at some estimates, they're going to scroll down and look at the total amount in their mind, what's it cost? Right? Then they're going to say, okay, they're going to factor in the price. They're going to scrub out, usually the far cheapest and the most expensive, and they're going to try to find the company that made them feel good, that they like, that they trust, and they feel good about and feel good about working with. So it's kind of this matrix of all I really care about as a homeowner is the price, that it feels fair, that I'm not being taken advantage of, that I'm not being scammed, that it's a company that I like and trust, who's going to do good work and stand behind it at a price that seems fair to me. Would you guys agree? So if we know that homeowners are making decisions based on this criteria, why aren't we selling to them and presenting this information in a way that speaks to exactly what they're doing? Well, that's what we're going to be doing right now. Well, let me take that back. We're going to be doing that in just a minute because I have one more thing that's really important to share, and that is, I believe, and I'm inviting you to challenge me on this one as well in the comment section below. I believe that roofing companies that provide what I call those loosey goose estimates are doing so for one purpose, and that is to do homeowners. Because someone who says remove, replace roof, this amount comes in lower. Why? Because there's zero accountability. No one knows what type of underlayment, what type of valley installation, what type of ridge caps being used, what type of pipe jacks are being used, whether they're removing and replacing roof to wall flashing, step to wall flashing, whether they're replacing drip edge and rake edge. I know we've seen it replaced before, whether they're giving homeowners a choice of color. All that is an on the fly decision. So a roofer can come in with the lowest price, get up there, get the cheapest products that are hiding underneath the roof, and then make on the fly decisions about what to reuse. Which means a homeowner with could be left if they have a 20 year old roof, they could be left with a brand new roof that has 20 year old components, drip edge, rake edge or flashing that now has new shingles slapped on top, saying you're good for 30 years or however many years in your market. I know they're all different based on sun, weather, yada yada, hail, hurricanes, all that stuff. The point is, I don't believe it's ethical to put on a brand new roof and reuse components that are already 20 years old. That's just not fair. Yet people do it. And this is the most common practice to dupe homeowners. Now, I understand that homeowners often have their guard up, they're defensive because your logo reads the same way to everybody else. It reads this, I sell roofs. Every single roofing logo reads the same way to a homeowner. I sell roofs. That's what's happening right now. When that homeowner is hearing you try to quote, unquote, sell the value, they're like, you just want more money from me. So we need to break down all of this when it comes to price conditioning, to prime the customer to know what to expect. And here, my friend, is how we do it. What I like to do is before I present anything at all, before when I go through my estimate, I'm going to open up with Mr. Homeowner. I just want you to know you can and you should choose anyone that you like and that you trust to do your roof. Which by the way, is matter of fact truth. And then I say, and here's why, and at this very moment is where I condition that customer while strengthening trust for me, putting distrust against others who are using, in my opinion, slimy tactics and conditioning that homeowner to understand what they should be looking for in an estimate so they can in fact make a decision that aligns with how they already want to make a decision, which is looking at the investment options paired with the kind of contractor finding the best combination of both so they can choose them as the roofer of choice. We do this by telling homeowners what they are thinking. I'm going to repeat this because it's really important. We're going to do this by telling homeowners exactly what they're thinking like this. I'm going to shift into role play mode. Okay, Mr. Homeowner. Hey, listen, before I share with you how we can help, I just want to explain one thing first, and that is you can and you should choose anyone that you like and that you trust to do your roof. Because I'm going to guess as a savvy homeowner like yourself, collecting numerous estimates, you're doing what most people would. You're going to meet with various contractors. You don't really trust anybody quite yet because you've seen the news. You've heard of the scams, you've heard of the gimmicks. You've heard of people going to jail. You've heard horror stories of homeowners being taken advantage of. So you're going to collect those estimates. You're going to look at one thing, which is the dollar amount on that estimate, and you're going to pair that dollar amount with some contractors as you meet with them to say, I like them, I think they're going to do a good work, the reputation strong, they'll stand behind it. So. So I know that I'm getting a roof at a fair value done by a company I can trust who's actually going to stand behind the work without becoming another victim that's going to show up on the news. Is that a fair statement, Mr. Homeowner? Do you see what I just did there? I explained to them what they're thinking and what they're already doing, which is probably what you and I would do, too, if we were to get an estimate, let's say, for new concrete on our driveway. Right? Imagine the estimate comes into your inbox in an email. You open it up, you scroll to the bottom, you skip the COVID page, you just look at the dollar amount, and then you're like, this guy can do it for this amount. This guy can do it for this amount. This guy can do it for this amount. This one's too expensive. Throw it out between these two guys. I liked him better. He's the winner. That's what we do. So when I open up by stating this to a customer, I build a tremendous amount of trust. I join the conversation that's already going in their mind, going