Just Started Selling

By Mike Coday •  Updated: 03/29/21 •  4 min read

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of people jump in the roofing sales game only to get out without a single sale. Disillusioned, broke and hopeless they stagger away bitterly from what they had such high hopes of achieving only a few weeks prior.

Roofing Sales isn’t for everybody. Sales in general is a hard job… especially door-to-door sales. You have to be half crazy to go walking around a neighborhood and knocking on doors these days. For those that can do it, and do it well, the rewards can be significant.

If you can’t do it, get out now. Get out while you still have time to get a paycheck… before they turn off your electricity, water or cell phone.

Here’s a recent email from Spencer in Kansas. He’s going to give roofing sales a try because, like so many of us, he’s had a tough time making a living these last 2 years.

First let me say thanks! I think I have read all of your posts, and they have given me a lot to think about. I have just started selling for a company here in Kansas. I truly mean just started… Tuesday. I am still waiting on all of the paperwork, email address, etc. I hope to hit the ground running on Monday.

I agree with your approach/philosophy regarding door knocking. The company gets primed leads thru a few insurance companies, but I think the real success is going to be found in knocking lots of doors, at the right time, with a positive attitude! Any help that you could offer would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Spencer

Thank you Spencer for taking the time to write.

I’ve posted several articles about getting started selling roofs and I’m humbled to hear that you’ve read them all, but here’s my little bit of advice especially for you based on your email…

Starting is the hardest part.

I’m not talking about getting your business cards or setting up an email address. That’s easy. Anybody can do that. I’m talking about getting started selling… making your first sale. Getting from “Hello!” all the way to picking up the last check from the homeowner.

Selling is like riding a bike. If you can do it just 1 time, you can do it again… and again, and again, and again.

The first one will be the hardest one because you don’t really know anything about selling roofs. You’ve had a chance to read my articles. Hopefully, you’ve been able to listen to the other sales people in your office or even go out with them, but you haven’t sold anything by yourself… yet!

Figure out how to sell your 1st job… on your own… by yourself.

It will be hard, but you can do it. Doing it by yourself, on your own, will force you to learn the business. You’ll ask all kinds of questions and learn more than you ever thought possible about the world of roofing and selling.

It will be an immense amount of pressure doing it by yourself… the kind of pressure that turns lumps of coal into diamonds.

Expect it to be difficult.

If you go in knowing that selling your 1st job will be incredibly hard, you won’t be tempted to quit when it doesn’t happen in your 1st week of selling.

Set a date.

That’s right. Give yourself a date… if you don’t sell a roof, on your own, all by yourself by that date, you’re going to quit immediately and go find another job.

Only you know for sure how much time you can give yourself before things go terribly wrong for your family.

It is difficult for creative people to work with dates, but trust me on this one… giving yourself a date will sharpen your focus and laser-target all of your efforts.

Good luck Spencer.

Peace,
Mike

Mike Coday

Mike started selling roofs in '95 while working as a youth pastor at a small church in North Texas. A decade later he transitioned to speaking at industry conferences and training outside sales teams. Today, he works exclusively as the premier consultant to roofing company owners who are driven for growth.