How He Did It: 60yr Old Sells $2.2M in His 1st Year in Roofing Sales | Interview w/ Bill Sansom

All right, welcome to the channel, Bill. Bill's joining us with Houlton Contracting and has one heck of a story about his first year in roofing sales. And Bill, thanks for being here.

Adam, thank you for having me. It's actually an honor to be on your broadcast here and to be able to share my story with the rest of the, as you say, the world. You're very well known out there.

Well, thank you for saying that. And Bill, context. So, Justin, your partner reached out and said you got to have Bill on because of what he accomplished in his first year. Let's knock him in the teeth. What were the numbers that you did in the first year, bill?

2.2 million.

2.2 million first year in roofing sales. That. That equates to a very comfortable income now, doesn't it?

It certainly does. Paid a lot of bills off and made my wife very happy.

That's awesome. Bill, let's start at the beginning. What were you doing before and how did you end up here in roofing?

Well, I was, I always worked in the automotive field and I usually worked in the service, the back end of dealerships. I worked for the car manufacturer for a lot of years, blue collar, and basically got to the point of where I just wanted to get out of that type of work and retired from there. And then, you know, I had friends that was in this business and you know, Walt Holton, the president and his brother Chris Holton, we're building an excessive sales team in the residential field. They already had commercial pretty much locked up and they wanted to bring some people on that had some sales experience. And I tell you, I had sales experience, but nothing to do with roofing at all. I really hasn't. I've not been on a roof. So I joined the company September of 2019 and I'll tell you, it was nerve wracking, you know, trying to get up on that first roof. My knees were knocking. I got scared. I said, get me out of here, get me down. And they got me down off the roof, you know, and then I was like, okay, well you know what, before I get on the roof, I think I really need to understand the product and understand the lingo and just understand it all together because you know what, you only are as good as the product that you know, and, and just understanding and then learning about the insurance and learning about the different types of that. But just to let you around the team out there, everyone know I'm 60 years old when I started this, so I'm an old head, you know, 60 years old, wanted to learn something new. And how did I do that? Well, I had a mentor that got me going with everything. But the real fact was, is listening and observing your videos, you know, you talk. You talk about price. You know, there's not a price you could put on what you. We pay for your product. I mean, $2.2 million, okay? Just. Just take it. Just take 5% of that, okay, As a commission base, you know, for the first year, you know, I'm on target to do that and then some, you know, for my second year here. Now, again, understanding, you know, about door knocking, understanding the fact that, you know the consumer. And I mean, you talked about so many different things. I write notes. I got notes all over the place in the office here, and I got them on my car, you know, inside the truck, I got notes. Because the fact is, I got to remember to recall these things before I go and talk to a customer because it's very easy to get tongue tied. And I've done that. I've gotten tongue tied. And they're like, they look at you like, okay, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about, you know, and that's okay. That's a learning experience in regards to that. But, you know, some of the things that I've. I've learned in your strategics and your videos is the fact that, you know what? Customers want the truth. They. They want to know what's going on. You know, you don't have to blow a bunch of smoke and talk all big lingo and this and that. You, you know, when you go up there, you know, do you have any objective for me to jump up on your roof and give you a free evaluation? You know, I mean, it's. It's amazing. And, you know, you use the word objective. You use the word, do you mind? And, you know, you reverse it. Like you said, you know, oh, can I jump up on your roof? First thing they'll say is, no, but you have an objective. Me jumping up on your roof. No, I mean, it's just a good way of just doing things and, you know, in perspective in regards to that, you know, and I've learned from you is be prepared. Be prepared with the right tools, you know, get the camera out, you know, like, one of the biggest things I learned from you is that when I come out, I do the same thing. Every time I go to a house, I go right, I go to left, I walk around, I do the exact same thing. Because I'll tell you something, I went To a neighborhood. And this is what the exciting part is. I went to a neighborhood that had 70 homes. Do you have any roofs? I did in that development.

I. I can't wait.

3, 63 out of 73 roofs.

Wait, 5, 3 or 6?

