11 Tips for Growing Your Roofing Business
Growing a roofing business isn’t easy. It takes a lot of tenacity, patience, and hard work to make it past the hurdles that stop most new roofing businesses from ever getting off the ground, and that’s just the beginning.
Whether you’re a solo operator or you manage a small team, here are a few tips to help take your business to the next level.
1. Create a Website
If you don’t already have a website, that’s step one. Period.
Whether you want to DIY a site on Squarespace or work with a designer to create a more sophisticated site, a website will help you grow your business in a few key ways:
- It builds trust by showing that you’re not just some storm chaser.
- It helps you show off your work to potential customers
- It helps show which kinds of services you prioritize, which will help you avoid bad leads
- It makes it easier for satisfied customers to leave a review (if you link to all of your review sites)
- It lets you show off your trust indicators, including your license, industry certifications, reviews, and local memberships
2. Network Locally
Networking is one of the best ways to grow any business.
- Attend local networking events of other local business owners
- Pick key businesses that might make good referral partners
- Do them a favor by referring a customer or sending them a gift
Local networking is also a great way to learn about opportunities for roof replacements, to find new employees, and more.
3. Target Your Existing Customers
A lot of time, customers you have already worked with are the best way that you can get some repeat business. One of the best ways is to offer them a low cost roofing inspection each year to keep your company top of mind, and also to find any small issues before they become big ones.
4. Offer New Services
Training for or specializing in new qualifications and skills is a wonderful way that you can get more customers. To help customers save money and time, you could offer things such as siding repairs, skylight installations, or solar installations. This will help you reach new customers and resell to old ones.
5. Get New Training
Since regulations are always changing, you want to keep up to date of all of the newest roofing developments. When you’re a NFRC member, it means that you’re going to have a very quick pass to the newest developments and news. You also will have access to newsletters, no cost training sessions, blogs and workshops.
6. Get Business Advice
There are business issues like legal or contractual disputes which can be hard, so you might want to get some advice from an expert. NFRC members can access many dedicated services and you can get support and help on key issues with the business, like complimentary credit checks.
7. Use PPC Advertising
Pay-per-click advertising is a way that you can purchase visitors to come to your website. These advertisements are on the top of search results. Even though this is a bit pricy, it can be very effective for bringing more people to your website.
8. Use Direct Mail
This can still help you get some quality leads if you’re doing it correctly. Copy-heavy, long-form letters don’t work because people don’t often have time to read them. But leaflets and postcards can sometimes grab prospective customers’ attention, especially if it’s for a unique service. Tailor mail to include a call-to-action or offer to help you with measuring its effectiveness
9. Go to Trade Shows
These don’t just provide opportunities for checking out competition. They can also help you with creating company awareness, new leads and business partnerships. Be certain everyone who’s stopping by the booth gets something free they’re going to think is valuable. Maybe you could give them some content about home improvement and roof repairs. Make sure you’re following up with those you meet.
10. Engage in Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing can be tough for a need-driven service business, but it is possible to do right. Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Pick one network and become an active user. The more you understand the platform’s norms, the more effective your messaging will be.
- Don’t be over-promotional. Focus on tips, local content, feel good content, and content that is designed to boost engagement. No one wants to follow just another roofing business.
- Engage with other local businesses and events. This one is key. If you only engage with national associations, other roofers, and meme pages, you’ll never reach local customers.
- Use your momentum. Visitors are more likely to engage with your profile and content if they recognize friends who are followers, too. Use paid advertising to spread special offers through that network and use high-engagement posts to keep growing that network.
11. Don’t Be Afraid to Outsource
Some might think that “outsourcing” is a dirty word, but think again. Outsourcing critical tasks, like answering the phone, can give you more time and bandwidth to focus on workmanship, growing your team, and engaging with paying customers.
These are just some of the things that you can do to help you get more business as a roofer. You don’t have to do all of them, but the more tips you use the better your chances of growing your business. Think about what has worked in the past and what isn’t working now, and then let that lead your choices.
You might also want to read on these 6 mistakes to avoid when expanding your roofing business.
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