For most roofing contractors, the holy grail of marketing is knowing that you’re not wasting your money, and that your efforts are generating a positive return on investment (ROI). When a roofing contractor generates a consistent ROI for each dollar spent in a given marketing channel, they’ve created a predictable model. That predictability is what makes a business scalable. Because once you know that if you spend $1, you’ll get $5 back, for instance, you’ll do that all day long. Once a certain degree of predictability is reached, then the challenge becomes optimizing the results to drive marketing and sales costs down over time.

There’s a general consensus from experts predicting a 3 percent growth rate for the roofing industry as construction work moves into a more mature, stable phase of expansion. With that in mind, in 2019, it will be more important than ever for roofers to find ways to capture new customers as they strive to sustain or grow their businesses.

When a typical roofing business manages to generate new customer leads while containing their customer acquisition costs, this creates a sustainable, predictable model. Then, it’s just a matter of defining how many customers the business has the infrastructure to acquire and serve in a given period of time, and investing in obtaining them. Company growth is then controlled and customers can be acquired at an optimal rate.

Why is Predictability so Hard to Achieve?

There’s an ever-expanding array of choices available for small businesses who want to market their services. The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends that businesses making less than $5 million a year spend at least 7 to 8 percent on marketing and advertising. The way that budget is spent can make the difference between a good year and a bad one for a roofing contractor. Since 85 percent of all roof repair and installation inquiries now start online, the lowest cost, most measurable results will come from digital marketing. The path to customer acquisition is typically measured by the following:

• Cost per click: how much does it cost to get a prospect to click on your ad?
• Cost per response: after a prospect clicks, how many will respond? And what is the cost for each of these?
• Cost per raw lead: after the response is evaluated, how many are qualified as potential buyers, and what is the cost for each of these?
• Cost per appointment set: how many leads for roofing contractors will agree to a sales visit? And what is the cost for each of these?
• Cost per sale: how many potential buyers convert to a sale? And what is the cost for each of these contractor leads?

There are at least five sets of expertise required to operate at peak performance and achieve home improvement marketing success throughout this process.

How do Businesses Achieve Predictability?

Reduce risk by outsourcing part of the process.

Eliminate the variability within the first three steps. With the right home improvement marketing resource, you’ll know what your costs will be for a raw lead and you’ll be able to eliminate failure in the process up to that point. By eliminating the need to expertly execute all five steps above, you will save time, money, and increase predictability. When the science of lead generation can be outsourced, so that the cost per raw lead is defined and doesn’t vary from month to month, then a business no longer has to hire and manage the employees required to handle digital media creation, placement, conversion rate optimizations, and qualification. All they must focus on are the last two variables in the process: appointment setting and sales.

Respond to leads quickly and build rapport with the homeowner.

The best results go to roofing contractors that respond to a lead in five minutes or less. An empathetic response that helps to build understanding with the homeowner goes a long way toward creating trust.

Be persistent.

Success rates are shown to be optimal for those who place six follow-up calls.

Capture permission to stay in touch.

Even if a lead isn’t ready to set an appointment or buy, gain permission to add them to your database as a contact. If you nurture them over the period of a year, a certain number will convert to customers when they are ready to buy.

Deliver a quote promptly.

Your ability to respond to roofing contractor job leads with a quote will be interpreted as an expression of your overall quality of service. A quick response portends quick service, which will take a winning position against a competitor that takes longer.

Know Where You Stand

The rigor of tracking and measuring success will pay off. When you can see where your company is weakest, you can then focus on the appropriate efforts to make improvements. And, if you get your cost per raw lead down to a predictable number, all you will have to work on is the cost per appointment and the cost per sale.