How He Did It: $500k in 60 Days In Just 1 Neighborhood? Interview w/ Roofing Sales Rep Marshall

All right, Marshall, welcome to the channel. I'm super pumped to have you here, man.

Thank you so much. It's awesome to be here. Yeah.

So how'd this whole thing start? All from an Instagram message?

Yeah, actually I made a post on my story about the top five podcasts to listen to while you're riding around and I, you know, mentioned your name and you messaged back and I was able to, you know, share with you what your content's done for me, which.

Do you mind if I share that, that message?

No, man, go for it.

Cool. So we got it up on the screen here. I just took a screenshot so we can make it larger for everyone watching and for those listening. Says great stuff, bro. Best advice I've taken from you is the friendship formula. I've contracted over 500,000 in 60 days all in one neighborhood. I went from running around like a chicken with my head cut off to sitting in one spot, saving mileage and racking up deals. I haven't even knocked this neighborhood in three weeks and still have a steady flow of leads coming from referrals and yard signs. Thanks so much for all the great content. And then it went on. Number one sales rep in the company for May, number three for June, all because. Or excuse me, all because. Back in April, I bought into what you have been teaching. I was only at 322k through April and now pushing 850. And then we've got the Accu Link sales leaderboard with yours on the at number one position here at the bottom. 504,443 from May 1st to June 30th. Wild. Marshall, you told me something right before we started. It really wasn't in 60 days. It was faster. How fast?

It was about six weeks because I forgot to share that I took a two week vacation.

So a half million in sales with a two week vacation built in. Unreal, man. And before we get into the details, I'm going to be asking you some questions. This whole. The friendship formula. When you said the friendship formula to me, I know what that is. Share with me what that meant to you and how that helped you kind of just hone on this neighborhood and blow it up.

So the friendship formula, basically, to just oversimplify it, is breeding familiarity. You know, just making your face and your company's logo known in a neighborhood. I've heard you say it a hundred times. You know, no doesn't always mean no. It almost never means no. Just means I don't trust you yet. So you Know, there was several. Several houses that I knocked probably three or four times, you know, left the mailers or left my business card in the door, you know, and just kind of kept showing up. Then I'll do their neighbor's roof. I'm gonna put my yard sign out. And, you know, I also, on not every install, but a lot of installs, I'd set a tent up with my company's logo on it. I'll be out there just waving at people while they ride by. And, you know, eventually they'll say, hey, you know, you've knocked on my door three times. I see you did Joe's roof. I see you did Dave's roof. You know, why don't you just take a look at mine? And, you know, just building that familiarity and, you know, embedding yourself into a neighborhood, into the community really goes a long way for building trust.

So I'm writing that down. Embed yourself into the neighborhood and the community in order to build trust. And that is truly phenomenal advice. Would you mind sharing with me what you were doing before, before you made this switch to, as you put it, breathing, familiarity, the friendship formula simplified, which, by the way, I love that you simplified it because it's four things by anyone who wants to read more about it. This is from the book the Like Switch, L I K E Like Switch by Jack Schaefer, former FBI agent. He describes the friendship formulas. Four things. Proximity, frequency, duration and intensity. Proximity, being in the neighborhood, frequency, how often you are, duration, how much time, and the intensity, meaning the depth of relationships. Have you served people that are familiar to them? And I love that you just simplified it into two words. Breathing, familiarity. That's great. So what were you doing before you kind of switch, excuse me, to focusing on a neighborhood?

So our office covers a very large amount of area. And, you know, I was kind of running. You know, I somewhat took your advice as far as planning out your days ahead. So I would pull up Google Maps, go on satellite view, and, you know, find a neighborhood that I wanted to go knock. I'd go. I, you know, knock a few doors, get told no a few times, maybe get a contingency sign with a claim filed here and there. I. I might, you know, knock 20 doors. I might knock the whole neighborhood, or, you know, I might just knock a few and get kind of lazy and get out of there. And then just that. That would be it. And then I'd go to the next neighborhood. And like I said, we cover a lot of ground. So I, you know, I might Go work an hour from the house one day and then go 45 minutes the opposite direction the next day. And then I. You know, even whenever I did have success, I was like a chicken with my head cut off, chasing around, trying to follow up on these deals. You know, they're an hour and a half from each other. And, you know, I was really. Seems like every time I took two steps forward, I took one step back.

