Roofing Podcast Roundup - Sept 19: 3 Moves to Add Profit This Week

Top 3 to Implement This Week:

• Match Contract Scope to Your Bid (before you sign): Pull the scope section from every subcontract and compare it to your original bid to stop “bid ≠ scope” losses. Attorneys warn 100% of contracts hide business‑killing clauses—align the scope, then send a variance email to price the extras today.

• Turn On Text‑First Selling: Move first touches to text with a short, question‑led, single‑goal cadence to meet digital‑native buyers where they are. One contractor produced $100K immediately after switching—launch your reactivation sequence today.

• Start the Exit‑Ready File: If you might sell someday, begin the exit file now: document processes, remove key‑man risk, and clean the books. Brokers say you need 5 years of preparation to command real offers—schedule time this week to map milestones and owners.

URGENT: Get Paid for the Real Scope (Stop Scope‑vs‑Bid Bleed)

Why now (≤60 words): Crews keep building what the contract demands, not what you bid. That mismatch quietly eats margin and cash. The move is simple: extract scope, compare to bid, price variances before you sign, and harden payment protections so you aren’t involuntarily financing projects.

What to do this week (3–7 steps):

1. For every open/awaiting‑signature subcontract, copy out the scope section into a one‑page doc.

2. Compare scope vs. your bid line‑by‑line; highlight adds/ambiguities.

3. Price each variance and attach as a change to your proposal.

4. Add written schedule language to extend time on every change order.

5. Negotiate “pay‑when‑paid” into a time‑boxed split (e.g., partial at Net‑30) and preserve lien rights.

6. If bonding is required, confirm indemnity exposure and ask for reciprocal GC bonding.

Copy/paste asset (email template):
Subject: Scope Variance & Time Adjustment — [Project / PO#]
Body:
“Team — We reviewed the subcontract scope against our original bid and identified the following variances: [bullet the items]. These items were not included in our pricing. Our price adjustment is $[X] and requires a [Y]-day time extension. Please confirm acceptance so we can proceed and keep schedule integrity. We’ll hold our start until the scope and price match.”

Proof & payoff: Listeners were warned that “you’re not hired to do your bid, you’re hired to do what’s in the scope.” Contractors routinely lose 10–30% of margin to scope creep; delay damages often run $500–$1,000/day if time isn’t extended in writing; “pay‑when‑paid” can push you into 90+ days of float; bonds are indemnity with a typical $3,000 cost and personal recourse. Tightening scope/payment now stops margin bleed this week and protects cash this month. (Construction Brothers — Cromeens: scope 10:31–10:59; pay‑when‑paid 13:17–16:35; delay damages 17:28–18:49; bond trap 19:17–21:31.)

Source: Construction Brothers — “Make Sure You Get Paid” with Karalynn Cromeens, timestamps above.

IMPORTANT: Text‑First Sales That Actually Get Replies

Why now (≤60 words): Phones go unanswered; long texts get ghosted. The fix is a text‑first system tuned for reply rate—short, proofread, and ending with a question—so conversations start and appointments land without chasing.

Steps (3–7):

1. Define one goal per message (get a reply, not “close the job”).

2. Write texts that fit on one screen; remove fluff and hedge words.

3. Proofread every message (voice‑to‑text typos kill trust).

4. End every text with a question to trigger micro‑commitment.

5. When ghosted, use a light reset (“Did I lose you?” + tasteful humor) and re‑ask a simple question.

Copy/paste asset (3‑text reactivation):
T1 — Nudge: “Hey [Name] — still good to get you those roof options? I can hold [Tomorrow AM] or [Tomorrow PM]. What works?”
T2 — Value (next day if no reply): “Quick heads‑up: I found a way to shorten install time at your place. Want the 2‑minute summary or should I text a video?”
T3 — Reset (2 days later): “Are you ghosting me? 😄 If timing’s bad, want me to circle back next week or close the loop now?”

Proof & payoff: After six months of zero sales outside his network, the host generated $100K from a short email burst using this reply‑first approach. Ending with a question leverages Cialdini’s consistency principle; “professional” appeared as the #1 word across 1,642 reviews; the humor reset post‑ghosting produced the highest response rate across industries tested.

Source: The Roof Strategist: 01:20–01:47; 03:13–10:51.

IMPORTANT: Start Your Exit‑Ready File (Even If You Won’t Sell Soon)

Why now (≤60 words): Most owners want optionality but learn too late that buyers pay for clean earnings, repeatable systems, and a team that runs without you. Start now so you can choose your timing and valuation later.

