Like the old saying goes, we don't know what we don't know, and unfortunately most homeowners
don't know the sales tactics that a roofing
salesman is going to use to try to part that homeowner from his money.
Hi everybody, this is Tracy Bookman owner of Homestead Roofing and welcome to another
walk in the park video. And ordinarily we'll use our walk-in park videos to
answer frequently asked questions that we get, but today I'm going to tell you about sales tactics
that roofers will use to close a deal with you the homeowner. Every industry has sales people,
every salesperson, generally speaking, is trained in certain tactics and techniques
to close deals. I mean, that is the goal of sales is to close deals. So we have to accept that, we have
to acknowledge that, and we have to understand it, but if you as a homeowner aren't aware of
what some of those techniques and tactics are, you may make a wrong decision about who to hire
to do your roofing project, whether it's a replacement or whether it's a repair.
So, let's talk about what some of those, some of those techniques and tactics are. These
are probably the biggest ones when it comes to roofing. Tactic number one is to create a sense
of urgency. Again, this is a technique that's used in sales in every single industry, but in roofing
one of the, one of the ways that they're going to create a sense of urgency is they're going to
tell you that you could have potentially greater problems arise if you don't let the roofer take
care of the problem right away. So, he might tell you that if you don't deal with this right now
or you don't deal with this really soon then maybe you're going to have leaks that show up,
maybe you're going to have shingles that blow off, maybe you're going to have some sort of
major catastrophe happen, because you're not dealing with the problem
right away. Now I will concede that there could be a potential that if you don't deal with a roofing
problem you're going to end up with greater problems. For example, if you currently have a leak
and you don't deal with it, that problem is not going to get better,
it will get worse. But if the problem with your roof is just simply hail damage, and just
normal everyday hail damage, hail damage is not going to cause your roof to leak. Now if there's
been hail that's hit your house like what happened in Fountain in 2018 where it was baseball sized
and it's actually penetrated through the, the roof deck, that could cause a leak, I'll concede
that. But normal hail damage is not going to cause a leak. Houses can go years and years,
even with some significant hail damage and not have any leak problems. So if you've got a roofer
who's telling you that your roof is going to leak because you've got hail damage, the best thing to
do is get a second opinion. Tactic number two that roofing salesmen are going to use to close your
deal is they're going to try to get you to sign a contract right now. Now in some extreme cases,
that may be they're going to try to get you to sign a contract when they get down off the roof
after doing the inspection. In some extreme cases that may mean they're going to try to get you to
sign a contract before they get on the roof, but in most cases the roofer is going to come back
over to do his presentation. There's nothing wrong with a presentation, you have to be able to present
the facts and the options to a homeowner. But oftentimes during that presentation he's going to
be using closing techniques on you, getting you to buy in to his presentation throughout the process.
During that, he's going to be asking you test closing questions and if you are agreeable to all
those questions, if you are answering his questions the way that he wants you to, he knows he's close
to closing the deal and so he's going to get you, he's going to ask you to sign a contract
right then and there. He may use high pressure techniques to get you to sign, or he may use low
pressure techniques to get you to sign, but his goal when he's in your house
is to get you to sign a contract right then and there. Now is there any problem with signing a
contract with a roofing salesman during his sales presentation, no if you are completely comfortable
with that salesman and that company, if you have done your due diligence, you've done your research
you know about the company, you know what they're offering, and you're comfortable moving forward,
then don't feel guilty about doing that. But more importantly, if you're not comfortable,
if you haven't had time to do your research, if you want to take the time to make the decision,
don't feel guilty about not signing the contract. Remember, your roof probably is not
in dire conditions, so if you want to take your time and make a well thought out decision,
just tell the salesman that and don't cave in to any pressure to sign a contract. Tactic number
three that roofing salesman will use is unique to the roofing industry, and that's to get you
to file the claim right now. What I mean by that is, maybe he's meeting with you, maybe he's coming
into the house meeting with you after he gets off of the roof, he's explained to you everything
and maybe you do have insurable hail damage, maybe you don't, but he's convinced you that you
you do have insurable hail damage and that a claim should be filed. Well so what some roofers
will do, is they'll encourage you to call the insurance company right then while he's there
and file a claim. He may even volunteer to help you call the insurance company and file a claim.
he might say, well I've got the claims phone number for your insurance company right here.
He may even call the insurance company for you and file the claim for you. Well to me,
that's a big red flag. I mean, that's a decision that you as a homeowner should make on your
own and it should be well thought out. Because there are a lot of factors that, that play
on that decision. You may not be fully aware of what your deductible is at that time, you
may not be fully aware of what your coverage type is at that time, and those are things that you're
going to want to know before you file a claim. If you've got a roofer that's encouraging you to file
a claim right then and there, especially if he's volunteering to help you do it,
that's that's not a roofer that you should probably feel comfortable moving forward with.
Now they may, it may be a good company and that may be a good salesman, but you should definitely
think that that decision through before committing. Now here's a little bonus tip, and this isn't
a sales technique or a sales tactic that they're going to use to try to close the deal with you,
but it's definitely a tactic that they've been taught to use once you have given them
a commitment. If you're meeting with a roofer and you've decided that you want to move forward with
that roofers company, and you sign a contract, if that roofer asks you for a deposit check or
asks you to sign over your insurance check at that time, that's a monster glaring neon red flag. Do not,
under any circumstances, sign over your insurance check or write a deposit check to a roofing
contractor at the time you sign the contract. I hope this video has been helpful for you,
if you've got any questions about this please give us a call at our office phone number right here
719 719-433-6991 you can also visit our website that's right down here homestead roofing
colorado.com. We've got a ton of other information out there, lots of educational videos for you. If
you're watching this video and you'd like us to answer any of your questions leave those in the
comment section down below. We read and respond to all questions that we get on our videos. We'd also
love it if you'd subscribe, click the bell icon up there so that way you get notified when we've
got new videos and until our next walk in the park video, I'm Tracy Bookman owner of Homestead
Roofing.