Is Roofing Sales a Good Career? PROS vs. CONS

So is roofing sales a good career? Maybe you found out about roofing sales through a friend, you saw an ad online or you stumbled on these videos right here on YouTube or the podcast and you start wondering yourself, is this business for me, is roofing sales a good career? Is it a good job? What are the pros, what are the cons, and what should I expect? Well, that's what I'm going to cover in this video. And I also made this video for the folks who might be questioning whether or not they're in the right business. And I want to highlight these pros and cons to help you decide. So join me all the way through to the end and you will leave this video knowing. Is roofing sales a good career for you? Let's get to it. First, a quick welcome or welcome back. Adam Bensman here, the roof strategist. And everything I do here on my channel is designed to help you and your team smash your income goal and give every customer an amazing experience. And lately I've been hearing folks at training events. In fact, I was just out in Tulsa, Oklahoma and I had someone come up say, hey, Adam, I got into the business because of your videos. They found them on YouTube, ended up landing a career with a company. They're super happy and making incredible money. Life changing opportunities. I had another gentleman out in Dallas, Texas come up to me and say the same thing. He made the leap, ends up increasing his income and is super, super happy. But it's not for everybody. So I want to start right before we get into the pros and cons. I'm going to actually start on the cons and the negatives. I want to share with you just my really quick version of my story, finding the business. I drank the Kool aid that many of us are told this like poisonous lie. Do what you're passionate about in life, you'll make money and be happy. And that's garbage. And in fact, I ended up doing that. I went to massage therapy school because I was into natural medicine. That was my passion. I had experienced this modality that changed my life and I wanted to give that gift to other people. So I go to this school, I become licensed massage therapist. I study various modalities like core synchronism and radionics, polarity therapy, reflexology, some herbalism, and even colon hydrotherapy. Yeah, close your eyes, use your imagination. And that's exactly it. And I ended up starting a private practice, which is really easy until I was missing one thing, clients. Which meant I wasn't Making any money. So to make ends meet, I get a job at a massage therapy franchise. And I was earning under $20,000 a year. I have to be on site for a six hour shift, but I was only paid if I was booked. And despite the fact that this massage therapy franchise was raking in all this money per massage, I was only paid 15 bucks a massage. And I, I didn't always get tips because not everyone tipped. So I could work for six hours, have a 45 minute commute each way and walk out of there with 30 bucks. And I was living on $4.20 a day in groceries. I never went out to eat. And my breaking point was a family holiday was Easter. I couldn't afford gas to drive the two hours to see my family. Had to ask my mom for money. And on that drive in is what sent me here, call my mom to say thanks. My stepdad Ron picked up the phone and my parents divorced later in life. So I didn't really know a whole lot about what Ron did or the earning potential. And Rod says to me, Adam, if you're looking to make a change, you know you can make $100,000 a year selling roofs door to door. And I sit there and I was like, selling roofs? I don't know anything about roofs. I don't think about sales door to door. That sounds miserable. So I brushed it off and before you know it, I had four hours of round trip time to rethink things. And I was like, well, I have two choices. I can either keep going down this poverty avenue path or I can jump into a career path that has higher earning potential, apply myself and make life changing money. Which one do I choose? And of course I chose this route. I jumped on Craigslist, this was in 2011, found the company that aligned with my values and very quickly, in my first eight months, smashed my income goal, made my first six figures, blew my income goal out of the water by 40%. So I made 140% of what I set out to make. I climbed the ranks through the company, filled virtually every role except accounting and installation, and became chief operating officer of a company operating in five states and six cities at the time. And today, now I've taken all this knowledge and I started this YouTube channel, the Roof Strategist. I have a sales system and sales training being used by many, many thousands across America. In fact, it's used in every state in the US for both storm and retail. It's even used in Canada, Australia and even Sweden. And I've had An opportunity to become Owens Corning's official sales training partner and speak at events all across the United States and train tens of thousands of roofing salespeople just like you. And I wouldn't be here without first starting in a bad place and in the trenches. And when I say in the trenches, I mean in that place of worrying how far I can drive before I need to get gas. Wondering whether or not I can go out to see some friends because I can't afford to get there. Having to figure out how to talk my way out of invitations and people invite me to eat because I couldn't afford it. To now being able to eat whatever I want, anywhere I want at any point, and even just that little thing has just been life changing. But this industry isn't for everybody. So now that you know my story, I just want to share with you the cons of the roofing industry and then we'll hit the price. So let's start with the cons. Con number one is that you will be your own worst enemy. In fact, in roofing sales, we're challenged in ways that we just won't ever have to face in like a cubicle job. I was someone who was thin skinned, sensitive and didn't like conflict and I had to face that head on. And it was scary and it was hard and it was not comfortable. So that's con number one. And again, some of these cons you might be