$3.8MM in Roofing Sales… in Her First 9 Months... While Pregnant! Kaylee Rumley Shares Her Sales Process—and How She’s Succeeded in a New Industry So Quickly

Welcome to The Successful Contractor, powered by CertainPath, a show for residential contractors about residential contractors. We chronicle business journeys, share insights, and celebrate successes in this wonderful industry. I'm your host, Bob Houchin. For more information on how CertainPath can put your contracting company on a certain path to success, visit our website, www.mycertainpath.com. I hope you enjoy today's show and take away a nugget or two. Kaylee, thank you so much for being here today. I greatly appreciate it. Uh, for those that haven't had the pleasure of meeting you, can you share with everyone your name, your company name, and where you guys are located?

Yeah, my name is Kaylee Remley and I work for Three Mountain Roofing and we're up in Jeffersonville, Vermont.

Very good.

Very good. And you, what is your position?

I am a roofing specialist.

Roofing specialist.

Yeah.

For a very, very good reason. You had a Fantastic year last year, both professionally and personally, right?

I did.

Yeah.

Very busy.

Yeah.

Share with everyone. This is your time to brag. What would you do in sales last year?

I sold $3.8 million in 9 months while I was pregnant.

$3.8 million. Mostly residential roofing. Yep. Mostly retail. So not insurance. Yep. In your first full year, which is really 9 months.

Sure.

So holy cow. So you're going up and down the ladder as you're pregnant and everything.

Yeah. Yeah. At the end when I did reach out and use my team for support where there was a couple situations where I'm like, I'm not doing that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Man, what— I'm so excited that you're here. I really look forward to learning your story and your process. But I love learning people's backgrounds, how they got to where they are. So let's start with you. Before you got into roofing, what were you doing? Would you— let's start, hop, when you got out of school, would you— you said you're in skiing, right?

Yeah, so I was a professional ski bum right after college for a long time. So I worked in the ski industry. I taught skiing for— this was my first winter that I didn't teach skiing, actually, for about 15, 16 years.

Okay. So, so what prompted the change to roofing? It's a very obvious change, right?

Yeah, I had a lot of seasonal jobs in between, like with skiing. So working in the outdoor education center or outdoor education field and then farming too. But I met the owners, Lee and Elisa, while working in the ski industry. Okay. And Elisa was a good friend well before she was my boss. So we kind of always kept in touch and I was catching up with her one day and I was in between jobs and Lee, her husband, was like, you wanna work for a roofing company? And I said, I don't really know much about roofing. But he's like, don't worry, we'll teach you. So I jumped on board.

That's great. And so you said your first week, that's when they went to executive perspective, right?

Yeah.

Yep. So they're like, answer the phones, we're gonna give you some training.

Yep.

We'll be right back.

Exactly.

What do you remember back then? Your thoughts, your feelings?

With what?

Just with this job change, they're running off to do some crazy training. I don't know what's going on.

Yeah, they were in a pivotal moment in their business and they either needed to grow or scale down. And so they decided to grow and jump on board with CertainPath. So I just learned the process that was working for them at that time. And it, yeah, just kind of talking to customers, gathering information, and then We were doing— the sales was a little bit different back then, but—

Yeah, but you guys, your process now is modeled off our process, right?

Yeah, Lisa and I went down to Arizona to the sales training in, I think, May of 2022, and that is where we learned the sales process and pretty much put it in place after that.

So what kind of training did you guys do back home? Were you both playing with each other, just putting materials What was that like?

After or before the pro— or the—

Let's do both. Before, what'd you do? I mean, you had the materials, I guess you're like, well, we'll kind of figure it out.

So we, like, you would probably balk at what we were doing, but we were just going to the house and taking pictures. We really weren't meeting with customers. We're sending out estimates. It was pretty loose.

Sure.

And then—

Common though.

Yep. And then after the training, we totally switched it up. And so Setting expectations of what the appointment was gonna be, meeting with the customers, scheduling to be able to meet with the customers, and then just kind of educating them.

Right, right, right. Do you guys do a lot of training at the, the office now? Well, you have 2 more salespeople, I know.

