A roofing sales trainer explains why new reps should spend their first three days on job sites watching installations instead of taking computer courses. Hands-on exposure to materials, ventilation, and the full process builds genuine product belief and the conviction needed to close 7-figure deals.
Stop training new sales reps on a computer. My client planned days of online courses, but I told him his eyes are going to cross in 45 minutes. Instead, we sent him to a job site. Because the best possible way to sell the thing is to believe in the thing. Here's how to build that conviction.
On day one, my inside sales, they're basically first day starting tomorrow.
What is the plan for the first three days?
Basically my plan for the first few days is just essentially to get them set up on the GAF portal, get them going into some of the GAF courses, putting them through product information until we can get them access to all the tools tools and get them registered and come up with a time for us together to go through the inside sales training.
So what I would do today, like I'm assuming you don't have a bunch of roofs going on today.
Well, I actually have three starting tomorrow.
If you have three job starts tomorrow, you couldn't have a better training than to bring them out to those job stars. Like there would not be a better training on the product that you're selling than the jobs that you're doing. GF care training. His eyes are gonna cross in 45 minutes. You know, getting his email set up, like that's not going to make you money. Like it's part of it. But there is not a better training than to bring him out to those job job starts. I know it's a bit of a push, you know, I mean for you it's a bit of push for him, but like I cannot tell you the value of them getting a chance to see what goes on and for that to be like imprinted on their brain so early in their training process. Everything he watches on GF Care training will then have context. Everything you give him has context. When he had the chance to see, feel and touch wouldn't a roof process actually goes like, you should do it the best possible way and you'll get those kinds of outsized returns. Where you just want the best people to have the best training, to have the best abilities, to get the best out outcomes. Highest likelihood that they're able to convey the value of the roofing service in excess of the price of the roofing service is to hear straight from the owner and the installers to see exactly what it is that you sell. The best possible way to sell the thing is to believe in the thing. If you just have belief, that's it. If you just have absolute, undying belief and like evidence to back up your belief, then that's what creates the ultimate level of conviction in the sale. It's just a belief and that's what helps you sell. And it's about communicating that without saying, by the way, my name's Dave it on the owner, that's the only thing that you have that he doesn't. But otherwise, if you give him the same level of belief, you should get the same level of output. In fact, in reality, he should do more than you. You were so busy last year that your level of belief didn't align with your level of need. His level of need should be higher because he's not getting paid on the sale and the install and the referral and the repeat and the brand equity. He's only getting paid on the sale. You can sell one customer and you make the money all the different ways the money comes into the company. But when he sells, he only makes money on the sale. He doesn't have the equity of owning the company. He will be hungry in your pipeline. I would do like, whatever is reasonable to get him to see that value. If I was to call him, I would say, hey, Billy, I know it's a super short notice and I know we have a plan for your training tomorrow, but, you know, we haven't had sun in a minute. I have three jobs starting tomorrow. But I really think that the best thing for you to be successful the fastest will be to come down here and witness these jobs. If I could put you up in a hotel and get some food, take care of you, would you want to come down for a day or two and you could come see how these jobs go together and see the action, roofing process, real life, just convey the value of him coming down in excess of the price of the time away from his home. There's no better time to push an employee than on the first day because they tend to want to disappoint the boss. And you know what? It's just going to set the tempo.
That sounds pretty good when talking it through like that. I mean, yeah, you are right, obviously, like, you know, getting him onto the job and getting him to touch that material, getting him to actually hold a knife and a hook blade in his hand and cut that shingle and use some snips, cut some metal. I mean, he'll understand things like what things really are, like far more by actually touching and feeling than just looking at something and lear from the back of a screen.
Inside Sales has to respect the trade. And the only way they're going to do that is if they leave the bubble. Of the workplace that they applied for to understand the workplace that they did.
Yeah, and one of our jobs, too. Like, we're doing some different things too, because when we did attic inspection of the house, it was discovered that their insulation was pushed right into the soffit. So we're taking off the bottom row of plywood, sliding in baffles to the soffits, reinstalling plywood. So it's kind of a unique one as well. Right?
And, dude, that's exactly what you want a sales rep to do. Like, day one, he sees the purpose. Now you're going to learn in GF care training about proper ventilation, and you're going to understand what happens when you don't have any intake air. But then when he gets a chance to actually pop, like, you know, those like, things were, like, when you scroll down on the iPhone page, on the Apple page, like, blows up, like, it explodes the thing, and you get to see all the little bits inside. You get to see all the pieces inside the thing. When you actually rip off a roof and pull out the plywood and show them from the top down so they see the air comes in there and then it goes through here. But if you can't get through here, then where does it get new air from? It doesn't. And it's like all of a sudden it goes, oh, now I get it. You know, I mean, because you give him the 3D view, not the infographic, but the physical Seafield touch, dude. Like, yeah, you got to get him out there. That's it's going to be huge. Like, he's going to look at every homeowner, be like, did the other guy get in your attic? Let me tell you all about on my first day, Mr. And Mrs. Smith. He's going to tell that story two years from now and sell a roof for you.
Sounds like I have a few calls to make after we're done here.
Yeah, man.
