RADIANT HEAT Since many neighborhoods were built around the same time, chances are good that when one roof wears out, others in the vicinity will also need replacement. This principle underlies a good deal of the marketing that residential roofers do, often with direct mail, or door hangers, or both.
“I get three to five [roofing] leads a week off of door hangers,” says Joe Pipkin, of Memphis Home Improvement, who this year used his door hangers to reference the company ads broadcast on the screens of local movie houses. He also rented two full-size billboards in downtown Memphis, Tenn., a retro marketing method other roofers have lately employed to good effect. The point of all this is to “position ourselves so that people already have some idea of who we are, so we can close more sales and draw more people toward our company,” Pipkin says.
For many roofers, direct mail is the most valuable marketing tool. But some don’t leave it to that relatively passive means. They’re not just taking roofing jobs, they’re making them by requiring reps to cross the street and knock on doors. “They’re supposed to knock on 13 homes in either direction,” Smalley says, “and 7 homes across the street.” Smalley is also teaching his six reps to network for new leads through business social groups. He pays for their membership.
Knowing that sooner or later anyone who owns a home will need a new roof, direct mail builds on the assumption that what many homeowners seek is the assurance that their new roof will look good and will hold up. Which is why Kim Smith, owner of J.N. Davis Roofing, in Pasadena, Calif., distributes a 30-page “Roofing Report” to prospects, giving them the fundamental information they’ll need to buy a roof, including discussion of materials. The report, Smith says, includes lots of pictures and lots of information about what contractors shouldn’t do when installing a roof. Message: Smith is the expert.
METAL RISING These days it isn’t only shingle or tile roofs that Smith installs in his Southern California market. He also installs metal — and in some markets, lots of it. Ducker Worldwide, for one, predicts an expansion of metal in the residential roofing market. Once, metal roofs mainly went on barns, but during the last 10 years, metal in both shingle and standing seam configurations has evolved to become a mainstream product with substantial appeal to the upper-end homeowner. Naturally, since there is a finite number of such homeowners, that appeal may seem limited. But maybe not.
“If oil prices continue to rise and get to $120 or $125 a barrel, you could see metal roofing capture a larger piece [of the market] than that,” says Reid Ribble, CEO of The Ribble Group, a roofing contractor in Appleton, Wis. Ribble suggests that the cost, availability, and quality of oil — a key component in asphalt shingles — could make metal far more competitive. “The upgrade used to be from 3-tab to laminate,” he says. “Now it’s from laminate to metal.”
Another factor that enhances metal’s desirability is the fact that it’s recyclable. Ribble says his company has been installing a lot more metal shingle roofs, especially stone-coated shingles with a granulated surface. “Roofing contractors have discovered that they can make money with it, and manufacturers have done a good job of promoting the recyclability of metal roofing,” he says.
Smith says that during the last five years, metal roofs — his preference is also stone-coated shingles — have jumped from 5% of his business to 30%. “I have torn off concrete tile to put on stone-coated steel,” he says. The reason? “Basically, I suggest it.”
ROOF OF A LIFE TIME Metal’s market share is growing and will continue to, say those who study the roofing industry; so is the market share of clay and concrete tile — all materials designed to make a roof look great and last for 30, 40, 50 years, or longer. And while, in residential roofing, asphalt shingles remain the product of choice, roofs covered with that product also now last longer. Add to the list of better roof coverings the array of products such as ice-and-water shield that, installed with expertise, allow for a longer roof lifespan. All this ultimately must have a residual effect on the cycle of roof replacement. That’s good for consumers, who won’t have to worry when it rains, but not for roofing contractors. Call it the opposite of planned obsolescence.
“I have a reference book of 8,000 satisfied customers,” Priest says. “We’re replacing roofs that are 20 years old, and the roof we replace it with will last 40 to 60 years. So what’s the challenge? I have 8,000 customers who are 98.7% satisfied, but just don’t happen to need what I sell.”
And so in ’08, Burr Roofing, Siding & Windows will add a painting division.