Yeah, been there, been there. Was that like a discouraging process? Did you ever question the industry or this opportunity after kind of feeling tugged around or. Or did you just feel like, you know what, it's going to work out at some point?

Yeah, absolutely. It definitely, you know, I was able. So I got into the industry because I have a really good friend who's been doing it forever, and he's the one that, you know, got me in, and he's told me, and since he's a good friend and I trust him, you know, he's always kind of been there to tell me, you know, hey, just stick around. Stick around, man. It's gonna get better. Keep working. It's gonna get better. You know, so having him. And his name's Tony, by the way. He's awesome.

Shout out to Tony.

I actually told Tony that if I ever make enough money to buy a supercar or a jet, he gets the first ride for getting me in the industry.

That is awesome.

But. So having him to kind of encourage me kept me focused. But there were definitely times where I was like, man, I don't know if I'm cut out for this. It works for him, it works for other people, but, man, I just don't know. And, you know, I started in late September of 2020, and I had. At the end of the year, I had 200,000 in sales. So, you know, over three months, 200,000 sales. Not very encouraging.

Yeah, that's, you know, it's very different from where you are now.

Absolutely.

Did you ever. Did you ever dream that you'd be able to earn this type of living?

No, absolutely not. Yeah, it doesn't seem real. A lot of times I, you know, I. I look around, I think, you know, not only the. The income, like, I'm, you know, I'm sitting in a 2020 Tacoma right now. It's, you know, just a big blessing to me. I have flexibility with my schedule. You know, I thank God every day for this opportunity.

Yeah. Got to pinch yourself sometimes. Isn't it, like, is this real? Is this really happening? You mentioned something that I know will strike A chord with a lot of people, you said. I questioned if I wasn't cut out for this. It works for them, but it won't for me. Why did you feel that way and what changed?

So, I mean, really, I just wasn't having the success that. That I thought I should be having and, you know, looking at other people, other sales rep in the company, seeing what they were doing, and just thinking, there's no way I could be there. I don't know, you know, maybe I got in too late and, you know, everybody else already has a corner on the market. Yeah, I was just making all kind of excuses and really just kind of feeling sorry for myself. And, you know, I had, like I said, I had Tony, I had my sales manager, both really telling me, hey, you've got the ability, you've got the talent, you got the work ethic. Just stay at it. And I don't know, it just seemed. Seemed like a really big uphill climb. And I remember someone telling me that it was like a. Like a well, you just got to keep digging, digging, digging, and then once you get there, you just pump it and it gets a lot easier. So I kept that in mind. And then finally, like I said, I started applying that friendship formula. Just camping out in the neighborhood, not taking the first no for a no, staying after it. Then once I started having success, just started gaining confidence, and it went from digging the well to just pumping it.

That is. I like that. From digging the well. From digging the well to pumping. Man, you got a lot of good sayings in here. I'm quoting you a bunch. Camping out in the neighborhood was another really good one. It's just a really strong visual to think, like what we got to do. And you said it, you know, you set up a tent, you're waving at people, starting conversations. Setting up a tent in neighborhood is the definition of camping out in, you.

Know, and I might not even be there all day. You know, I might show up in the morning, set the tent up, be back at 3 o', clock, but either way, they're gonna see that tent there all day.

Yeah, I love it, man. That's fantastic. I'd love if it's okay to shift gears and talk about your personal story into this industry, because as many people you know, this is kind of rock bottom. It's an only opportunity. It's the opportunity. It's the only one that's accessible. It's the make or break. I'm broke. Gonna be broke. I need a fresh start. So share your story more. Where Were you. And what were you doing before roofing sales. And what brought you in?