hearing, that's not a con, that's a great thing. And I know, but it was a pro for me. But it's a con for many. Number two is this business. It's not consistent. So if you're someone that needs or wants like this amount of pay each and every week, you're not going to get that in roofing sales. Your income comes like this and we'll get to the pros. But those spikes can be really significant. So if you're someone that really wants that consistency, this isn't for you. All right, number three, benefits are really rare. So some companies are beginning to offer it. But if you're someone that's like, I need that benefits plan, the health insurance, whatever, you're not likely going to get it in roofing sales. Again, some companies aren't. I don't want to deter you. You should still ask. There are trends that are changing and some of the more established companies are in fact offering this. But the good news is to the cons. Teaser alert. With the amount of money you earn, if a benefits package is worth like five Grand. It's a drop in a bucket when you can just get started. Next con number four is finding the right company can be really tough. Not for everybody. Like for me I found the right company. I stayed there the whole time until I came on this side. But for some folks, they jump in and they find that it's just not a good culture fit. So don't be afraid if you're not in the right fit. Watch this video up here. How to choose the right roofing company. We'll put a link to that up in the top of this video. So take a peek there. But sometimes people don't have great success out of the gate. But you can always switch companies and good folks are always, always, always hiring. Alright number five, roofing sales is not for everybody. If it was this easy to make 100 to $300,000 in your very first year with no experience, everybody would do it. And there's five profile traits that I look for. Hustler, thick skinned, persuasive, persistent and confident. Those are the five that I look for. And I was not someone that was thick skinned. I needed some very deep inner work to get to that point. So you need to either have those or be very willing to develop those. And if you don't fit that, it's not going to be a good fit for you. Alright con number six, this is a scary one where I might send some people running for the hills. About 66% in my estimation. 66% of roofing salespeople in their very first year either quit or get fired. Yeah, two thirds of people don't make it in their first year. And before you start running for the hills, if you're some, the main reasons are number one, they weren't prepared mentally. So again, bringing back to con number one, facing your own enemy, being your own enemy, facing your inner demons, that scares people away. Number two, they're not prepared for success both mentally and tactically. So if you're watching this YouTube channel, you're like leagues ahead of everybody else because you're investing in yourself. And again the company support is the third element. So if you can find the right company, if you know that you're going to be facing your own inner demons and if you know that, hey, I can get access to, to these tactics and strategies here on this YouTube channel. If you're interested in my program, by the way, we have an package for reps. Maybe the company you're using is already using my program. You can ask during the interview but there's details in the description below as well for you to check out. All right, and then number seven is a big mindset shift is required to be successful in this business where you have to think like a business owner and not like an employee or a salesperson. Why? Because as a business owner, you're making different decisions because you're kind of writing your own checks, you're in charge of your own income. You may be making investments in yourself, whether it's through training, investing time, like here on YouTube or on other resources or in programs. Again, my sales system is available beneath below. You're investing in resources like tools. Tools meaning like tape measure, clipboard, ladder, your vehicle, setting your vehicle up as like a little office. So you do have to think more like a business owner than an employee. So those are kind of the seven cons for this career. And now I'm going to move into the pros. And I do recommend, by the way, if you're someone that like, heard this, you're like, it's not for me. Just listen all the way through. Because some of these cons aren't cons for some. And some of these pros, like, drown the cons out. You're like, okay, this is totally for me. So pro number one is my favorite. You get to set your own pay. I know it sounds crazy. I get to set your own pay. And one of the first things I do with new hires, and it's what I do in my training program, by the way. My sales system. Below is every sales rep is going to get a daily sales plan. So you're going to literally enter in your income goal. I want to make exactly this much and it removes all the mystery. So you know exactly what you need to do without the guest worker. Just trying to work hard and hope it happens. Telling you exactly what to do every day, how to generate your leads, what to do, the marketing material to use, all the touches you need, everything is in there. So when you get to set your own pay, like the sky's the limit. And there are roofing sales reps that have. Well, that leads me to pro number two, earning crazy amounts of money. And I write in my, in my head, unreal amounts of money in roofing sales. That's like the mantra that plays in my mind. Unreal amounts of money. Why? What other industry can you come in as a first year sales rep and make 100 grand, 200 grand or 300 grand? And I just trained a 21 year old, excuse me, he just turned 22, he just made a quarter million dollars last year, his second year in the business, in the first year I think he made just under 200. I've had another gentleman that jumped on board and using my system made 185,000, but then sold a massive property. There was another 120,000 on top of it. So the earning potential is truly, truly unreal. Which is the second pro, which again washes out to me like benefits not