3. 53.

Holy smokes.

63, 63 roofs and had 70 homes in there. Now, I learned about Horizon shingles. I learned all about different types of shingles and this and that, you know, and then I did my research. You know, you have to understand the product and be able to do that. And I got one house sold in there. Got an insurance claim bought. It was Horizon shingles. I learned all about that product. Yeah. Guess what? Neighbors talk. You got a free roof. Wait a second. These roofs are, like, 23 years old. How'd that happen? Well, you got to talk to this guy. Well, the next thing you know, I got signs all over the place, you know, advertisement, advertising, advertising. I did all these. And then, of course, what happens when you do a roof and you get it covered by insurance, Gutters, shutters, any other accessory on the exterior part that can get done is amazing. It's amazing. And then I went up to the next neighborhood. They had 279 homes. Now, it wasn't as successful there yet. I'm still working that area, but again, I'm up to 51 homes there, so. And again, I got a lot of additional work that we're doing, siding and stuff of that nature in that area. So this, I mean, you know, it's. How much do you want to put into it to get the rewards of it? I never knew if I knew this, Adam, 20 years ago, oh, my goodness, where I would be today. You know, it's just. It's just totally, totally amazing, the excitement and the fun that you had. I enjoy getting up and going to work. You know, I enjoy talking to people. And then I got to tell you one story. I had a phone call from a customer, and I talk. You know, I mean, I love to talk. I love to get excited, because you know, what? It is, what it is. But I had a customer call me up and say, hey, Bill, can you come over to the house? We'd like to show you something. I said, sure. They brought me over, and they said, come on in. We want to show you something. I said, okay. So I walk in the house, and my wife. He goes, my wife wants to show you something in the kitchen. So I walk around, and they go, thank you, Bill. And I'm like, thank you. See, the kitchen, it's been redone the money you saved us on our roof that we were saving for, we put now towards the kitchen. And this kitchen was amazing. It was a 52 square roof. So you can imagine the money they saved on the roof that cost them $1,000 for their deductible. And they were able to put it into the kitchen. And they invited me over to take a look at it and say, this is what I got from it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I mean, what, you know, what kind of reward is that? I mean, that's just like. I share that all the time. Yeah, I share that all the time. You know, it's just so, so exciting in regards to that. So, yeah, it's, it's really, it's really amazing, you know, so, I mean, a lot of things, be consistent, you know, don't give up. You know, you're gonna have the people that, you know, turn around and, you know, go with somebody else, you know, and it's frustrating. You know, the biggest thing I'm dealing with now is you got a lot of new roofers coming into the business that work for other roofers they want to start, and that's fine, you know, but do it the right way, you know, and unfortunately, some of them are not, you know, they're lowballing the deals, you know, and they're just hurting the roofers that have been around for a while. And I don't not want to knock anybody, but, you know, it does affect the industry as a whole, you know, in regards to that. So, I mean, you know, it's just one of those things that you have to deal with, you know, how long are they going to be in business? We don't know, you know, but another thing, you know, I don't have a problem asking questions, you know, with customers, you know, in regard. And then for an example, what did you find out? You know, are they insured? You know, these are, these are all questions. Are they insured? How long have they been in business? You know, what are the factors? And I don't have a problem asking a customer that, because you know what? A lot of them don't ask the question. They don't know, you know, so we, we, I, I go out there and I, I lay the cards on the table. You be upfront, you be honest. If you get the job, great. If you don't, you know, you move on. But, you know, it's just so exciting when, you know, you get into an industry like this. You listen to your videos, you listen to the talk tracks, you Utilize them. You don't switch it. You know, you don't change anything around because you're successful. You know, I've learned something in business. Hang on to the shirt tail that somebody is successful and they'll pull you with them. And that's what I do with your videos.