All right, so that's. That's a story for sure, which I. I made some mistakes as a. As a teenager. I actually got kicked out of college for something very stupid that I did. I won't get into all the details, but it. It woke me up for sure and actually brought me to an altar. So. At 19 years old, I got in a lot of trouble, got kicked out of college, found myself in church, gave my life to Christ, and, you know, haven't been the same ever since. You know, I kind of told you before we got on that I didn't want to turn this into a church service or anything, but I will, you know, throw this out there. There's, you know, there is hope for anyone out there, you know, if you will, you know, allow God to take control of your life, you know, he will do great things with it, but that doesn't mean that you don't have to reap what you sow. So after, you know, a few years of being out on bond, I actually had to serve some time for what I did as a teenager. So last August, I got out of prison and jumped into this industry in September and had nothing.

Nothing. And, man, how is. How did you have support from family or friends or anything like that? Coming out and starting your entire life from scratch?

Yeah. So, you know, I was able. You know, I was fortunate enough that, you know, know my mom, you know, still had an extra bedroom for me, so I had a place to stay, had a great, awesome, supportive church family who, you know, like I said, Tony's the guy that got me into the industry. He's actually. We go to church together. That's how we knew each other. So I will say, you know, I did have a great support system, and I'm very thankful for that.

Yeah. And thank you for being real and sharing it. Um, I. I'm. I'm honest. I'm speechless because I. I struggled getting in, but I had, even being broke, a higher competitive edge than you did. You know, I didn't start my life literally with nothing. I didn't have a criminal history that would prohibit me from other avenues, you know, and for many people, you're not the only one that's turned their life around from. From prison to highly successful and just living life on the right path now, you know, and it's inspiring as hell to me, and I hope it is for others to just say, you know what, Whatever we've done in our past, this Is a time to start fresh. And the only thing that's going to make or break our success in this business is it's in here. It's our heart, it's our mind, and it's our willingness to do the right things, serve people the right way. And this is an industry that to some degree doesn't discriminate on that stuff. And it is an equal opportunity regardless if we're willing to put in the work. So share with me, how did, how did Tony lure you in? By the way, Tony, thanks for luring Marshall in.

Yeah, I'll make sure I let him know when this airs. So it actually, man, I was so before, before I went to serve my time, I was managing a retail store. That was another thing. I was wildly successful just because I put in the work. You know, I started out knowing nothing about it and you know, ended up at 21 years old managing a multi million dollar location, but still getting paid like I work at McDonald's, you know. So he solved, you know, the skill set that I had. Not that I'm extremely skilled because really I just, you know, do what it takes. But you know, he kind of saw that I had the knack for it and you know, he told me, actually before I left, he was like, man, you know, whenever, whenever you get out, you know, you should consider this. And we talked a few times while I was gone. I contacted him a couple months before I got out and I was like, hey man, is that opportunity still available? And he was like, yeah, let me talk to know sales manager, let them know, you know, that you're getting out, you know. And he, next time I talked to him, he was like, yeah man, it's, it's a go. He said, just, you know, take your time when you get out, you know, if you want to take a couple weeks, whatever, there's no hurry, no rush. Just let him know when you're ready to meet him and the doors open. So, you know, I, that's how he lured me in. And you know, I work for a great company. Sales manager is great. You know, he knows where I come from, he knows my story, and he was more than happy to give me the opportunity.

Wow. And you deserve it, man. I mean, it's, it's, it's not every day you see people, especially using this business. It's not easy. You know, we gotta, we gotta challenge ourselves. Success isn't guaranteed. Success isn't always fast. In fact, most people like you that reach out, that are open to sharing their story, very few, it Was like I hit the ground running and it just exploded from there. How long did it take until you felt like, I guess from when you started because you shared that you did about 200,000 in sales in your first, what was that, three months total?

Yeah, about three. Little over three months.

Yeah, until things accelerated. So was that three month mark, like the questioning period or how long did it take until you finally went from questioning? Is this for me to like, I'm all in. Let's make this thing like I'm going to pour gasoline on this fire.

