A YouTube talk by Adam Bensman (the Roof Strategist) advising contractors in hail/insurance restoration to shift conversations with homeowners from price to assessment. He argues that contractors should document damage and submit accurate assessments to insurers (who use third‑party pricing software) so homeowners only owe their deductible — avoiding emotional discussions about price and improving closing rates.
Chapters
My name is Adam Bensman, the roof strategist. We're here today to talk about assessment versus price. So most guys get into this business if they've had sales experience, it's on a retail side. So they're used to having to convince someone to spend a sum of money to get a result. Now, on the hail side, we're not actually asking anyone to spend any money. And I don't get why people propose this of, well, give me an estimate and I can beat that price. There should be no dialogue of price whatsoever. In fact, my entire value proposition, from engaging on the dialogue of the claims process down to signing the contingency, uses the word assessment versus price. So when contingencies say, hey, we do it for the price, that the insurance company says, no, no, no, no. I work on assessment, and here's some truths that I deliver to homeowners that really help them get more comfortable. Shift that dialogue away from price down to assessment. Because when you talk about price, things get personal and they get emotional. Same reason I don't want my homeowners to deposit checks from the insurance company and then pay me because their bank account just went whoop and it's harder to get paid. So I like to have them sign them over again. We want to keep this impersonal. The only amount they want to be thinking about is that deductible. No more, no less. Again, no more, no less is the language I always use. And if they have an objection, we negotiate from there based on using the ACV on X, Y and Z products that we may not need to do. So let's talk assessment versus price. What does assessment mean? Now, Jan, here's how this works. So your house here has been damaged with hail. We can see the garage doors have been damaged. You got some facial damage, your roof is damaged, some downspouts. So here's how this works. Most homeowners make the mistake of wanting to get a few estimates, but an estimate is not what you need. What you need is a proper assessment. See, the insurance company works on a pricing software. It's called Xactomy. It's a third party program that sets their price based on zip code and it resets each month. So my job as an insurance restoration professional is to properly assess your home. Now, if I plug in, there's 20ft of gutter here, 40ft there. We got 50 square shingles and some fascia. About 46ft of fascia. All I do is I document what's damaged and what needs to be done to replace it and I put that in based on quantity into the software, and I submit that to the insurance company, okay? Now, that price, what they're willing to compensate for, that is set by a third party, and that's not negotiable. And the truth of the matter is, I never, ever, ever negotiate with an insurance company based on price. And that is factor. If you're negotiating with an insurance company based on covering ice and water and it makes a $1,500 price increase, you're negotiating based on assessment, what's there or what needs to be done? So I will properly assess your home. If you're selecting a contractor based on price, you're doing yourself a disservice because there's more than one way to write an estimate on a roof. Are you reusing the drip edge? Are you reusing the step flashing? How many rows, if any, of ice and water shield are used? And even just one row of ice and water shield can be in excess of $1,000 on a roof. It's a big difference. We want to make sure that what's owed is covered, the assessment is done properly, and all you owe is your deductible. No more, no less. Sound good? So you'll see there when we engage this dialogue, we shifted that conversation from an emotional buying experience coming out of pocket with some cash to assessment. I need this guy who knows what he's doing to look at my house and simply document what's damaged. That's it. That's all I do. The insurance company sets the price. All I do is negotiate. Excuse me, Work on the assessment. I do not negotiate on price. I'll send over my assessment. So next time you're out in the field, remember that dialogue. When you're working with a hail sale, we work on assessment, not price. It's going to shift that dialogue and make that homeowner be a lot more comfortable doing business with you because they don't think you're there to take advantage of anybody. And all you're there to do is make sure what's owed is owed. And it's a very, very, very different way of saying we're going to try to get the most out of the insurance company because everything that's damaged should get paid for. Homeowners here agree. They think, excuse the car driving by. They think that it's all about me trying to get as much as I can from the insurance company. But when I make it about assessment, it's about them, not me. It's about them. So again, assessment versus price. Forget everything you knew and used about. Well, we're just going to get everything covered for you. Make sure the claim is as high as possible. No assessment. We're going to assess it properly. So use that next time you're out in the field. Guarantee you your closing rate is going to go up. That's all we got for this week's video. See you guys around.