Yeah, so we, we do. We have a sales meeting every week, and so we're kind of in the process of kind of nailing down more role-playing and stuff, but Very good.

Yeah, I'm excited to learn the special sauce and how you have such a killer first 9 months. So let's, let's get into it.

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When you head to a call, you know, one kind of What preparation do you do for it?

So the night before, I'll usually— we do 2 to 3 calls a day. And so I'm looking at the notes that our office manager is taking for us and kind of looking at them on Google Maps if you can see the house. Being in Vermont, there's a lot of houses you can't see because it's in the woods. And then on the way there, I'm trying to review the notes again, but I don't like to know too much information. I'd rather get that information from the customer.

Okay. So, okay. So you don't know, they just want up?

Well, yeah, typically gathering if it's— they know they need a roof replacement or if they want an inspection. Those are— and then we're starting a repair department. So that's kind of been in the works for a little bit.

So you get any kind of special music to get yourself amped up?

No, I do podcasts and audiobooks.

Okay. What do you— this is always a tough question.

Yeah.

Well, what are you listening to lately?

For the game, which is a podcast by Alex— I should— I can't remember his last name. Yeah, but my— the book I'm listening to right now is The 12 Rules of Life.

Okay. So you're always looking for something that's— that can kind of help you develop a little bit.

Absolutely.

That's fun. That's fun. You just Google— where do you find your books?

I go any training or there's a couple people I follow on social media that's in the sales world and they always post book lists. And I'm always asking for recommendations from people if I kind of know that they're into like self-development or sales, what their favorite books are.

Yeah. So you get to the house, you knock on the door.

Yep.

You know, you kind of step back. How do you start building that rapport right away? It's so valuable.

Yeah, I kind of dive right into it. So I say, tell me about your roof. And so that kind of just opens up the conversation of why I'm there. And then we— they sometimes do the walk around with me, but if they don't, I set the expectation of what the whole process or the meeting is going to be about or the timing of it.

And do you outline that or roughly?

Yeah, in WhatsApp.

No, like just, hey, what's your—

you know, this is Jones, this is what the Yeah, so, um, I'm here to look at your roof. So kind of what the next steps are is I want to gather information from you. I then am going to walk around the property, take a series of pictures, gather information, and we send those pictures off to be able to get the roof report to be able to build the proposal off of those dimensions.

Okay.

And then if there is an attic access, I would love to look into your attic. And then if you have a little bit of time after, we like to sit down with customers just to educate them on the process of a roof replacement. And do you have enough time? And they're like, yes or no. And then depending on that answer, I kind of go from there.

Okay. Do you share anything about yourself at that point, or do you talk about yourself and the company later on?

I do later on. I introduce myself and But they are calling us to kind of set the appointment up. So, and we send a bio link with, I think it's a Pulse M, that so they know a little bit about me and know my face before I get there.

Very good.

Very good.

How much are you watching? Do you pay attention to body language and personality about, okay, what am I in store for, you know, the rest of the way?

Yeah, definitely. Some people come out and then some people invite me in. I think that's The first big indicator of how what I how the meeting is going to go, and then I just try to set them up with the expectation of what to expect to try to get them at ease because I know inviting a stranger into your house is uncomfortable for some people.

Sure. What other questions are you asking a lot of questions at that point? Like why you know you know confirming why you're there if they just wanted an inspection versus a quote or. What they're looking for in a roof?

Usually the question of, tell me a little bit about your roof. They are giving me all of that. And then if they aren't, that's kind of when I'm poking a little bit. Not poking, but asking.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What kind of follow-up stuff do you typically look for?

Whether there's any active leaking. So even if there's shingles that are missing or not missing, I should say, sometimes there is active leaking. Skylights are another thing I want to make sure I am aware of. Those are the 2 big ones right off the bat.

So primarily at that point, you're just worried about what's the condition of your current roof. Yeah, we're not getting any deeper than that.

Yeah.

Okay, very good. So when you're doing the measurement process, do you use any kind of software or anything, tools?