Oh man. Congrats on your success. I mean, 2.1 in a year. I'm sorry, 2.2, correction, correction, correction. 2.2 million in a year. I mean those are absolutely phenomenal numbers. Life changing income and, and you got to serve more people and people who focus on service, which you do is. I mean that's what it's all about. The story of the kitchen, by the way, is probably one of the most powerful sales stories you'll be able to use. I'm assuming you've been using it cause you said and it's too funny. I met with a company yesterday and I was like explaining the same concept. And I always joke with like a car, like do you want to buy yourself a new roof in three years or do you want to get it covered now and buy yourself a toy car?

There you go. And there it is. This is the kitchen.

So that's a great story, but forget about that. I'd love to hear. I know people who are watching or listening are probably thinking, tell me more about how you got 63 homes in a neighborhood of only 70 homes. Can you share a little bit about the strategies you used and how you were able to dominate that? Because I didn't know that till right this minute. You didn't share that story with me until now. So I'd love to hear what allowed you to truly dominate that entire neighborhood.

Well, first of all, marketing, you know, using your marketing letters in regards to that. So you go around, you know, and I always love to go out on like a Friday evening a lot of people are out or Saturday morning when they start cutting the grass, you know, even on Sundays and stuff of that nature. And the biggest thing is when they're outside say, hi, I'm Bill Sanson from Houlton contracted just when introduced myself, you know, in the area. You notice I just did one of your neighbors roofs. You know, I was wonder if you'd be interested in doing a complimentary inspection on the roof. Do you have any objective? You have everything to gain, nothing to lose, you know, and it's just all the word track that you say. And you know, you go one, you get two, you go three. And I even talked to people in that neighborhood and said I thought you were a scam artist, you know, And I said, no, I'm not a scam artist. What I am is I'm educating you on what we can do for you and get things taken care of, you know, and next thing you know, talk to people. You get to know more people. I've had people invite me over for barbecues and for dinners, you know, I mean, it's amazing, you know, and they're like, oh, come on over. You know, let's. You know, come on over. Let's have. Let's have a steak dinner and this and that. It's. It's. It's just like, so mind boggling the friendship that I've acquired. Now. Do I still do cold calls? Yes. Do I do as many? Nowhere near. You know why? Because I get all the referrals. You take care of them. Yep. And, you know, there's one thing that I use Adam on a daily basis. It's magic. And that's making a great impression consistently. And I do that consistently every time. When somebody calls, you pick. You make sure you're smiling on the other end because you can make or break their day. So you smile when you pick up that phone, you know, and that way, you know what? All of a sudden, they're excited, you're excited, and I'll be over. I'll take care of it. I've been trying to call contractors. No one's picking me up or no one's showing up. You know what? If you give somebody a word, you keep it and you show up. Yeah. You know what? And that, that's three quarters of the battle right there.

And it's so easy. Do what you say you're going to do. And you 10 steps ahead of most other contractors who don't return calls, don't follow up, don't show up on time, aren't organized. It's like, man, they make it easy for us. All I got to do is there's something you might appreciate because I just actually made a note. If you saw me typing, you said, make a great first impression or a great impression all the time. So the other day, I just finished this audio book called the Charisma Myth. Really great book. And the author, I forget her name off the top of my head. She says that when you answer the phone, you always answer it with an assertive voice. Thanks for calling. This is Bill with Holton Contracting. And then as soon as they say, oh, hey, Bill, it's Adam, be like, adam, hey, how are you? And that switch from the assertive, authoritative voice on the phone to responding to their name makes people feel incredibly special and welcome. And I had never connected that dot as opposed to just answering the phone that way of just that excitement. And I was like, wow, that is really good. But then everybody feels like they're special as opposed to just answering the phone, excited to talk to someone.

Right.

I'm just curious.

I love it. You know, and I learned from. In the automotive field, I learned this a long time ago, is you do a checkup from the neck up before you pick up. Check up from the neck before you pick up. So you want to make sure that your head's clear, you're smiling, you're happy when you pick up that phone. Even if the worst phone call you could have was the prior phone call, Just make sure you do that because it just can make a deal happen so much quicker and easier. Yeah. And they're like, oh, you're really happy. I said, yeah, happy to talk to you. You know, I mean, that's our business. It's our business.