I'd say it was really about four months because I had a terrible January this year. I don't think I might have had like 50,000 in January of this year. Contracted. So, you know, it was even up through that point where I was just like, man, I don't know. And then is it a late January, early February? You know, I'm about four to five months into the industry and make sure you're still with me. I'm getting a call coming in there. I was about four or five months in and yeah, I finally, finally got my first paid in full check and I was like, oh man, this thing's nice. You know, this might be worth sticking around for. And you know, it's kind of those, those paid in full checks started to come in. From the early jobs I realized the potential and I actually, you know, just decided, you know, I'm going to do whatever it takes. Probably right there, early February.

Man, that's what, four months? It's so common, so many people quit too soon. I mean, what would your life be like if you Left this after 4 months? Where would you be right now?

Couldn't tell you, man. I don't know. Definitely wouldn't be in the position that I'm in.

Yeah, yeah, it takes. I had an email this morning. This gentleman says, you know, we started our business and we took a bet on ourselves and I love that. I said, you know what, the only way to win on yourself is to bet on yourself. And I feel like too many people quit too soon. I've watched it so many times, you know, and if you had quit after the even four months right before, let me remind everyone listening. Half a million in sales in 60 days. That was really done in six weeks because you had a two week vacation. Those are numbers that even if you stopped selling, you would earn a comfortable income. Okay? Income more than you probably would as a salaried employee somewhere doing right. World's worst job. And you've done that in 60 days. And at this rate, you're going to do multi million in a year. Multi million, who knows how many, especially as things progress. So if you were to look back and give, you know what, before I get there, I want to ask that later. What was the big breakthrough for you from the. From the four months up until like, where it took off? So.

I'll say this, man, just being consistent, staying at it, and I've got something here. It looks terrible, but this is just, you know, my sloppy. You know, the way that I work, it works for me. It might not work for everybody else, but we had a sales meeting at the beginning of the year. Our sales manager told us to make goals and, you know, kind of break them down to see what you need to do every week, what do you need to do every day? And like I said, through January, I had a terrible month. So I started off, you know, way behind one month into the year. And, you know, I decided that, you know, I'm gonna do whatever it takes. I'm going to hit these numbers. It's sloppy, but it works, you know, and I looked at. I looked at how many doors I have to knock every day, how many claims have to get filed with contingency every week, how many contracts need to get signed every week. And, you know, there were weeks where I got zero contract signed, but I stayed at it. And then the next thing I know, there's weeks where I'm getting six, seven contracts signed and my charts not big enough for that. So. So being consistent, setting goals, reminding yourself what you have to do each and every day, and watching the roof strategist.

Thanks for the final plug there. You know, I love what you said about the consistency. I kid you not, every sales rep I've talked with, that's the one word that everybody says, consistency. And then you said it. Doing the right activities each and every day, you know, and I'm sure you've heard me share it on the channel. The roofing sales success formula is three things. Be, do, say the right person. You know, I can help a little bit on that front, but that's ultimately up to us, who we are. The hustle, the heart, the drive, the willingness to put in the work. The willingness to go four months and question it and stick with it. The do. Doing the right activities each and every day like you are. And to say, learning how to pitch, present, overcome objections, and close. And you, you nailed it, man. I mean, the relentless pursuit that you had over those first four months, that takes dedication to feel like you're failing for 120 days in a row and say, I can get better, I can do this, I can do this. And that's powerful. If you were to give advice to yourself so you could bypass the four month, 120 days of, of questioning this industry, what advice would you give yourself when you first started knowing what you.

Know now listen to Adam.

By the way. I didn't ask for that. I just needed.

So no, man, I would definitely. There's a couple or three big takeaways that I would give myself because I started out, like I said, running around, just chasing leads all over the, all over multiple counties, not really having concrete goals and not knowing what to say at the door. So, you know, one, set those goals, know it, know what it takes and do what it takes to get there every day. Even when you don't succeed, do the work anyway. Number two, camp out in a neighborhood, you know, breed familiarity, use that friendship formula. And number three, which is, you know, really what's going to get you in the door to build those relationships is pitch and formula. I made a shift back in January, February in my pitch from, you know, leading off with, you know, hey, I'm Marshall, you know, here to inspect your roof, got a free inspection, you know, whatever. It probably wasn't that bad, but it was pretty bad to asking, you know, introducing myself, making it familiar, you know, leaning them with a, with an open ended question that, you know, doesn't just give them the opportunity to say, no, I'm good, thanks, and close the door in my face. But asking them questions like, hey, when's the last time your roof was inspected? Where are you? In the process? Things to make them think that don't give them an easy out and then presenting to their need of where they are in the process. So those, those are three big things that, you know, I definitely, if I would have been doing day one, I would have had a much more successful first few months.

