Roofing Podcast Roundup - Dec 5: 3 Moves to Add Profit This Week

Top 3 to Implement This Week:

• Create a VIP Homeowner Membership: Instead of disappearing for 20 years after a replacement, sell a low‑monthly “peace of mind” membership that keeps you in the home and opens doors for cross‑trade partnerships (HVAC, gutters, electrical). Tony Patino’s team generates about 18× more revenue per household from VIP members than from a single roof alone, so your next move is to pick one trusted partner trade and sketch a $/month bundle that includes roof checks plus at least one other annual service.

• Own Your Marketing Data (Not Your Agency): This week, pull back the curtain on every marketing account so you—not your agency—control the logins, the numbers, and the decisions. Modern Roofing went from 14 leads a year to 14 per week after an in‑house manager audited their agency account and rebuilt the campaigns from scratch—your next move is to grab full admin access to Google Ads, Meta, call tracking, and CRM today and schedule a 90‑minute audit block on your calendar.

• Launch a Commercial Maintenance Program: Stop treating commercial roofs as one‑time jackpots and start treating them as annual subscriptions by offering proactive inspection + minor repair plans to your best building owners. Brett Tesson has 340 buildings on annual maintenance contracts, and your next move is to draft a simple one‑page offer and call three existing commercial clients to invite them onto a pilot program.

Sponsored: Design + Estimate in 1 Tool

Why now (≤60 words): Homeowners decide faster when they can see it. Renoworks Pro lets your rep show photorealistic designs and generate a ballpark estimate on the first visit—fewer callbacks, more premium options selected, and cleaner follow‑ups.

Proof & payoff: Contractors report 3× upsell attach rate and up to 60% better close rates with visualization in the workflow; homeowners prefer visualized options.

URGENT: Create a VIP Homeowner Membership

Why now (≤60 words): Most roofers meet homeowners twice in 20 years—once on install, once when there’s a problem. Tony Patino flipped that script with a VIP membership that bundles roof checks with other home services, turning “one and done” installs into sticky, multi‑trade relationships and reliable recurring revenue from the same address.

Steps (7):

1. Pick your partners and benefits. Start with what you control (annual roof inspection + gutter cleaning) and invite one trusted HVAC or plumbing partner to add an annual tune‑up or safety check.

2. Set one simple tier. Launch with a single, easy‑to‑say monthly price that covers all visits and a small discount on any additional work, rather than a confusing menu of options.

3. Decide who owns what. Agree with partners on revenue splits, scheduling responsibilities, and who handles which dispatches so the homeowner sees one clean experience.

4. Bake it into your sales process. Every replacement proposal ends with, “Do you want us to just install the roof, or do you want us to own keeping the whole exterior healthy through our VIP plan?”—not as an afterthought, but as a standard slide.

5. Track membership KPIs. In your CRM, tag every VIP member and review monthly metrics: active members, churn, visits completed, and add‑on jobs generated from member visits.

6. Reward your team for sign‑ups. Pay spiffs to reps or techs who enroll homeowners, and celebrate membership milestones (first 50, 100, 250, etc.) so it becomes a core part of your culture.

7. Protect the experience. Assign a “membership coordinator” once you have a critical mass so one person is accountable for scheduling, follow‑up, and retention touches.

Copy/paste asset (table‑side pitch script):

“Most roofers show up, install a roof, and disappear for 15–20 years until there’s a problem.

We can do that if you want. Or we can treat your home like we treat our own and put you into our VIP program: we come out on a schedule, check the roof and gutters, catch small issues before they become big ones, and bring in our trusted partners when something inside the home needs attention.

That way, you’re not guessing or Googling when something goes wrong—you’ve already got ‘your people.’ Would you like this roof to be a one‑time project, or the start of us looking after the whole exterior for you?”

Proof & payoff:
Tony’s VIP membership, priced as an affordable monthly subscription, generates recurring revenue every year a homeowner stays enrolled, plus a high cross‑sell rate into other trades each time his team is back in the home. Over a typical membership life, the total revenue per VIP household can be more than an order of magnitude higher than a single replacement alone—without spending more on acquiring that customer again.