Make people feel good. It's wild. You know, I got to ask you, Bill, and I hope it's okay to ask this. Energy. Energy is so hard to teach. And today's video that's airing as we speak is all about the daily scorecard. And I do mine on a journal. I'm going to start using the one I created, but I'll show it to you. So here's my track I have to fill out today. It's the 24th, and I track qualitatively 1 through 10, my sleep, my morning routine, my energy, my goals and progress for the day, my fitness and food and my relationships. But I've noticed that my energy and high producers, all top producers, have high energy, physical and mental. You are an older gentleman than the majority of guys in this industry, yet your energy is intoxicating in a great way and it is super high. How do you share with people? Like, where do you tap into those energy resources? Because it is contagious to the people you serve, and I love it. It's contagious to me. I had a really rough morning today, and you put. You're putting a hell of a smile on my face. So how for anyone watching, like, knowing make a great first impression or a great impression all the time, check up from the neck up before you pick up is great. And you just have this intoxicating energy. So where do you find your energy sources? How do you bring more energy into your life?

Well, it's usually the preparation from the.

Night before preparation from the night.

I love that, you know, I mean, I got, I knew what I had to do this morning I was getting up and I was meeting with the Chamber of Commerce this morning. So at 8 o' clock meeting, I was doing networking with the Chamber of Commerce in this county. And I knew that I was going to meet some new people and I was going to be able to introduce myself and get my name out there even more, you know, So, I mean, again, recommendations, get involved with networking, getting involved with the Chamber of commerce, let them know who you are. And again, they give me so much business that way. So I was already excited about that. Not only that, I get a free breakfast. So that's even better. I like to eat, you know, so again, and it's a great place to meet and stuff of that nature. So, you know, and we had a good guest speaker today. And, you know, I'll be being a guest speaker there in a couple of weeks. So that, that, that got me going. But the preparation for the night before, you know, and making sure that you have your schedule down now again, you're always going to get hiccups with your schedule. Yeah. Just communicate properly with everyone that what's going on, if a hiccup does occur. But you know what? It's a choice. It's a choice to be excited, It's a choice to be miserable. The only one that can do that is me. I, I make myself miserable. You know, I let people make me miserable. If that's the case, don't, don't let it happen. You know, I mean, as hard as it, I mean, it's easy to say, but as hard as it can be, you can change it like that. You can say, you know what I'm going to put on the back burner. Let me focus on what I got in front of me right now. Because that job could end up netting me $4,000. Yeah. Now $4,000 puts a smile on my face. I don't know about anybody else, but, you know, that's the way I look at it. Like, okay, well, wait a second, I'm going to make $4,000. A customer is going to get something that they didn't know they were covered for, you know, or I can give them a really good deal on something and it's off to referrals and understanding the product. I mean, I, you know, it's just. How can you not be excited?

Yeah.

You know, I mean, how can you not? I mean, it's, it gets frustrating. Things go wrong, you know, but that's life, you know. And as long as you tell people upfront, like, listen, you know what, I made a mistake, I'm sorry.

Yeah.

You know, it's okay to make mistakes own, you know, and when you try to keep covering it up and putting a band aid on it, you know what's going to happen. You know, that band is going to be on there for a long time. Someone's going to eventually rip it off and it's going to hurt.

Yeah, that's true. That's really, that's inspirational. And I think the big thing that I like to hear what people are saying and then kind of digest and summarize that you. We have. And I wrote it down. It's a choice to be excited or miserable.

Yes.

I honestly only like feel like I've learned that recently and it's been part of my daily journaling. It's part of the reason I started this daily scorecard challenge that I launched today is we do have a choice. And when we. Oops, we lost you. Bill your video.

Hold on.

There we go. We're back again.

Justin was actually calling in.