Wow, man, that was powerful. I'm going to recap that for everybody because I think those were three absolutely golden nuggets. Even if you don't succeed, do the work anyway because it's not every day is a win. Camp out in the neighborhood and breathe familiarity and pitch the formula and know what to say at the door, that was powerful. Marshall, thank you for sharing your story. I told you before we started recording these interviews, I get messages all the time of folks saying how relatable and inspiring they are. And for you to be able to give this gift to other people who may be in a position of questioning this on their own, who may be interested in getting into the industry. You know, this is knowledge and information that just wasn't available for a long time. Now. It's all changing now. There's. There's. There's. There's a lot out there, but when I got into it, it wasn't. There was no YouTube channels. There was no podcasts. It was, here's a shirt, go do it.

And, man, I hopped in, you know, right after we had a major storm. And, you know, even though I worked for a great company, you know, everybody was so just wrapped up in, you know, facing kind of uncharted territory with this catastrophe that had happened. So, you know, it wasn't. Even though I have a great sales manager, he wasn't available to just take a call every time I had a question. So I had to. I had to get on YouTube and fortunately, found you.

Yeah. How cool, man, that is. That's just awesome. Marshall, is there anything else that you wanted to share either for anyone listening who might be questioning this industry or people who are already really successful and just kind of looking to level up? Any closing words of wisdom?

Yeah, don't compare yourself to other people, which is a big, big thing, because like I said, I was struggling early on because I was seeing these guys who are selling 10, 12 times as much as me in my same office, and I'm wondering, how can I amount to that? You know, there's no way I can be successful, even with hearing people's interviews on your channel. Like, man, that's great for him, you know, but I can't do that, you know, and, you know, just focus on your goals, focus on you, and the next thing you know, you'll be doing the things that those people were doing months ago, and it'll blow your mind if you focus on yourself and stop looking at them.

Yeah, that's. Sage advice. Is this industry. Would you say it's easy.

Now? It is. Yeah. When I was digging the well, it was not easy. But now that I'm pumping it, it's. It blows my mind how easy it is. Yesterday, I knocked. I. Normally I knocked more doors, but I had a bunch of appointments. I knocked four doors and got on three roofs yesterday. It's. It's that easy.

It's. Yeah. It's funny. I know I kind of threw you into this trap because I talk about easy and simple, and I think they're different. Easy means everyone can do it, right? Tying your shoe is easy. Most. Most people can tie their shoe. Roofing Sales is simple, fundamentally simple. It's not an easy thing because the battle. I'm just curious, do you think the competition outside or your own internal demons are harder to conquer?

It's definitely me. Because, you know, right. Actually, right in the middle of. It was early May I believe, Right. Whenever I was starting to have this crazy hot streak of success, I called my sales manager. I was like, man, I don't know what to do. I'm in a slump. He's like, what are you talking about, man? Look at all these numbers you're putting up, out. And, you know, I'm like, I don't know what to say at the door anymore. I'm just, like, fumbling over my words, you know, like, all of a sudden, I hit a wall, even in the middle of having success. But, you know, we all have those days. Just shake it off, get over it, and keep doing what you know to do.

What's your favorite technique to get yourself out of a sales slump?

Well, Take a day off. Not a week, but a day, and do something you enjoy, take your mind off things, and then come back after that off day. Laser focus. Knowing what you have to do. Again, keeping those. I know it sounds overly simple, but. But keeping those goals in mind. And, you know, if you need to refresh yourself, like, go back and watch some videos or listen to some podcasts, or if you have, you know, the battle pack, or if you have, you know, a script or a formula wrote out, just go back and refresh yourself. Kind of, you know, start from scratch. Well, I don't like that term, start from scratch because you need to use your experiences, but, you know, basically just reset.