Yeah, we use Hover and EagleView. So depending on the location of the property, Sometimes we can with Vermont and the service that is a tricky piece. So yeah, like depending on the location, we use one of the two.

Okay, very good. And then how long is that whole process?

The walk around typically takes me like 10, 15, 20 minutes depending on the property and the details.

Okay. And then when you get in the attic, what are you looking for? Just taking pictures?

Taking pictures. Vermont, there is a lot of creative construction.

And I like that creative construction.

Yeah. And a lot of older houses too. So the decking is sometimes like old barn board. And so knowing what we're getting into after the roof is off, if we need to put plywood on top. Right. And then also leaking too.

Sure, sure. A lot of ventilation issues.

Yes. Again, older houses are interesting because they breathe more. than the newer houses. So looking for mold too.

Yeah, you know, the bearer of bad news sometimes.

Exactly.

So, okay, so after you do your measurements, you're taking pictures— where, by the way, what software do you use to upload pictures? Do you use anything?

Just keep it on our phone. Yeah, we— if I have service, I'll use the Hover app and just upload them directly. If not, we order the EagleView ahead of time if We can.

All photos or do you do any video?

All photos, some video depending on the situation, but mostly photos.

All right. What's your— what's the next step?

So I'm gathering the information and then I head back, whether they're walking with me or head back to the door, find them, and then we head to the kitchen table.

All right. So, so outline your, your sales process as best you can sitting here cold. I know you By the way, do you have any tools, books? What do you, what do you like?

So we use the binder, um, the CertainPath binder, and then I'm bringing a trifold of the colors of shingles that we offer. And then we have a company folder that has information about our company references, a little bit more, um, about the warranty that is offered with the, the shingles, and then some skylight stuff if it pertains.

All right. So For people that aren't familiar with the process, can you kind of walk me through it a little bit?

Yeah. So I am sitting down and I kind of go over what I look for with a roof that needs to be replaced. And so I'm giving them that list of kind of checkboxes, and then I take out my phone and then I start showing them pictures.

Okay.

And then asking, do you see any of these? And they can pretty quickly point out, yep, I'm seeing black streaking, or yep, that's my ridge cap is starting to get tattered. Or I'm missing shingles. And so I'm then clarifying question or I'm clarifying like color drip edge and pointing out chimneys if they need a cricket or not, or if they have one.

Price stuff they didn't even think about.

Exactly. I'm just trying to give them as much information about their roof as possible.

Right, right.

Okay.

So you're going through, okay, these are the things that are wrong.

Yeah.

You know, I'm glad you had me out here because these are issues. What's the next step in the process?

Then I use the CertainPath. I'm blanking on the name, but it's the 10— what's the most important part about your roof?

Yeah.

And so I'm offering them that page and that kind of opens up the conversation of where they're coming from as a customer.

Right, right. So what— yeah, there's all sorts of good stuff like what they value, right?

Exactly.

So you're looking at— is it 5 most important things or 3 most important things to them? I forget what it is of the 10.

I asked what's— I know they're all important, but is there one or two that kind of stick out to you being most important for it?

So I think it's like, well, I have a list actually.

I think it's like financing, value, peace of mind, energy savings, appearance, guarantees. Yep. So guarantees.

We'll say those, you know, the response. How does that change your mindset or your approach?

It just I'm going over all of them, and so I'm gonna just cue in on the ones that are important to them and maybe talk a little bit more about them.

Okay, very good.

Or kind of, yeah, talk a little bit more about that.

And how you guys fit that.

Exactly.

Okay, very good.

Yep.

All right, what's the next step after that?

Then we dive into the anatomy of the roof. So we've got a photo of the different layers, and then we're just talking about That's where I talk about the entire process, how we're going to remove and strip and then kind of build your new roofing system back up. These are the products we use. This is why we use them. And then talking about ventilation is always an important thing that nobody else— they know nothing about ventilation typically. I didn't know about it at all before getting into this stuff. And most other roofing companies don't talk about it either.

So what do you say to homeowners? Ventilation? Do I want it sealed up? You know, I don't want anything coming into my house.