That's Justin, who introduced me to you to make this happen, who got all the stuff for the team. So at any rate, the choice that we make, you're right, it's easier said than done. It is simple, but it is our choice. And just this morning, my morning got derailed and I had technical hiccups and then I had some last minute cancellations and this and that happened and I was grouchy and my wife peeks out of her office literally like through the window, the door, like this, like, oh, stay. And our offices are actually separate buildings. So this was early this morning. And she just comes over to me and she goes, let's turn this ship around. And then she just gives me a hug. And I was like, oh, I can just make the choice to turn it around. And that was like the light switch, you know, and it's instead of the doom and gloom all day. Cause my morning didn't go as planned and I didn't get my workout in at 6 like I wanted to. And. But we have that choice and it's really empowering for everyone to just be like, hey, I have this choice. Two book recommendations. High Performance Habits. Or excuse me, I think it's High Performance Habits by Brendon Bouchard. And then the Charisma Myth. And I'm gonna throw a third one. Psycho Cybernetics came recommended by a fan of the channel named Joe. His username is Joe too. But those three books I've chewed through recently. Oh, and the magic of thinking big. Four books. I guess I started with two, now there's four. But those all were recent things. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, we actually do have this choice and we can choose how to react. So thank you for sharing your resources of tapping into that energy. That was awesome.

Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Now, Bill, question for you. If you looked back on yourself. So you did, and I'm going to get it right now. 2.2 million your first year, what do you think would be the advice you'd give yourself when you started that would have helped you fast track your success and sell even more than you did in your first year?

Not to think, let me say, I guess the best way is to really understand the business before trying to preach it.

I like that.

You know, it's. It's an ego that I think we all have that you know what we think we know everything that's going on. I still don't know about roofing. Okay. I've been, I've been. It'll be like coming up on two years, I still don't know anything about roofing. And the time that I start thinking I know it is that, you know what my sales are going to slide and everything else is going to go down the toilet. And that's not going to happen because you know what I learn every day? Yeah. Talk to people. Talk to people on your team. Call somebody, say, hey, this is what just happened. You know, do you think there's a better way? So I would have definitely. To answer your question, don't think you go out and sell right away because it's not going to happen. You might get lucky. You might get lucky and get that great job and this and that and like, oh, wow, you know, but really take the time to take a step back, Learn the product, learn through your videos, read your letters that are being sent out that you recommend to send out, Read them and understand them. Understand insurance claim information, that's huge. Like you said, it talks about on the front page. You know, the tools that you use. You know, it explains everything. You know, when you see that estimate from the insurance company, line by line, notice is not your estimate, but this is how it's explained. When you educate the customer, the customer feels trusting in you. And when they trust in you, they're going to sign the agreement. So just, just learning it and understanding it and don't try to get go too fast. Like, I Did. And then get frustrated, because I know it's very easy to get frustrated. And you go and say, wow, this is really not working. It's not for me. You know, I'm going to go back and do something else. But if I would have learned more in the very beginning and understood things a lot more, I think I'd be a lot better off today. Even that I am very successful, I still would have been a lot better off. That's one of the biggest things I would have changed.

That's good. That's great advice. Always be learning. I tell people this every training I run. I learn from the people that are there. Always. The minute we think we know it all is when bad things happen. I learned a really. I want to share this one with you. This came. This is. I take zero credit for this one. There's a company that I worked with, Sales manager introduced this to his team, and he said, you know, a really great way to ask for referrals because people love gossip, is to say, hey, you know what? Obviously, I'm going to be trying to work with your neighbors because, you know, we end up earning a lot of business by word of mouth. So I'll be chatting with them, and maybe you'll beat me to them. But before we get started, just so I know, who's the least favorite of yours in the neighborhood that I should watch out for? And then they start talking and they get excited about it. Right. And consistency is powerful. So then they're like. They're like, okay, so then you're writing their names down. So who do you know that that's. You know that you like, who's the. Who's your favorite person in the neighborhood? Oh, you know what? John, he's two doors down. And you're like, great, John. Who else? And Michael. Great. How about you just walk me over to their house real quick for a quick introduction? And then he's getting the team to walk them over to the home. And again, always be learning. I didn't come up with this one. I learned that from someone else, and I thought it was brilliant, and I wanted to pass it forward because you're killing it in neighborhoods. And what could make it easier than having a homeowner walk you up to a house and be like, hey, I'd like to introduce you to the guy I'm choosing to do my roof.