Sure. Yeah, I like that. It's hard to. By the way, I do the same thing. One of the. If I'm. If I'm in a slump, if I'm blocked up, mentally, step away. It's hard because you want to push through it. You know, it's like. It's so super counterintuitive to say, hey, you know what? I'm facing a hard time. But I think a big trap many people fall into is taking too much of a break, where they just. They dissociate. Whether it's alcohol, whether it's drugs, whether it's vacation, it's some sort of distraction to just fully push it away as opposed to doing a very intentional. Like you said, take a day, not a week, a day to just disconnect, recharge your batteries, and come back fresh with the fresh plan of attack. Refreshed. That's Golden. That's awesome. Well, I took that final question I asked you and rolled it into probably another 10 minutes of questions because it was just such a rich conversation. So I'm going to ask you again if there's anything else that you want to share with anyone about your journey, this industry or where you, you know, see this whole thing going.

Oh, man. Just. It's simple. But don't give up. Just stay focused and again, do what needs to be done every day.

Yeah. Love it.

And that's my. That's. That's what I tell, you know, people. I'm. I'm also a minister in my local church. You know, whenever it comes to anything, you know, like, if it's. Again, I'm not trying to turn this into a church service, man, but I tell people, you know, if you want to get closer to God, read your Bible when you don't feel like it, pray when you don't feel like it. If you want to succeed in roofing sales, knock doors when you don't feel like it, you know, go to the next one when you get your teeth kicked in. Just keep going.

It's simple, man. That is. That is really, really powerful because it's easy to do the things that you want to do when you want to do them. It's not easy to do the things that you don't necessarily want to do, but you know, are good for you. Right.

And that's what's going to make you. Whenever it's not convenient.

Mm. Have you read Brendon Bouchard's book called the High. What is it? High Performance Habits? Is it?

I have not. I've actually heard you reference it a few times, and I probably should.

I'm reading it right now. I'm not all the way done, but one thing. High Performance Habits. I'm trying to pull it up. Yeah. High Performance Habits is a book. He talks about these cues. Brandon talks about cues to inspire us, and we often don't feel like doing the things that we need to do. And he has these cues, meaning, like a reminder so he'll set random alarms on his phone. He also has a mantra that he says to himself every time he walks through a doorway. When he walks in, who here needs me on my A game? And that really resonated with me in terms of doing the things that we need to do when it's tough to do, you know, I have it myself. You know, shoot seven videos, eight takes, card error. That take was bad. And I'm like, who needs me on my A game. And I think of you, I think of the people that are using this material. And that, to me, is the fuel that's, like, got to do. Doesn't matter what I feel like. It's not about me. So I promise this is actually going to be the last question I asked, but I just. We just keep getting into just such rich stuff. Um, where. What's your. Why. Why are you doing this? What's. What. What is the fuel that keeps you moving forward through those times when it's challenging, when it's tough, or when you're doubting yourself or you don't want to do it? Where do you find that fuel.

That'S going to be on a larger scale? My goals again. So I, you know, I believe that, you know, here in the near future, I will not be doing roofing sales. I will be, you know, traveling the country, preaching. That's going to require me having some financial stability. You know, I'm going to need to be able to put some money back. You know, I want to be able to start a family, so I have to be secure in that. So as long as I'm doing this job, I have to stay focused and just go after it, go hard after it for as long as I can, because I'm so thankful for this opportunity that, you know, I'd be a fool to waste it.

Yeah, I got nothing to add. That's beautiful, man. Thank you for sharing that. Marshall. Thank you for being here and sharing your story, being. Being real about this whole experience of. From. From where you were to where you are now to where you headed. I couldn't keep up with the gems of golden nuggets that. That you've shared. And thanks a ton for being here. I appreciate it more than, you know.

Thanks for having me.

Awesome. We'll call it a wrap. We'll see you soon.

All right.