So in Vermont, we get a lot of snow and ice. And so I open up the conversation asking if they have any ice damming or if they get icicles on their roof. And then depending on that answer, I can kind of go into, you do have proper ventilation or you don't, and this is why. And then kind of giving them the understanding of why ventilation is important.

Sure, sure. Okay. Do you talk about how your construction process is at that point or how you're different? Like, for example, you guys have project managers or superintendents. Everyone calls it QC guy.

Yeah. Nope. We do have project managers on the job site, but that is kind of at the very end.

Very good.

Yeah.

Jumping ahead.

Yeah. No, it's all good.

Slow down, Bob.

All right.

So what's your— what's your next step there?

So after ventilation, Trying to think. I'm going through the book, but so we're—I'm just kind of making sure they understand the entire process before I get into the warranties and guarantees. And so we offer a warranty with the product. Excuse me, the product that we use, and then talk about our no leak guarantee. Okay. Yep.

So yeah, explain the no leak guarantee to me. You know, like I'm a customer and how that.

Yeah, so for 5 years, no questions asked, whether it's a product issue or a workmanship issue. We just want our customers to be 100% satisfied. So as long— we can't fix a problem that we don't know about, so we just ask that you communicate. But we just want to make sure we're giving you the best products that you possibly can get.

You get peace of mind.

Exactly.

That's great. Okay, what's, what's the next step?

And then I introduce financing if that is something they're interested in. We don't do a ton of financing. Probably 10% of our customers are financing and they're doing more short-term financing than long-term.

Okay. Yeah, because your average ticket, you said it was $20,000.

So yeah, that's nice.

That's nice. So you don't have to deal with it, you know, you're not giving up any points back.

Exactly.

So, okay, very good. So you go through it though. It's a tool you use.

And some people are like, nope. And I just kind of breeze through that. If not, I'll talk more in depth depending on their body language and how they're responding to me talking about it.

Yeah, that's a good point with the body language. You can probably tell right away people lean into certain things. Yep. And then you just go down that rabbit trail a little bit, right?

Exactly. Okay. Very good. All right. So what's after financing? After financing, we— I talk about the core values.

Okay.

Right. Yeah. And so that's kind of the summing up the whole process. Family, community, excellence, and integrity.

Yeah.

are the 4 pillars that we really lean on as a company.

Yeah.

And so kind of going through each of those and then when going through each of those, that's when I start talking about our project managers and our guarantees and just the whole process.

Yeah.

A little bit more in detail of why we're different.

Sure. So do a lot of your competitors have project managers or it's mostly just, hey, sell it, there's a guy, there's guys up there and—

We, I think most of them are sending a crew or if there's a project manager, they just show up and then leave. So we have a project manager that is there majority of the day, right? They're running trailers that they need to, getting other materials that they need to. Plywood's a big one. Sure. And but they're there majority of the day and kind of being that liaison between the homeowner and the customer. What else?

Is there anything else at that point you kind of talk about the company or your process and how it's different, maybe how the tear-off's different, cleaner?

So that is when So during the core values, cleanup's extremely important to us. So talking about how we tarp the edges of the roof, protecting landscaping, siding, and windows. And then we've got a dedicated cleanup crew within the crew that's literally cleaning up all day long.

That's great.

Yep.

So you guys raking, check for nails?

All of it.

All of it. You do the metal detector too?

We do like the magnet, the roller.

Yeah, that's great. But it's a great way to differentiate yourself.

Yeah, we can get 99.9% of the nails. We can't guarantee 100, but they usually chuckle at that.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah, I mean, it happens. All right, so you go through your core values and then what's next?

And then I let them know the next steps in this process. So because of the service in Vermont, I'm not able to build proposals on site.

Oh, okay.

And so I let them know that I'm gonna send off for the roof report. Get that roof report. I'm going to head back to the office, build the proposal, and then I will email that over to you. Oh, okay. Yep. Oh, wow.

Yeah. Right. So you can't close it, right? So that's frustrating, but it is what it is.

Yeah. We found that Vermonters, like the— I'd done a couple, like I was experimenting with the one-day close with the service areas that I couldn't do it. I was fairly successful, but They Vermonters like to take their time is what it seems like. I'm sure everybody does, but sure.

