Sales Fell Off a Cliff? STOP Freaking Out and Do This

Sales fell off a cliff.

You're having a lull. All the momentum you were having, whether you're brand new, a seasoned veteran or an owner, just seems to have dropped and you don't know why. You're wondering, is it homeowners? Is something happening in the market? Why aren't they answering the door? Why aren't you closing sales? Why are people ghosting you? Maybe it's you. Are you screwing things up? Did you alter how you were pitching or presenting? And then it turns inward and you begin wondering if something's wrong with you personally. Are you even meant to be doing roofing sales? Well, you're not alone. What you're about to watch here is an interview. Now, it is a longer interview and I highly recommend you watch this thing all the way through because I did a one on one coaching session with Tim. He's a member of the Roofing and Solar Reform Alliance. It's a thing I do for members and we air them here to help you understand what we do as a group, together, inside, but also to support you through the real vulnerable stuff that folks generally don't talk about. And I hope that through Tim's experience on this lull, as a new person in this business resonates with you no matter how long you've been in it. And that my advice through this coaching session to Tim helps you break through the lull that you might be experiencing right now. Before we roll into the video, if you're interested in joining us in the trenches in live interactive sessions and using my sales training and getting ongoing daily support for you and your team and owners and managers, being able to roundtable with like minded professionals like you. Well, click the link in the description to learn more about the Roofing and Solar Reform Alliance. We'll set up a private tour and you can decide if it's a good fit. So without further ado, let's jump into this interview with Tim and get to the bottom of lulz and sales slumps.

So you can break through yours. Tim, good to have you here, man. I'm really excited to be doing this. So talk to me. What's the one thing that's holding you back in life or business?

So I'd say on the business stroke of things, feeling like I'm hitting that two month lull. Started out feeling like things were going strong, a couple contingencies in there and those have moved to contracts. But now I'm feeling that people aren't opening the door. And I know it's partially a numbers game. Yeah, but knocking on 50 doors, getting 10 people to open the door, and of those, really only having one person say, sure, come back. Just kind of feeling the pressure there that I'm not building that pipeline.

I'm taking notes over here, by the way, if it looks like I'm looking off. So why do you think this is happening?

Part of me would want to say it feels like I'm behind the curve. So approaching some of these areas, being new in this, seeing I get into the neighborhood, I go to start knocking some doors and three other companies are already in the neighborhood knocking doors. I don't know if that contributes any part to why people would or wouldn't open a door. But yeah, just working through perhaps my inner demons of overthinking that.

Yeah. So you're hitting on some things here. Being late to the party and then inner demons, which I want to get into. But before we do, you opened up saying, I've got a two month lullaby. So the lull. Has this lull begun at the two month mark or has it been a lull leading up to the two month mark?

So the lull feels. So I've now been in it roughly two months and within the last two weeks that's where I'm feeling this slump where things aren't moving.

So two months in last two weeks, we're feeling a slump. First, before I, before I respond, is there anything else that you want to share with me that will kind of provide some context as to what kind of flipped the switch two weeks ago to create this slump or this lull?

I'm honestly not certain. I've tried different areas in different neighborhoods.

And.

There has been a consistent pattern of people not really opening the doors. But. But I haven't gotten anything the last two weeks. So it feels like now I'm just reaching a point where feeling nervous just because it's not moving.

Yeah. Again, I'm taking some notes over here. Okay. All right, so here's the scoop. First, what you're experiencing is completely normal. And I want to get that out of the way. First and foremost, a lot of people that get into roofing sales, which by the way, this is not everybody, but it's a lot of people. It wasn't me, for whatever it's worth, but they'll have success out of the gate. And I've watched this happen with salespeople that they have success and they're like, man, I did this. I'm doing so good. And then there's two things that happen. Thing number one is we make this assumption that if I could do this, then it should just continue and it should go nowhere but up, which is what we all want. And it's what I want to. My team has to constantly remind me like, hey, it's not just straight up. And so number one is just managing expectations that this business is a roller coaster and it's an emotional roller coaster. And you'll have the highest of highs, the lowest of lows. Your best week ever, your worst week ever, your best sales day ever, worst sales day ever, best moment in sales, followed by the worst phone call you could have ever received from a homeowner. And everything went wrong. So when you said, you know, haven't gotten anything in the last two weeks and coming into a slump. I'm not saying this to take away from the fear, the anxiety, the frustration, the morale murdering stuff where you're like, you know, when you're just deflated. But I do want you just to know, one, it's normal and two, it has to be expected. So I just want to get that out of the way. Then we're going to talk about the other parts. Reason number two. So there's two reasons or two things that can, that can kind of contribute to this. One's the, the thought that we're always going to be in an upward trajectory. But the other is that oftentimes in sales, and I'm not implying that this is the case, but I want to talk about it. There's a lot of times that people, when they're new, they're really successful and they're following what they were trained on and what ends up happening. I'm going to scoot back here so you can see is they'll run a sales appointment and, or knock on a door and they'll say it like this. And then it worked. But then the next appointment we're going to just change something. We're going to look at the one we just had before and this is now our reference point. And then we change just a little tiny something thinking, thinking that we're making it better. Then we knock on the next door and from the thing that we already changed, we changed one more thing. And then the next appointment we look back at that one, which we now we've changed two or three things and then we change one more thing. And they're so gradual that before you know it, you started off over here, you ended up over here. And what you're doing now resembles pretty much nothing from what you were originally trained on that was working. And this is incredibly common. So getting, getting to it, just hearing that philosophy and you can tell me, no, you can tell me to piss off if that's not accurate. But is that, does that resonate? Could, could that be a contributing factor?