Source: Abacus Leadership – "Tony Patino: Scaling from $30M to $100M+" with Tony Patino, [22:00‑38:00]

IMPORTANT: Own Your Marketing Data (Not Your Agency)

Why now (≤60 words): Alicia at Modern Roofing came in with zero marketing background, took a basic training, audited her agency’s Google Ads, and found seven pages of errors—misspelled city, broken verification, no optimization. When she took control of the account, lead flow exploded from a trickle to a river without some magic vendor, just visibility and ownership.

Steps (7):

1. Claim every login. Get full admin access to Google Ads, Meta/LSA, Google Business Profile, call tracking (e.g., CallRail), and your CRM—no “view‑only” status.

2. Pull a 90‑day scorecard. Export basic numbers by channel: total spend, leads, and booked appointments so you can at least see cost‑per‑lead and cost‑per‑booking at a glance.

3. Run the “stupid error” audit. Check for obvious red flags Alicia found: wrong/broken city targeting, missing advertiser verification, misspelled city names, campaigns running in “set and forget” mode, and no negative keywords.

4. Trace calls to revenue. Make sure every tracking number routes correctly and that calls are recorded and tagged so you can tell which channels actually turn into booked inspections and contracts.

5. Decide your control model. Choose one: keep the agency but require shared dashboards and error reports; bring a trained internal person to co‑manage; or fully own campaigns in‑house using a coach/training program.

6. Give marketing a weekly rhythm. Steal Alicia’s theme system: Monday = reporting, Tuesday = creative/content, Wednesday = training, Thursday = partnerships, Friday = follow‑ups and event planning.

7. Set a 90‑day target. Commit to a simple, public goal—e.g., “double qualified leads per week at equal or lower cost per lead”—and review progress every Monday with your leadership team.

Copy/paste asset (email to your agency/platforms):

Subject: Admin access & data transparency – [Your Company Name]

Hey [Name],

As part of tightening up our marketing operations for next year, I need full admin access to all accounts you manage for us: Google Ads, Meta/LSA, call tracking, and any landing page/analytics tools.

Please:

1. Confirm all accounts are in OUR company’s name and share admin access to [owner email]

2. Send a 90‑day export showing: spend, leads, booked appointments, and revenue (if tracked) by channel.

This isn’t a reflection on your work—we just need full visibility so we can make better decisions together.

Thanks,
[Your Name]

Proof & payoff:
Modern Roofing went from just 14 leads per year under outside agencies to about 14 leads per week after Alicia took control of their Google Ads, fixed basic errors, and ran a clear weekly rhythm. Cost per lead dropped from roughly agency‑level numbers to nearly half, while lead quality jumped because she could finally see and tune the full funnel.

Source: NAILED IT! The Business of Construction – "From 14 Leads/Year to 14/Week: Modern Roofing Marketing Transformation" with Alicia, timestamp [08:50‑18:52].

IMPORTANT: Launch a Commercial Roof Maintenance Program

Why now (≤60 words): Brett Tesson didn’t wait for capital budgets to magically free up; he built a maintenance program so property managers could protect roofs annually instead of waiting for failure. That single service line turned one‑time projects into dependable recurring revenue and a built‑in pipeline of future replacements—before any storm ever hits.

Steps (3–7):

1. Define the offer. Start with a simple package for commercial clients: two inspections per year, debris removal, minor flashing/penetration repairs, and a photo report with condition grading.

2. Price it simply. Build a square‑foot‑based pricing table (e.g., bands of roof size and complexity) so your sales team can quote on the spot without custom spreadsheets every time.

3. Mine your existing book. Pull a list of your last 2–3 years of commercial customers, filter for roofs in the 10–20‑year age range, and flag your top 20 “relationship” accounts as pilot candidates.

4. Script the conversation. Position maintenance as “getting paid to avoid surprises,” not as an upsell—emphasize budget predictability, documentation for ownership groups, and extending life before a big capital hit.

5. Operationalize the visits. Assign a dedicated maintenance tech or crew window each week, set up checklists in your inspection app, and make sure every visit ends with updated photos and a short written summary.

6. Wire up recurring invoicing. Use your CRM/accounting system to auto‑invoice monthly or annually so you don’t need to manually remember renewals.

7. Close the loop to replacements. Any roof that hits your “end‑of‑life” criteria during a maintenance visit automatically triggers a consult and proposal for restoration, rejuvenation, coating, or replacement.