So is it a rule that you can't do that?

A law of some sort? No, it's literally like I don't have cell phone service. Oh, you don't have cell phone? Oh wow. So I can't get access to any of our programming to do anything. Okay, that's a unique challenge. It is. So yeah, Vermont's pretty funny when it comes to cell phone service.

All right, so you go back to the office or you go home or you build it out? Yep. Okay, so you email it, but then what? Like, do you file Do you follow up right away?

Yes, so that I feel like is why I'm as successful as I am, is because of my follow-up process.

What is it?

So I send over the email with the proposal. I'm either giving them a call like 3 or 4 days after. We have an automatic email that is sent out a week after, and that usually prompts them to at least start the conversation again. And then I'm calling them After that one week, I'll call them probably once every week or two after that, and I'll continue to call them or text them is another great way. I've actually had great success with until they give me a hard yes or a hard no. Okay.

So when you have those conversations, I'm sure you're dealing with that. That's when the objections come and you're doing it over the phone, right? Yep. So what do you— how do you handle why, you know, this is a pretty pricey project? I thought it was going to be X, you know, so how do you handle that situation?

So I, in the initial meeting, I'm letting them know we're not gonna be the cheapest. They typically ask, what do you think my roof's gonna cost? And I let them know my average ticket price. I never give them a cost of what their roof is gonna be. So at least gives them a ballpark if they ask.

They have some expectation.

Exactly. Yep.

So what are some objections you get? How about the other, oh, well, I think I need to get a couple more bids?

We— I get that almost every day. And we— I say you don't know the right roofer unless you talk to the wrong one. So we don't encourage them to get other bids. But once they do get other bids, it's a very stark difference between our company and our competition.

So you said you guys were kind of guilty of it in the early days too, right? Exactly. Yep. Do you— I'm sure you also deal with, hey, I already have 2 or 3 bids, right? Yep. And do you ask to see those when you're at the house?

So we have that apples-to-apples guarantee. So once I know or they tell me they're getting other bids, I remind them about our apples-to-apples guarantee. And then once I can get that Quote emailed to me. It's not gonna say it's easy, but I've got a process of being able to kind of work through other companies' bids to let them know these are the differences that you're working with. Do you get a lot of?

I mean, you know, everything's online. Yeah. Like a lot of our HVAC people or well all the trades. This water heater costs this. Why why are you so expensive? You know, I did research. Shingles cost this. Why are you this?

Yeah, I don't get as much as I— you would think. I just drive back to the service piece of our company and that you're not gonna find that with anybody else. Like, a truck and a truck can show up and do the job. They're not gonna be able to do it in a day. The communication is not gonna be the same. And so, just kind of falling back on those, the values that we Right. Or creating.

So you said you'll just keep following up about it once a week or so like that?

One. Yeah, I'm feeling it out, but once a week to once every 2 weeks.

So how do you decide whether to text somebody or call?

I always call. I always call first. And then if they don't answer, I'm always leaving a message. And then in the message I'm like, I'm going to shoot you a text because sometimes it's a little bit easier to respond to.

And then number saved. So like, not— I know I don't answer.

Exactly. And so I've— once I started doing that, my return call rate Definitely increased. Okay, very good.

Now, are you able to discount much if someone's really pushing hard against you?

Yeah, so we've got some wiggle room, and so I'm you once I get the apples to apples guarantee. If they can give me another proposal, I can usually drop the price a little bit, and that usually if they want to go with us, that's enough to kind of get them across the finish line.

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All right, so someone, uh, they're like, okay, you got me sold. I'm gonna— we're gonna go with you guys. What's the next step then?

I let them know kind of where they are in the queue for the schedule and ask them for a shingle color because we need to be able to order the materials and then send over the invoice to— or the deposit, the invoice for the deposit, and then a contract. Once I gather all of that information, let them know that I'm handing it off to the production side of Our team, but I'm their go-to person. So if they have any questions between now and install, because it is a hurry up and wait game, yeah, let me know and we'll work things out. And then I'm making ops notes for our production team and then kind of handing that over.

