RC’sTop 100 Roofing Contractors List is a really special honor to achieve that indicates several aspects of your roofing business are successful. When looking up and down the list each year, I recognize market leaders who I know are doing certain things better than everyone else. To be fair, the top 10 or top five isn’t everyone’s measure of success for building their roofing business. However, if you’re looking to become the best operator you can possibly be, just look at this list and attend a Best of Success conference. You’ll notice a group of professionals inspired by the others on the list and are driven to innovate and share what they’ve learned to grow — which helps the industry grow. It’s a great honor to be on that list if you’re a roofing contractor. So, if you’re looking to find a way on the list or want to find yourself higher on the list, here are five steps you can take to help you get there, and stay there.
The first step your company should take is to designate a leader to oversee sales — after all, the list is about the bottom-line number: revenue. The “sales manager” is one of the roofing industry’s most under filled positions, however, when occupied by the right person it can be like switching out a four cylinder for a V-8 engine for your company. Finding a good sales manager can be difficult, but with using the right tools you can identify the right competencies for the job. From my experience working with several top 100 roofing contractors, grabbing a sales leader from a different industry can serve very well because they are used to more-developed sales structures, which translates very well in roofing. However, be sure to screen them by using tools like I recommend. Candidate assessment tools, for example, from Objective Management Group based in Boston, Mass., is a great way to identify sales competencies. The greatest skills you seek in a sales manager are: desire for sales success; commitment to do whatever it takes — morally and ethically; the right outlook about themselves and your company’s future; willingness to take responsibility (the opposite of excuse making), accountability, motivation, recruiting and coaching. Roofing technicalities are the easy part and they can learn that over time. Chances are, you as the owner or experienced roofing contractor have plenty of technical expertise, what you likely lack is the sales competency — which is where the sales manager comes in.