Steps (3–7):

1. Calculate true EBITDA from trailing 12 months and set a standing monthly update.

2. Document “how we do it” so a new manager passes the “mom test” without you present.

3. Map and resolve key‑man risks (cross‑train, delegate approvals, extend vacations as tests).

4. Create an “offer room” folder: three years of clean financials, customer/job concentration reports, AR aging, WIP, and SOPs.

5. Build a buyer list (strategic, financial, and regional consolidators) and note your ideal terms.

Copy/paste asset (EBITDA quick‑calc checklist):
“Pull P&L + Balance Sheet (TTM). Normalize by removing owner perks, one‑time costs, and non‑operating items. EBITDA = Operating Profit + Interest + Taxes + D&A ± Normalizations. Save as ‘EBITDA_[Month_Year].xlsx’ and update monthly.”

Proof & payoff: Expect a 5‑year prep runway, 3 clean years of financials, 6–12 months from listing to close, and 1–2 years of post‑sale retention. Buyers look for 10–20% EBITDA margins and take you seriously around $1M EBITDA. Owners who eliminate key‑man risk and run an auction‑style process have seen as many as 21 offers on a single deal.

Source: NAILED IT! — Claudio Vilas: 20:00–21:25; 29:52–32:12; 40:33–43:28.

Quick Wins (Do Before Next Friday)

• Post the Three‑Activity Rule at HQ: at any moment each rep is selling, prospecting, or training—open your stand‑up by asking who did which yesterday. (Andy Elliott Sales Training — “Sales Machine Transformation,” 24:18–24:48.)

• Box up idle company phones and route all calls through your CRM dialer; port numbers, turn on recording, and tag every call to a lead. (The Roofer Show — Best CRM for Roofing Contractors.)

• Train techs to open with: “Thanks for letting me earn your business.” Review two call recordings each to confirm tone and delivery. (Home Service Expert — with Tommy Mello, 31:41–32:31.)

• Audit your training library and archive anything built pre‑2020; replace with buyer‑behavior content created after COVID. (Andy Elliott Sales Training — “Sales Machine Transformation,” 23:49–24:48.)

Benchmarks to Screenshot

• Follow‑Up SLA: 100% of open quotes touched within 24 hours (documented in CRM). (The Roofer Show — $2M follow‑up discovery.)

• Sales‑Leader Cadence: Review rep activity in CRM five times per day (~20 minutes total). (The Roofer Show — activity/management cadence.)

• Coaching Commitment: If you engage a coach, block five hours weekly for implementation (calendar visible to the team). (Contractor Evolution — Brendon Toyne, time commitment.)

• Process “Mom Test”: Any new SOP must be clear enough for a non‑roofer to execute on first try. ($280M Todd Price interview — systems documentation.)

Watchlist — Market Shifts You Can Monetize

• AI is collapsing video production costs and voice assistants will change discovery: Google Gemini’s VEO3 can output professional‑looking videos essentially for free, and Apple’s smarter Siri is slated for March 2026—content must become conversational.
  Try this next: Record three show‑and‑tell clips (inspection, options, install) with AI this week, and re‑write five core pages as Q&A scripts ready for voice. (Roofer Growth Hacks — Sept State of Marketing, 01:57–02:44; 13:03–17:12.)

Finish Line Checklist

Get Paid for the Real Scope — we’re done when…
▢ Every active subcontract has a separate scope doc compared to your bid.
▢ Variance pricing + time extensions sent and acknowledged in writing.
▢ “Pay‑when‑paid” exposure flagged and mitigated (split terms + lien rights documented).

Text‑First Sales — we’re done when…
▢ Reactivation texts loaded into CRM and sent to all stalled leads.
▢ Team uses short, proofread, question‑ending texts on first touch.
▢ Reply rate and appointments from text tracked on a daily dashboard.

Exit‑Ready File — we’re done when…
▢ TTM EBITDA calculated, normalized, and saved in a monthly update file.
▢ At least five critical SOPs pass the “mom test” without your involvement.
▢ A “buyer pack” folder exists with clean financials and key reports.

One Last Nudge

Pick one play and get exceptional at it before adding another.

Want help implementing? We’ll pick one person who replies in the first 24 hours with a 30 minute advisory session helping to implement one of the items listed above. Just reply with the play you want help with.