Okay, very good. Yeah. Now what happens if I'm like, you know what? I think I really wanted that darker brown versus black. You know, how do you guys make sure that stuff doesn't fall through the cracks?

Yeah. So we work with AccuLink. That's our system. And so our production manager, Duncan, we work closely with him. So any changes that are made, we're tagging him in messages. I'm meeting with him once a week during season.

What's your meeting look like? So it's a big topic this week in Exposition Reef. There's a production session. Yeah. We're going to talk about how to do a meeting properly to make sure all those details don't fall through the cracks.

Yep. We kind of nailed this process down last year, and it's been super successful. A lot of things have fallen through the cracks less.

Yeah.

So we do 2 weeks out and he prints out all of the jobs and the ops notes for that, the week that we're talking. And then each of our sales team has an office day. And on that office day, we're sitting down with Duncan and literally going over, pulling up the job, looking at the pictures, Anything that's different or unique, and then he's pulling up the the material list as well, and just kind of double checking all of that while we're together.

Okay, and that's helped a lot. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, that's great. Now you most of this is retail sales. It's not storm stuff where people are just happy. A lot of cases they get somebody there. They'll get. So how do you how do you avoid cancellations? Because your your buyers are not in a rush. I feel like most of the time, right?

Yeah.

So how far booked out are you, first of all, typically? A couple weeks?

We are— that's a good question. I think in season we're typically like 6 to 10 weeks.

Okay. So it can be a while.

Yeah, because we shut down in the winter. So we are kind of backlogged from November. Like, I'm— we just started production this week.

Okay. All right. So, but if it's, let's say, you know, it's summer.

Yeah.

And you're like, we're still booked out. And you know, how do you avoid people from going? You know what Joe Blow said they can put it on and the next day or something.

How do you avoid? So we do have emergency spots. So whether it's active leaking or it is a timing game changer, and if that's a deal breaker for them, we do have a little bit of wiggle room. But I also question if Joe Schmo can put it on next week. Like why aren't they booked out when we're booked out so far. Like, we are— we're not the cheapest, but we've got a list of people wanting us to install their roof. So just kind of pointing that out. Right.

So you meet with production, everything's going smoothly. They're putting the roof on. Do you drop by at any point? I mean, you got to collect the check. It's hard. Do you not do that at all?

You guys? Nope. So when we send the invoice out for the deposit, it's usually electronic, but our accounting department handles the payment piece.

Okay.

Yeah.

So very good.

Sometimes I don't typically drop by, but I'm usually sometimes in communication around the install. But typically the production team kind of handles the back end of the communication 'cause we have a process where the project manager is actually going back to the home after the install happens to do kind of a final check and just asking for what their experience was like, for a Google review as well and just kind of tying or finishing it up that way.

Yeah, very good. So you stay focused on just keep selling.

Yeah. Yep.

That's great. That's great. What, kind of wrapping up, what advice might you have for other people like you, new to the industry, how to be successful, especially so quickly?

Yeah, the harder you work, The more successful you'll be. It wasn't it wasn't easy, but I like I was saying earlier, I love knowledge, and so I kind of just dove in headfirst and tried to get as much knowledge about the industry, sales, and just kind of our our company and our products as quickly as possible. Yeah. And then don't if they ghost you. Continue to follow up. Like, the biggest jobs I've sold, they ghosted me for 6 months, but I was just super persistent. And then—

Every week for 6 months?

It was at that point, it was like 1 to 3 weeks, so I didn't want to like pepper them. Yeah, um, but it was a call or a text, and then he was like, oh, I'm still thinking about it. And then it would be like 2 months later, but those were the 2 biggest deals I closed, was about a 6-month lag time that they basically ghosted me.

Was it just one more time for the H part? A lot of those, those were commercial sales.

So it was, they had to run it up the food chain essentially. But yeah, so be persistent with the follow-up. Yeah.

So you said you really were adamant about educating yourself as much. What did you do to catch up on an industry you had no knowledge of before?