When I'm actually speaking with the person, I want to say no. But on some of them I can definitely look back and say, yeah, I should have started the conversation this way. So on some of them, yes, I've definitely caught myself after some interactions messing it up and then going back to basically just the sheet that has my pitch on it and just reading that again like, okay, stick with this one, stick with this one.

Yeah. Sometimes what happens with people is when something was working and then it's not working, our desire is to change it. And there's times that change is needed. But oftentimes, by the way, I am very guilty of this. My team has to rein me in because I'm, I'm the constant optimizer and sometimes I over optimize by changing things too soon. And I'm sharing that to admit fault, not say, you know, I'm not sitting up here saying, hey, look, I'm the greatest thing ever. Got it all figured out. I don't. But I am self aware to realize that I have this tendency. And I know that many people are wired very similar to me because they're in sales roles, as you may be. So that's one thing that I would just be mindful of is going back to the basics and remembering that when people either when they're answering the door and they're not interested, the first microsecond is what matters. You know, it's, it's even carrying the energy from the rejection that we just had to the door. People read that on your face. Are you friend or foe? Which is why I know people are watching me before I even put knuckles on the door. And not, it might not be everybody but the people that see me coming up the driveway that are peeking out their window. Or like for me, if I'm, if I'm in my kitchen, I could see someone in my driveway and I'm observing them because it's my house and I'm going to see how they're carrying themselves. Do they have a smile on their face? Are they looking optimistic? Do they look defeated? They look shaved. Like all of this is just instantaneous unconscious triggers that are going, so when we approach the door, knowing we're being watched no matter what, follow the system and know what's going to work at the door. As I Show up and cut right to it. You know, even a lot of people have a tendency to add more to their pitch when it's not working. And I would say do the opposite where you shrink it down. Because remember, the end goal is to get to the part where you ask an open ended question to get them talking as quickly as possible and revealing where they're at in the process so we can figure out what we need to select from, from all our various pitches to help. Does that make sense?

It does, yeah.

Last thing on this and then I'm going to punt it back over to you. You mentioned that you were. And I don't remember if I put these notes in my own words or yours. Did you say late to the party or did I put those words in your mouth?

I think I actually said late to the party or at least feeling like that.

Yeah. Okay, good deal. Because I've been late to the party. I know the late to the party feeling. And so I know that feeling of being late to the party. And I actually share this story in my book that I'll never forget. I was driving through a neighborhood and again, I was eight weeks late on a record setting storm in Madison, Wisconsin. It was when I was my first year in the business, just getting started. At this point, there were no helmet maps. I mean, excuse me, that's not true. There were hell maps, but they cost $750 and they were printed and mailed to the right people, like didn't share them with folks. You didn't have it on your phone or on an app. So I, eight weeks late, I went to ground zero. So two and a half inch hail fell and I was eight weeks after I was the 150th roofer there. So I got laughed out of the neighborhood and that totally defeated me. So then I started driving to the next neighborhood and I was like, the grass will be greener here. And. And then I saw yard signs everywhere. And then I drove to this next neighborhood and I was like, wait, I never even knew this place existed. This is going to be great. No one knows this is here. Blasted with yard signs, drove into the next one. Same thing every single time. I'm like, this is useless. This is totally useless. Why am I doing this? Do I even have an opportunity to be successful or not? And then what I started to do is to just be selective on the doors I hit. So when I was late to the party, if they didn't have a yard sign, they generally haven't made a decision yet. So instead of knocking every door. I would just pull into the proper driveway. So it's more targeted on my approach. And I ended up pulling into this long driveway I'll never forget. I even remember their name, these folks. And I get outta my truck, and the guy walks over to me, and I'm like, bracing for rejection. Here's another one. I'm gonna get kicked off. And I got my pitch out and the slap formula. I said, hey and broke the ice. Hey, my name's Adam. And the reason I'm stopped by. We're just cruising through the neighborhood. Couldn't help but notice you guys didn't have a yard sign in your yard, which tells me you're not working with a roofer yet. Where are you guys at in the process? And he says to me, our house is pretty new. We haven't really done anything. If you want to take a look, you can. And it turned into a $5,000 commission. And that was all because I got out of my own head and said, I know I'm late to the party. But the lesson was that there's a reason that people haven't made a decision yet. Because the life cycle of a storm environment, because you're working a storm. Is that correct?

