We’re also using a higher grade of felt paper, which lets us offer some of the extended warranties that certain shingle manufacturers offer if you use their system.
RC: Many home improvement companies, including roofing companies, are using a “branding” marketing strategy. Do you think of your company as a brand, and what do you do in your marketing, your customer service, and your installation procedures to build and manage the brand?
Brett Hall: Roofing is a commodity business, and I feel that if you don’t have a brand, you’re dead. Our brand position is that we’re consumer-centric and that we’ve worked many years to earn the respect of insurance companies. We wear honesty and integrity and 30 years of being in the roofing business right up front. So when people ask: “How do I know you are what you say you are?” I can say: “Let me put you in touch with someone I worked for 10 or 15 years ago and someone we worked for last week. See if the story’s not the same.”
We’ve also branded ourselves through high-profile clientele — politicians, celebrities, sports figures — and that validates our ability to service anyone.
Troy Marshall: One thing we’ve done is to make our fleet more uniform. We have about 15 trucks, and they all have the same graphics. Our trucks are now all white and have the same lettering.
Lance Smith: Four years ago we hired a professional to put together a song for us. That song is knownbyjustabout everybody around [the area where we work].
We’ve always used radio, and we’ve taken the song and put it on four or five stations. It’s catchy. We’ve won awards with it. We’ve done that, and we’ve also painted our trucks red, with our phone number: ROOFROOF.
Gary Kearns: We do think of our company as a brand. Our trucks are one color, burgundy. We have uniforms for our salespeople. A nice logo. So that’s consistent.
RC: Is it costing more to get leads these days, and what are you doing to reach new people?
Troy Marshall: For years I couldn’t have told you what my lead costs were. Then when we joined CCN [Certified Contractors Network] everybody was asking [me that question]. I found out that 80% of our leads come from referrals and past customers. So now we’re tracking Consumers’ Checkbook and the Yellow Pages. Our Yellow Pages leads are in the $200 to $250 range. That surprised me. I knew I was paying $6,000 or $7,000 a month, but I didn’t realize how few calls it was bringing in. We’re also doing a lot of pay-per-click [advertising] and SuperPages. Those Internet leads are in the $35 to $50 range.
