Neighbor Letter

I just got three jobs in a particular neighborhood. All of these homes are the same age(15 yrs old) and about half have gotten new roofs within the past year. The other half are due.

My question is this, does anyone have a “neighbor” letter you mail out to the other h.o.'s. If so would you like to share it with me? There are 39 more that need to be reroofed, and of course I would like to be the roofer who does the work.

The other roofer who did the lions share of the previous installs got a bad name at the end due to some quality issues so I’m trying to sieze the opportunity.

Thanks

James

Placing a yard sign while you are roofing a house gets the mesage across,most homeowners will allow it to stay there until you pick it up,have some cheap ones made up,they tend to dissapear.

I have one but its used before any roofing is being done in the sub. Sorry im sure it will not work. Oh yea you need a roofer there and send this out before like a week or so apology letter sort of thing. Had a bad day im a little frazzled.

Thak you for the reply, no yard signs in this deed restricted community are allowed.

GTP If, on a better day, may I see the letter you use. As a fellow salesman, I’m open to anything that works.

Thanks,

James

also, every house is the same 21 sq model.

Should I enclose the bid with the letter? The price is the same on every house for the most part.
My gut tells me not to, rather arrange a personal meeting where I go for the close face to face.

Furthermore, this is a retire community with word of mouth going a long way.( hence 3 back to back jobs, last two on neighbor referral).

Thanks,

James

what i do is introduce my self to the neighbors when my crew is in action. i knock door to door and say something to the affect…“Hi, im Adam, and i own the company that is doing the roof next door (down the street/ around the corner) and i’m just introducing myself to the neighborhood ::hand them card:: if there’s anything you ever need feel free to call me. Have a nice day.” don’t try to push and don’t ask if you can give them a price. always wait for them to ask. people hate solicitors. but if your friendly and brief, they may ask you to quote them. i have sold probably 5 sub divisions this way. i also leave my card stapled to door hangers for the ones that aren’t home.

Got a call the end of last week from a home owner in a neigborhood with 33 houses all with defective shingles. The home owner mentioned a management company and at that point realized it was a dead end.

Early this Spring bid on 4 townhomes I roofed 3-5 years ago. The insurance company wrote the estimate at $70K I was at $80K and the other bids ranged from $50K-60K. Talked to every home owner and told them I roofed the building personally and could do it again. The woman that pulled hard for me to get the project told them all that the insurance compnay would pay my prices and there was nothing to worry about. One home owner wanted Timberline I wanted Landmark. The home owner went on line and got consumer reports showing how great the Landmarks were but it didn’t matter.

Lost the project mainly due to the fact that I didn’t go around and bribe the home owners. A $1K deductible was all that stood in my way.

Oh well, had a busy year anyways.

Dougger, I feel for ya. There are a LOT of co’s here who hand back deductibles & what I explain to the customer is that’s insurance fraud, but they don’t care.

I also explain that the basic costs in this market are similar (although in reality I pay my labor higher $$ per square than 99% of the contractors), so with parts & labor being within 2 - 5% of each other (mine vs. theirs) if a job is being accepted for $ 1K less on a 35 square roof there’s got to be SOME corners being cut by the low ballers. & That’s the gawd’s honest truth - if it’s not in product then it’s definitely in labor.

Marshall, the only thing I’d ad to your “non pitch” is “Hi, I’m doing the roof next door / 2 doors over (etc) & if it’s OK with you, when we’re near completion I’d like to take a look in your back yard for any shingle wrappers that might have blown over the fence / gotten stuck in your trees.”

The other option is to tell them you’re doing the roof & if they find any trash, you’d like to know so you can come 'n get it.

For a 2 story where there are tight property lines, offer to roll the magnet through their yard.

When they escort you into the back yard, mention something in common with their house to the one you’re doing, sorta like “See that octagonal roof bump out? We found some rotten wood on Mr. Jones’ house across the street 5 doors over… you might have the same issues & if you’d like, I can pop a ladder up there & take a look for you.”

Low key, low pressure is the idea. @ The very least, offering to clean up their back yard is always a good into & if you’d really like to stretch it, when you’re in the back yard you can ask if they’d like you to put that rusted BBQ grill in your dump trailer. You know, the crusty old thing in the back corner that looks like they never did manage to drag it out to the street. It’s little things like that where you make good inroads.

I introduce myself the the folks who live next to the house I’m roofing. I give them a card and add a little twist. I ask them to call me if after the we’ve finished, if they find any wayward debris from the job in thier yard. I’ll send some one out to take care of it. Some times I end up doing thier job also! = )