Multiple. But yeah, yeah.

So you're working storms. So the life cycle of the storm is in the very beginning. There are people that take action really fast. Those are the folks that, like, the hail isn't even melted, and they're on the phone with their insurance, filing a claim. They're on it. So that segment gets gobbled up. Then the next segment are the folks that are like, okay, there's not, like a crazy amount of urgency. The emotional panic is through. The house survived. Will get this taken care of in the next couple months. And then that market goes. Then there's the people that say, I'm in absolutely no rush. I know my roof's not going to leak. I'm going to get this taken care of, But I'm going to see what shakes out. I'm going to see what roofers are still here. I'm going to see what my neighbors do. And then they'll. And then. So that section is there. And then there's the section of people that either refuse to do something, don't care, or they're dragging their feet, and that's the last people to act. And they're the ones that are generally least aware. So when you say you're late to the party, just remember to get yourself out of the way and focus on those Opportunities that are relevant to you because it does become more challenging in time. Because a storm has its own. The storm cycle has its own, like, its own storyline. And as time progresses, the storyline changes and we're changing with it. And if we can ride that wave of change, you're going to kick butt. You just can't let the change freak you out.

Thank you. I know a lot of my struggle has been just getting out of my head. Definitely a challenge that I looked forward to getting into, leaving my last job, but coming into this, realizing now into it. Yeah, it is a challenge. Yeah.

When you said, I want to get into this a little bit, you said that the challenge is getting out of your own head. And you also mentioned your inner demons. Share with me first. How are you getting in your head?

Kind of rehearsing the scenario before I can get out of the car. And honestly, it's kept me from getting out of the car. Car multiple times. I know in one of your videos, you talked about a guy who was new to it and he was so scared to just get out of the car. Then those moments that just talked myself out and then I'll just pull down the street and try to get out of my head and do it again. Yeah, that's been one of the things I've been chipping away at.

Know. I appreciate you sharing that also. You're not alone. I mean, it is amazing how common that is. And you'll hear people say this, the hardest door to open is the truck door to get out and start. And I learned something from a gentleman I interviewed, and his name is on the tip of my tongue. I have to go back and pull up the video, but I need to give credit where credit's due. And he said, adam, my trick to overcome this was to pull up at a house that no one was home. So I'd get out of my truck and I'd knock on the first door already, and it would be the easiest one that no one was home. And now I started, I got out of my truck. And I love that. The idea of just like, you know, what was it? I think, David, it might be Goggins in his book, never finished. It's on the bookshelf back there. I think it might have been him. He says, you just got to put your running shoes on. How do you start running every day? You take the first step, put your shoes on. And that analogy has always landed with me is instead of when you said telling the narrative, when we tell ourselves the narrative, which we do as humans, you're going to be way far ahead as opposed to getting into right now. And instead of looking in minutes, look in seconds, look in the next second. What's the first thing I have to do? Put my hand on the door handle. It's the second thing you have to do. Pull the door handle. What's the third thing you have to do? Push the door open. Fourth thing, put one foot out. Second thing, put the second foot out. Close the door behind me, click the lock button. I'm there. Next thing, I'm gonna knock on the door that no one's home, and I'm just gonna be like, okay, door one down. Now I can go to the next one. So I find for me, breaking it into steps, like, even on all the things that are overwhelming, like, right before this, I was doing some new stuff, and I sat here at my desk and I'm like, I'm creating a new video. I don't even know how to do this. I. I'm going to fail. It's going to suck. I don't know how to communicate what I need to do. And I'm like, what's the first step? Open Google Docs on a plain doc and just start putting ideas down, you know, and then, and then all we need to do is take that first step and the rest follows. So just remember that hardest door to open is your own, and then take the first easiest step. And it's okay to be easy on yourself to create the right habit. I think that a lot of people get into this, like, hardcore discipline, which, believe me, I am very disciplined, but I also am gentle with myself to create the right habits of discipline, where again, you can be easy on yourself to say, I just need to get out of the truck, out of the car, be easy on yourself. I just need to knock that first door. Because now what we're doing is creating the momentum of easy sales habits. So you also mentioned your inner demon. Are you comfortable sharing a little bit about that with me?