Yes. And you know what? And don't. Don't be afraid to do it. You know, a lot of people, you know, I'm going to go ahead. I'M going to tell on myself, if you don't mind. Yeah, so this was about, like, three weeks ago, and I'm in the neighborhood. I just got done signing a deal. I'm driving out, and then I see. I look up to the left and there's shingles that were missing on the roof. Guy standing out in the garage. What did I do? I kept driving. I literally just drove by. I kept driving. And then. And I'm actually talking to Justin. I'm saying, justin, do you believe I just did this? I said, there's a roof right here with singles blown off. And I just drove right by it. Like. Like, I'll come back and get it later. I turned around, went back. We called a claimant to the insurance carrier. But see, it's. It's very easy to get in a mindset. Like, you know what? I'm just going to go home. I had a rough day. Or you can't do that because I'll tell you something, there'll be a roofer right behind me getting that clean. And I'm not about to give up 1,000, $2,000, you know, but, I mean, and again, it happened to me. I'm telling all myself, don't let that happen to you. Stop, Stop and ask if the guy says, get off my property. Okay. You know, but at least you know that you tried.

Exactly.

You know, and that's where the excitement comes into play. Yeah.

You're hunting every day.

You are. It is, and it's really cool, you know, it really is. I love that. Hunting every day. You're right. You know, just. And just driving around and, you know, one of my. The owners always said, you know, driving for, you know, if you have two or three trucks, drive. Drive the area. Because everyone's going to say, what's going on? Why is there three trucks coming around here? You know, that's exciting. And you'll see people's heads turn, you know, and it's just like, you know, and that's. That gives you the opportunity. See, people said, turn, stop. Hey, how are you doing? Bill from holding contract and want to introduce myself? We're in the area. We're doing some work here. You know, we're doing free assessments of roofing and just want to know if I have the opportunity, stepping up on your roof. And, you know, people like, you know what? Yeah, come on and do it. And it works, you know, and there's all different types of talk track you can use. Yeah, there is, you know, but the objective is, is to introduce yourself to get up on the roof, get the claim called in, or sell them retail, you know, I mean, there's. There's so many different options, you know, oh, we've been thinking of getting the roof. Okay, great.

You know. Well, I'm here.

Yeah.

How awesome. Bill, thank you so much for sharing your story. If there's one key takeaway that I got that I hope everyone that's listened or watch, it's that excitement and enthusiasm carries us forward because that energy is intoxicating. The energy is motivating. I get people reaching out. How do I work on my discipline? How do I work on my motivation? Get excited. You know, I could tell you, you know, to do the hardest thing first, give you all the tactics. But. But that fuel starts here.

It does. It really does.

Just say, I'm going to be excited about this. It happens. So thank you. I hope everyone who listened or watched feels a little bit more excited today. And to close, is there anything that you want to share with me or anyone listening at all? And I know I'm putting you a little bit on the spot. I'm not asking for anything in particular, but if there's any kind of closing comments, I invite them and we can wrap up here in just a minute or so.

Yeah. Just literally be upfront. Don't exaggerate the situation. You know, I mean, our homeowners today are very intelligent. They've done their homework. They've already evaluated situations. They already know what's going on. So you know what they're looking for? That honesty. They're looking for someone that they can trust and believe in. And by you understanding and knowing that, and again, just making consistent impression with them. And if you say you're going to do something, do it, because if you don't, you're going to lose the business, you know, and again, check up on the neck up before you pick up. And always smile. It's not hard. It's not hard to do.

No, it's not. They make it easy. Bill, thank you. Absolutely phenomenal advice. I really appreciate you being here and sharing your story with everyone.

Thank you, Adam. I appreciate the opportunity.

Absolutely. We'll see you soon.

All right, take care. Bye.