on in their mind. And I build this big wall between me and other contractors. Okay? Now I take this now one step further. So, Mr. Homeowner, back into role play mode. I'm glad to see that you're doing your homework. And my mission and purpose here in the house is to help one understand the problem with your Roof. Two, communicate how we might be able to help. And three, let you see and decide for yourself whether we are in fact the right company to earn your business, do a great job on your roof, and stand behind it. Now, once I lay that groundwork explaining what they're doing, setting my mission and purpose, I can now work on a little bit deeper price conditioning. Now, Mr. Homeowner, I want to let you in on a little secret. That secret is how many roofers dupe homeowners, I really like to use that word. And the way they do this is they provide what we call these loosey goose estimates that are not itemized whatsoever because they know that that's what you're thinking. Remember what I shared with you right at the beginning, how you might make your decision? So roofers that write these loosey goose estimates are preying upon the fact that many homeowners believe that roofing's a commodity. Shingles off, shingles on, we got a new roof. They believe that homeowners think that all estimates are in fact, apples to apples, because why wouldn't they be right? Remove a roof, replace a roof, they're the same. A roof's a roof's a roof. But unfortunately, Mr. Homeowner, it doesn't actually work like that in the real world. See, many homeowners think estimates are apples to apples, but they're really more like apples and bananas. And in some cases, extreme is apples versus french fries. And I'll explain a little further. See, when we write our estimates and when you review ours, we likely will not be the cheapest contractor out there. And the reason for that is we list out exactly what we will do step by step with every single component and installation practice on your roof to comply not only with local building code, but with our manufacturer's recommendations. What this ensures is that you get a roof that is done properly to the first time, that's going to protect you and your family and allow us to stand behind that product and behind our installation for the X years of our labor warranty. Now, unfortunately, these roofers that give you these loosey goose estimates, they're preying on how you're going to make that decision. They say we'll come in a little cheaper. But then once they earn that business, they're looking around saying, great, now we got to find that way to make up some money. And what they end up doing, because that estimate is not itemized, this allows them legally to make on the fly decisions about what they're going to reuse, what they're going to replace the quality of products they're going to use and how they're going to do that install. Would you agree? My friends, that's what happens. You don't know what's being reused. Drip edge, rake edge, roof to wall flashing. You don't know what grade of ridge cap, shingle, underlayment, valley installation practice. So if that homeowner, by the way, has another estimate, you can ask them to get it out so you can compare. The other thing that we can do is ask questions that that homeowner can't answer, like, did the other contractor explain what grade a shingle, what type of ridge cap, what type of valley insulation, W metal, ice and water. If they're using ice and water on the eaves and how many rows, what type of pipe jacks they're using, are they removing and replacing roof to wall flashing and step flashing? And when we begin asking these questions again, if and only if they've had another estimate, I've either one, educated them before they get the estimates, or two, once they've gotten the estimates, now they're thinking, oh my gosh, I don't even know what's happening there. And we can further this by saying, the reality is, Mr. Homeowner, you can't even hold someone accountable if it's not written down on there. So if something does go wrong, your legal recourses are incredibly limited. So I want you to think of this as if you were getting a kitchen remodel. I'm going to guess there's not a pink panther in your kitchen. Imagine you're getting a kitchen remodel and you're like, yeah, well, I don't really know what grade of cabinets or even what kind of countertops they're putting on, but it's 20 grand. I'll write the check. Who would do that? No one. Mr. Homeowner, would you write a check for a kitchen remodel if you had no idea what grade of cabinets and countertops you'd be getting or kind of hardware, whether you'd be getting the soft close stuff or not? The answer is absolutely not. And that's what's going on with your roof. And there, my friends, you have it. The best way to condition a homeowner regarding pricing of the roof and positioning yourself as the trusted authority. Authority while showcasing and educating the homeowner on all the nasty things that happen in the real world. Now, if you agree with those statements, as I do, you can say all of that because it is truthful and our job is to educate our homeowners to help them make the best decision for them. And if you believe in your heart of hearts that you're the absolute best person to win that business, and there's absolutely no reason you shouldn't be doing this, because I believe it's your moral and ethical responsibility to communicate properly to your homeowners so they can make the decision to choose you on their own free will. Now, I know this is a little bit of a different take on price conditioning that you may have seen in the past. So I'd like to hear from you. Agree, disagree. Let's have a com. Let's have a conversation in the comment section below. Now, that's all for this video. Thanks for joining me today. And I've got another video coming up talking about good, better, best systems, price anchoring and how we present all that. So stay tuned for that video. And again, thanks for joining me today. If you want to hang with me here on YouTube, YouTube thinks you're really going to like this video. And if you haven't yet jumped into our free training session center, pop in right here. Or you can text the word free to 303-222-7133 and I'll see you on the next one.