Copy/paste asset (outreach email to an existing commercial client):

Subject: Simple annual roof plan for [Property Name]

Hi [Name],

We’ve been thinking about how to help you avoid surprise roof expenses at [Property Name]. Instead of waiting for leaks or a full replacement, we’re rolling out a simple annual maintenance program for select clients.

It includes:

• Two scheduled inspections per year

• Debris clean‑up and minor repairs while we’re there

• A photo report you can share with owners/asset managers

If you’d like, I can send over a one‑page outline with pricing for [Property Name] and two nearby buildings so you can see if it fits your budget.

Want me to put that together?

– [Your Name]

Proof & payoff:
Brett’s company now carries maintenance contracts on 340 commercial buildings, generating roughly seven figures in guaranteed annual revenue before a single replacement is sold, with retention in the mid‑90% range. About a third of those maintenance clients eventually move into full replacement projects within a few years, meaning the maintenance line effectively pays them to build their own commercial pipeline.

Source: Roofing Success – "Brett Tesson: Building a $20M Roofing Company" with Brett Tesson, [32:00‑48:00]

Quick Wins (Do Before Next Friday)

• Turn unsold estimates into found money. Block two hours for a team member to call recent open estimates with a simple line: “We were out recently about your roof—what questions can I clear up so you can decide yes or no?”

• Use the two‑word commitment trick. When booking appointments, add: “Will you make sure someone’s home during that window?” then pause for a yes—this tiny tweak dramatically cuts no‑shows.

• Systematize your reviews in three touches. Have the crew lead ask for a review at the final walkthrough, send a text with the link the next day, and mail a short handwritten thank‑you note with a review card a week later.

• Do one “Mayor of Your Town” move. Pick a local team or cause, show up in person (parade, cleanup, or small project), and make participation part of the job, not “optional extra credit.”

Benchmarks to Screenshot

• Speed‑to‑lead: Aim to respond to new web and ad leads within 5 minutes during business hours so they don’t move on to the next roofer.

• Live answer rate: Target answering at least 90% of inbound calls live (and route overflow to an answering service), because today’s homeowners rarely wait on voicemail.

• Daily huddle discipline: Hold a 15‑minute, same‑time‑every‑day huddle with crew leads and key office staff to align on yesterday’s wins, today’s focus, and blockers.

• Billing lag guardrail: Keep your progress billing within about 10 percentage points of actual completion on every active job so you’re not secretly financing clients’ projects.

Watchlist — Market Shifts You Can Monetize

• Homeowners who can’t easily move or refinance are becoming far more interested in “last roof I’ll ever need” options instead of swapping one commodity shingle for another. At the same time, insurance and financing friction is making repeat replacements less attractive and premium, long‑life systems easier to justify when positioned as an investment rather than an expense.

  
  Try this next:

  Ask every sales rep to add one premium, long‑life system option to their proposals and practice a contrast script that frames standard asphalt as ongoing maintenance versus premium as protection.

  Build one “premium roof” page on your site with photos, FAQs, and a clear explanation of why some homeowners are choosing it now, so your marketing matches what the best reps are already saying at the table.

Finish Line Checklist

Create a VIP Homeowner Membership — we’re done when…
▢ You’ve defined a starter membership: benefits, monthly price, and partner trade (if any).
▢ Your sales team has a specific script or slide to present the membership on every roof sale.
▢ Your CRM can tag and track VIP members separately from one‑off projects.
▢ You’ve enrolled your first wave of members and set a target for the next 90 days.

Own Your Marketing Data (Not Your Agency) — we’re done when…
▢ You have full admin access to every ad, tracking, and CRM account tied to your marketing.
▢ A simple 90‑day scorecard exists showing spend, leads, and booked jobs by channel.
▢ An initial error/audit list is documented and prioritized.
▢ Someone on your team owns a weekly marketing rhythm with a clear 90‑day lead goal.

Launch a Commercial Roof Maintenance Program — we’re done when…
▢ A one‑page maintenance offer (scope + pricing bands) is written and approved.
▢ At least 10–20 ideal commercial buildings are identified as pilot targets.
▢ The first round of maintenance inspections is scheduled and on the calendar.
▢ Recurring invoicing and basic reporting are set up in your CRM/accounting system.

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.