Yeah, I think as far as my demon, I think in many ways it's just feeling a level of inadequacy.

Like.

Seeing the. The potential pay scale for what a roofer or a guy in roofing sales can make. I. I question if I am the person that's capable of making that. That's honestly probably a big reason why I stayed at my last job as long as I did is because I couldn't see myself making more. Like I'm not the kind of person that has the potential for that. And so in this I still feel like I carry that baggage with me. Am I the person that's able to make the sale? Am I able to talk to the person and say the right things and connect with them? So that's where a lot of those inner conversations come up before I get out of the car.

Yeah.

Questioning, yeah. Made up conversation.

Dude, that's real. That's very real. And again, so many people like you think that you're alone going through this and you're the only one that's experiencing these thoughts. You're not. You're totally not. There's two things I want to respond to in this. First is doing the inner work. That's the shittiest part of this job, this career. And the most rewarding is the inner work. I mean, I believe that roofing sales is just a commitment to lifelong therapy. And your personal demons and stuff either hold you back or you learn ways to grow into them, grow through them and face them that you've never had to do before. And then instead of paying a therapist, for example, you're gamifying therapy every single day. And then your growth is you getting paid. And that's how I looked at it. And I share my inner demons in my book. Did you get a chance to read no is an okay answer. Have you read my book yet? Okay, let's. I'd love for you to read that because I think you one I wrote that book so you don't feel alone because not only did I go through it, you're going through it. Lots of other people go through these things. And when I've had people read the book and say, man, you're telling me my own story. And anyway, I'll tell you what, I'm going to send you a copy after this. We'll connect. I'll send you a copy of the book. It's called the Ripping Sales Survival how to Beat the Odds, Overcome Yourself and Win Big. But I think that in terms of conquering your inner demon, one of mine that I've been working on recently is I am a recovered alcoholic and drinking was a way for me to cope. And I never thought, I never looked into why. So the reason I'm bringing this back is that there's a direct connection here. You're saying I'm not worthy of being that person. I'm not capable of being the person who can earn that kind of money, which has everything to do with self worth. Why are you not capable of it? Why are you not worth it? Why are you not worthy of it? And I had to look at my. A very deep sense of, of. Of loneliness that even around people I felt. So I, I drank to. To fill a void of emptiness. And when we have to turn and look inwards into our stuff, it sucks like big time. But then it's almost like when you shine a light on it now it's clear and you shine the light and it becomes clear. So now you can work through it versus the inner demon being something that stares at you and scares you with fear. So we run away with it. So anytime we want to run away from our inner demon, it's going to amplify. And then the other thing that I want to share with you is when you said I'm not the person who's capable of earning this kind of money. This is the interesting thing thing, this book right here. Sorry, I just set up this book. I needed all my books that changed, that have inspired me. This book changed my life. Called Goals how to achieve everything in life fast, you never dreamed possible by Brian Tracy. And what Brian Tracy shares in this book is that in order to achieve something that you've never done before, you have to become someone you've never been before. And again, I never thought of it that way. So I would lovingly say to you, you're right, you're not capable of it yet. You're not capable yet. And I think that's the joy of the vision, is that you can acknowledge where you are now. When I got into the business, I was making $19,000 and change a year. I was living below the poverty line. And I said in order for me to earn my first six figures, I have to become someone who's capable of earning this level of money. And what I did is set myself up on a transformation journey. And I knew that each time I achieved more, it was just me proving to myself that I was capable of it. So. So I would do some time journaling and looking back into where in your life why is the self worth issue holding you or pinning you back down to probably some screwed up stuff in childhood, probably, I don't know, your parents or siblings, but there's likely some things there. Your social environment as a kid that doesn't serve you anymore. And stare at a big ugly scary ass thing in the face and then say, hey, this is my game, to prove it to myself and how can I become this person? Because I am. And you get to rewrite your own narrative, man. That's the beautiful part. I am the person who's capable of showing up at A stranger's house. I am the person who's capable of dealing with rejection two weeks in a row and getting nothing and getting back up at my feet and saying, screw you, you can't tell me, no, I'm going to do it. And it's amazing what happens in a year looking back at what you've accomplished. So that's what I'd share with you, my friend.