A lot. So we work with an Owens Corning product and they have great online education training seminars. And so I just watched all of those. And to be completely honest, Lee, the owner, has spent many, many, many hours going over projects with me. Yeah. Being Vermont, like I was saying, creative construction, there's every day, I swear, Still, I'm like, I don't know what this is. And so he's been extremely giving with his time and we are just going over all of the nitty-gritty details and him explaining to me why they potentially did the construction that way.

Yeah. So what's, what's it like now being in the roofing industry for this, this, you know, not that long, but long enough and have some incredible success? And it sounds like being with a great team that's super supportive. Yeah. So what's that like?

Yeah, our culture in our company is probably one of my favorite things about working for Three Mountain Roofing. Yeah, we— they have put a lot of time and energy into just kind of building us up and like supporting us in any way possible. And especially being pregnant that was working in the trades, Alisa has been amazing. I didn't have the easiest pregnancy. I actually threw up most days for 9 months, multiple times a day. So it was a challenge, but they just, anything that I needed, they were able to help me with.

Yeah, that's awesome. And now you've got a full year ahead. You said you're even, I think, ahead of where you were last year?

Yeah, I just closed a pretty big job yesterday, but I'm a little over $900,000 right now.

Man, that's great.

Yeah.

This is early, you know, so this comes out, I'm not sure quite when this is, You know, mid-March. Yeah.

So that's fantastic. Yeah, I am trying to change my perspective with numbers just with the little, little guy. Instead of having a goal of how much I'm going to sell, I'm working more on my closing rate this year. Oh, so trying to work less but keep that number up, if it makes any sense.

Yeah. So what do you think the difference is? What— how are you going to improve that?

Continuing with follow-up and educating myself more. To be honest, I've been able to kind of increase that closing rate 3% since I've been back. And so it's just kind of not doing as many jobs and kind of focusing on the jobs that I do have and really giving the customers kind of more time and attention.

Okay, maybe slowing down, just taking Maybe slowing down more, or you're hitting on certain parts of that presentation that respond, or people respond better to?

Yeah, a little bit of both. That's a great question. I haven't really dove into it myself, but it's— I'm definitely taking more time with the customer. Sure. We— it hasn't been super busy this winter, so our hour appointments, I'm able to kind of Stretch it out to an hour and a half, potentially 2 hours, to really help them feel like they're getting as much as they can from that process, if that makes any sense.

If you're pregnant, you're throwing up every day, you're learning a new job, a new industry. Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of discomfort going on.

Yes. Yeah. In every sense of that word.

You're, you know, this is becoming more you. You're, this is, you know, you're ingesting this information to be able to spit it back out to other people naturally. So. Very good. All right, last question. Yeah. What motivates you every day? I mean, you did some pretty incredible stuff in not the best circumstances, right? Yeah.

What motivates you to do this? Hard things make you better. So I, of course, money is definitely a motivator for me. I've worked in male-dominated industries, and so I want to make sure I can be just as good as the boys, if not better. So kind of being the best I possibly can is another motivator for me as well.

I love it. Do you ever get any pushback as a female roofing? Oh yeah. So how do you handle that?

That is why I need to educate myself as much as possible. So it doesn't happen often, but it's those old school contractors that don't think women should be in the trades, or they kind of balk and roll their eyes when I show up, and I just school them with the knowledge and just start spitting stuff at them. Yeah. In industry-like terms. Sure. And so they kind of take a step back and realize I actually do know what I'm talking about. And then they typically— actually, all of them kind of have like, okay, you do. Yeah.

Like, so yeah, well, and then you've got the proof of the pudding, almost $4 billion in year one. Exactly. That's it. I said, well, hey, I can't thank you enough for all your time getting up early during an expo. So I really, really appreciate your time. Thank you for being here. Thanks, Bob. I hope you've enjoyed today's show. If so, please like and subscribe on YouTube. If you're on your favorite podcast player, please leave us a 5-star review. The 2 seconds you take to leave a review will help other success-minded contractors like you find us and hopefully get a little bit better, which elevates our entire industry. And please join me for future episodes. This has been The Successful Contractor powered by CertainTeed.

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