being rare, not being consistent. Who cares? You made 300 grand, you know, you don't, you don't have that stability. Who cares? You want to go buy benefits plan, buy a better one because now you can afford it. The money aspect does solve a lot of the con problems, but not all, but some. Alright, number three is how fast you can get started and how fast you can start experiencing success again your first year. Not everyone's going to have those wild results, but in my opinion, if you're a good fit and really working a good system and actually going to work every day, there's no reason you should not earn 100,000 and at minimum, and it's not guaranteed. I want to get that crystal clear. But in my opinion, if you're actually working and you're working a system disciplined in the pursuit, you would, you've got to be doing at least six figures. You have to be. And if you're not, there's one of two reasons why, number one, you're not working and you're just being lazy, you're not putting in the time. Or number two, you're just like kind of, you're doing it with like one foot in, one foot out. Like, I'll do a little bit, not a lot. Like you just got to go all in. You go all in, you're going to kill it. All right, Number four is due to the fast paced nature of this business, how fast you get results. The whole industry is fast paced. Like you are bouncing from appointment to appointment, you are fielding phone calls and for some people, they're like, whoa, pump the brakes, bud. I don't want fast paced. I want smooth, steady and slow and easy. And if that's you don't get into this business. But if you're someone who likes a fast paced environment, bam, bam, boom. Always rocking and rolling and moving, you're going to love this business because it is no shortage of fast paced, super fun. All right, Number five is that there's no cubicle. So for people that have come from an office job and they're like tired of sitting in an office like I am in my little office, Chair here because now I kind of have an office job and it's the part that I struggle with these days. I loved being out at customers homes, on the road, on roof, seeing new places, seeing new scenery, being outside, which again, some people are like, I don't want to be outside. It's hot here. I loved it, I loved it, I loved it. There was nothing more enjoyable than like not having an office and just being out in the great outdoors on people's roofs. And plus seeing the world from roofs is like really cool. All right, number six is this industry is totally addicting. You get to set your own pay, you get unreal amounts of money. And because it's fast paced, it is like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. So instead in the past I remember as a massage therapist, I've watched the clock tick, tick, tick, tick in like slow motion and be like, when's the day over, please? And in roofing sales, I never felt that it was, I feel like at the end of the day I was wishing that there was more time because I knew that if I could just do this a little bit more, I'd earn more money and I'd advance, I'd learn these new skills. And at like 9 o' clock at night I'm like, I wish there was more time. So if that kind of thing excites you, you're going to love it. And I've saved the best for last. Which is tip number seven, excuse me, pro number seven, which is that roofing sales is personal development in disguise. I repeat, roofing sales is personal development in disguise. If you're someone who loves self help books, who loves being the best version of you, you're going to love roofing sales. Because the byproduct of bettering yourself, whether it's your mindset, your discipline, your focus, your organization, your sales skills, your communication skills, your conflict management skills, how you plan your day, all of those pieces. When you get better, what follows is your income. So you get better here and then your income follows. So think of it like gamifying your personal growth, but then the like reward instead of like a trophy is like a whole bunch of money. And when we talk about money, I look at money as a thank you note. Because in this business, customers when you do a good job will literally say, thank you for serving me. Thank you for helping me. Thank you for taking the time to explain all of this to me. Thank you for helping me make a big decision. Thank you for helping me solve this problem. Thanks for helping me get my roof done. Thank you. And they're handing you a $20,000 check which have you ever had in a salary job, a boss that says thank you every single time your direct deposit comes in? My guess is probably not. And in roofing sales, I look at this as collecting thank you notes as of being of service. So there you have it. All the cons of the roofing business and then right next to it, all the pros. And to me, the pros outweigh the cons. And specifically number seven is that roofing sales is personal development, disguise, which is my deepest love for this business. I hope this video helped you determine whether or not roofing sales is a good career for you because that's all that matters. It doesn't matter. It's a good career for anyone else. What matters is it's a good career for you. And I hope this helps you prepare your mind, get your tactics set and help you blow it out of the water so you can smash your income goal and give every customer an amazing experience. And if you are new to this whole thing, jump inside my free training center. There's a link below. Or maybe consider it taking a peek at my programs to get a sales system and a daily plan just for you with all the material you need. Self generate your own leads and close deals confidently. And I hope you're wildly successful. And if you choose that this roofing is the business isn't for you, that's also a win. Now, just because our time here is about to wrap up doesn't mean your and my time has to. So again, jump in the free training center right here. There's a playlist inside that you're going to love. It's specifically for new roofing sales people. Start here, you'll see it and hop in there. And if you want to hang with me on YouTube, hop right here and I'll see you on the next one.