John Kenney, CPRC, CEO, Cotney Consulting Group
In many roofing companies, sales are often the least structured part of the business. While estimating, production and project management typically run on systems, sales are frequently left to personality, gut instinct or inherited practices. The result? Inconsistent revenue, low-margin jobs and salespeople who operate in silos with minimal accountability.
Roofing contractors must move beyond transactional selling to grow sustainably and protect margins. The goal isn’t just to “close more jobs.” It’s to build a sales operation that drives profitable work, aligns with production capacity and sets the tone for long-term client relationships. Whether you’re residential, commercial or service-focused, smart sales operations are now essential to business.
Roofing sales are often reduced to “who can close the deal.” However, successful companies understand that selling is a multi-step process, not a one-call event. It includes:
■ Lead qualification and intake
■ Needs assessment
■ Scope and expectations alignment
■ Handoff to estimating or pre-construction
■ Proposal development and delivery
■ Follow-up communication
■ Job setup and transition to operations
When even one of these stages is missing or unclear, opportunities fall through the cracks, client expectations are misaligned or jobs go to contract with insufficient detail. A smart sales operation eliminates these risks through repeatable, documented systems.
Not every roofing business should structure its sales team the same way. Your model should reflect your market, service mix and growth goals. Here are common sales structures:
Owner-Led Sales
Best for: Startups or small shops
Pros: Strong control and trust
Cons: Not scalable, often reactive
Dedicated Sales Reps
Best for: Companies with steady lead volume
Pros: Focused on relationship-building
Cons: Can lack estimating or technical depth
Hybrid Estimator-Sales Roles
Best for: Commercial or technical roofing
Pros: Deep understanding of cost and constructability
Cons: Often overextended; prone to burnout
Inside: Handles inbound calls, estimates, service maintenance
Outside: Focuses on new development, facility managers, GCs
Evaluate your model regularly. Roles may need specialization and responsibilities may be split as your company grows to avoid bottlenecks.
What this Means for Contractors: Your sales model should be by design – not default. Choose a structure based on your business maturity, service lines and margin targets.
Documenting your sales process is the foundation of consistency. This doesn’t have to be complicated but it does need to be precise. Define each stage from lead to close. For example:
■ Initial contact and intake
■ Qualification (budget, timing, decision-maker)
■ Site visit or virtual consult
■ Scope review and estimating handoff
■ Proposal delivery
■ Client Q&A and follow-up
■ Signed contract and project launch
Use this process to train new hires, identify bottlenecks and ensure accountability across your team. Even a basic CRM or project board can help visualize where every opportunity stands.
Why this Matters: Eliminates guesswork. When every rep follows the same process, you eliminate chaos and guesswork. Clients receive consistent experience and managers can forecast revenue with greater reliability.
One of the most costly problems in roofing is the disconnect between sales and production. The sales team sells one thing; the production team delivers another. To solve this:
■ Schedule pre-job kickoff meetings between sales and operations.
■ Standardize documentation for scopes, expectations and special conditions.
■ Give field leaders visibility into what was sold and why.
Train sales reps to consider scheduling, access, safety constraints and production realities when quoting jobs. A job sold correctly is 50 percent of the way to being executed profitably.
Roofing companies often invest in field training but leave sales personnel to figure it out alone. This limits your close rate and creates friction between sales and production. Sales reps should be trained on:
■ Product and system knowledge
■ Installation methods and limitations
■ Objection handling and client education
■ Proposal delivery and follow-up techniques
■ Margin awareness and job profitability basics
Invest in both technical and soft skill development. It strengthens client trust and ensures reps don’t unintentionally overpromise or underbid.
Data-driven sales management is essential to improving results. Key performance indicators to track include:
■ Close rate (quotes vs. wins)
■ Average job size
■ Sales cycle length
■ Revenue booked vs. goal
■ Gross margin per sale
■ Lead source conversion rate
■ Win/loss reason codes
Review these KPIs in weekly or bi-weekly sales meetings. Celebrate wins, troubleshoot pending deals and identify patterns. Over time, you’ll build a more innovative sales engine.
Sales incentives work but only when they reward the proper outcomes. Volume alone can encourage reckless selling. Instead, consider compensation tied to:
■ Profitability or margin thresholds
■ Quality of handoff to operations
■ Customer satisfaction or repeat work
■ Sales-to-collection timelines (to discourage over-selling or slow jobs)
■ Well-aligned incentives drive consistent behavior and unify the sales team with the rest of the organization.
Remember, the sales experience is often a client’s first impression of your company. A responsive, professional, well-structured process builds trust from the first call. It also reduces buyer’s remorse and scope disputes down the line.
Sales is not just a function – it’s a key brand touchpoint. And it’s the beginning of the production experience. Treat it with the same purpose as your jobsite performance or warranty process.
Sales don’t have to be chaotic, personality-driven or a constant source of margin stress. With a clearly defined process, aligned team structure, consistent KPIs and proper training, roofing contractors can turn sales into a reliable, scalable growth engine.
If your sales department feels like a black hole or a roller coaster, start by mapping your process, aligning your teams and measuring what matters. Smart sales operations don’t just win more jobs – they win better jobs, improve profits and create better client experiences from day one.
John Kenney, CPRC has over 50 years of experience in the roofing industry. He started his career by working as a roofing apprentice at a family business in the Northeast and worked his way up to operating multiple Top 100 Roofing Contractors. As CEO, John is intimately familiar with all aspects of roofing production, estimating and operations. If you would like further information on this or another subject, you can contact John at jkenney@cotneyconsulting.com.
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