Thank you. I do love Brian. Tracy, I haven't read that book yet, but I am curious because on your journey of transformation, I know Simon Sinek talks about starting with why and letting that be the motivation. But in those moments of just the. Just call it the monotonous grind, how did you keep that upfront?

My why was that? Roofing sales is personal development in disguise. I'm not. I wasn't doing this. Actually, that's not true. I got very poisoned by chasing money, and I share that in my book. My why changed. My why when I got started was I'm going to become a new, better version of myself. I was a peacekeeper in my childhood, and the idea of showing up at a stranger's house scared the absolute crap out of me. I hated conflict and rejection and any of that. Dude, that was dangerous territory for me. So to me, having that why of what this was doing for my own growth was a big why. But my why had also changed. Because then, as I grew into other roles, it was about helping other people do that same thing. And my why now is simple. It's to help people feel believed in, experience a breakthrough, and then help them believe in themselves. And every single thing that I do these sessions is, for one thing, we haven't met in person outside of obviously joining in the RSRA sessions. We haven't shaken hands yet. I know we will at our annual event this year, but whether we had met or not, I want you to feel believed in because I believe in you. I believe in you because you took a leap and you bet on yourself. And most people don't have someone in their life that says they believe in you. And then the next thing that I want on my why is for you to experience a breakthrough that can be in a pitch at the door. That could be a mental thing of like, hey, I just figured out how to open the door. It could just be a new mindset that you have. And then through that breakthrough in many breakthroughs is when we start to believe in ourselves. So ultimately, my why is the business of helping people believe in themselves. And I just happen to do it through roofing I don't know why it worked. Worked for me and I want to pay it forward. But you could sub any industry, it doesn't matter. To keep that in the front of mind, I'd write it down. I have a giant whiteboard off in my office right here next to me. I write big goals on it. And you just need to have this stuff in your face all the time. And when you do, when you have that why, which I walk you through in this book, by the way, I don't know if I'll be able to find the page right off the top of my head. Thumbing through this while we're on here. Oops, I just. Nope, that wasn't it. Anyway, you'll see it in here in the table of contents. I walk you through an exercise of how to discover your why. And that is in your reasons to survive and Thrive, page 39. So I'll walk you through that. I'll give you the shortened version right now. Number one, you need to ask yourself why you what, what kind of money you want to make. And I'll give you an example. People say it's a hundred grand. Cool. Why is that important to you? And most people will say, because I've never made that much, it'd be life changing, it'd be whatever. Or 200 sub number, doesn't matter to me, it could be a half million dollars. But the point is, people pick the number and then you ask why. And for most folks, it's a pretty superficial answer, right? They picked it out of a hat and never made a hundred grand and never made 150. Or they'll think, well, I could do this, I could pay off my debt. Great. But. But then the next question is, well, why is that important to you? And then even just two layers deep, how much money do you make? Why is that important? And why is that previous reason so important? You'll find answers like, wow, because If I made $150,000 a year, I could pay off all my debt. I could buy a house and I could provide for my kids in a way that I wasn't able to be provided for growing up. And giving them opportunities is the reason I work. And now every door you knock, it's cause your kids. I don't know if you have kids or not. I don't have kids. But either way, it's the deeper why that they're the ones that are, that are rooting for you. They're the ones that you're working for. It's not. It's not so you can make an extra grand or two grand. Because once you start making money in this business, it stops being motivating because it's. It's monotonous. It's like, I did this. I made the sale. I made 2 grand, 3 grand, 5 grand, 10 grand, 20 grand. The money's the money. And if we. If we need to have a deeper reason as to why we're doing this. And I'll end with this one story. There was a. This is an anecdote. An anecdote or a fable rather, that says there are three people that were interviewed. All of them were bricklayers. Person one, what do you do for a living? The bricklayer says, I'm laying bricks. I work really hard to feed my family. Bricklayer number two, what do you do for a living? I lay bricks. I'm building a wall. Person number three, what do you do for a living? I'm a bricklayer. I'm working really hard to build a house for the Almighty. So one guy's laying bricks for a paycheck. One guy laying bricks because he sees that he's building a wall, which is important. And the other guy, who's religious, says, I'm building a house for the Almighty. You can imagine which one probably feels more fulfillment in their life. And they're doing the exact same thing every day. And our job is to tap into what that thing is for us.

And the. The why. Going through five whys. Yeah, the. The painful heart of it. There's definitely some things I don't want my children or my wife to ever have to. To face.

Yeah.

So, yeah.