What separates roofing companies that continue growing from those that struggle whenever the market changes? According to Jacob Vanhorn, CEO of Birdcreek Roofing, the answer is not simply more leads, a bigger sales team, or the next major storm. It is the ability to recognize what the market is revealing about your business and respond with stronger systems, better leadership, and more intentional sales strategies.
Birdcreek Roofing has experienced both sides of the roofing cycle. The company has doubled its revenue during major storm years, including growing from approximately $24 million to more than $50 million. It has also navigated slower years when insurance changes, economic pressures, and fewer storms made every roofing opportunity more difficult to win.
Through those experiences, Jacob learned an important lesson: storms expose your processes, while slow markets expose your people.
Storms Pressure-Test Your Processes
A major storm can bring an overwhelming number of leads into a roofing company. While that surge may look like immediate success, it can quickly expose weaknesses in scheduling, production, supplementing, collections, warranties, and communication.
When Birdcreek Roofing experienced rapid growth after a major storm, the leadership team resisted the temptation to bring in every available crew and install every roof immediately. They knew that unfamiliar crews and rushed production could create workmanship problems, warranty claims, and unhappy homeowners long after the storm had passed.
Instead, the company limited production to a manageable number of crews, even when that created a 12-week installation schedule. The team then helped homeowners understand why a reputable contractor might have a longer wait during an extremely busy period.
Jacob encourages roofing owners to look beyond the revenue available today and consider what each decision will mean next year. A company that breaks its promises during a storm may collect plenty of money in the moment, but it will struggle once referrals, reviews, and local reputation become necessary again.
“The storm isn’t always coming next year. You’ve got to have the stability and the reputation to withstand that.”
Measure the Activities That Produce Revenue
Revenue is important, but Jacob does not believe it should lead every conversation. Revenue and sales are the results of many smaller systems and behaviors working together.
Birdcreek Roofing works backward from each salesperson’s income goal. If a salesperson wants to earn $150,000, the company calculates how many roofs they must sell based on average contract value and profit margin. That number is then translated into the estimates, leads, door knocks, referral conversations, and other weekly activities required to reach the goal.
This gives the salesperson a practical roadmap while giving leadership a way to identify problems early. Rather than waiting until the end of the year to discover that someone missed their goal, managers can see within the first few weeks whether the necessary behaviors are happening.
The same type of capacity planning applies to operations. During a storm, leaders must evaluate how many jobs production managers, crews, supplement writers, and accounting personnel can realistically handle. They must also identify potential breaking points and add support before those problems become emergencies.
Protect Your Values When Money Is on the Line
Jacob believes a company’s values should occasionally cost it money. If values never require an uncomfortable decision or a financial sacrifice, they may only be words on a wall.
For Birdcreek Roofing, helping Texas homeowners is central to the company’s mission. During a major storm, the company tarped hundreds of homes, even though helping a homeowner did not guarantee Birdcreek would receive the roofing project. One salesperson was even recognized internally for helping an older couple rake storm debris from their yard.
That action did not immediately appear on a sales report, but it represented the type of company Birdcreek wanted to become. It also gave the community a reason to talk about the salesperson and the brand.
Employees notice how leaders treat customers when money is involved. If a company cuts corners, refuses to correct problems, or places profit above integrity, good employees may eventually decide that the company no longer reflects their values. On the other hand, leaders who consistently honor their promises create a culture that attracts employees who want to do the same.
Slow Markets Expose Your Sales Team
When storms are plentiful, salespeople often inherit urgency. Homeowners know they have damage, neighbors are replacing their roofs, and insurance claims are already being filed. In slower markets, that built-in urgency disappears.
Insurance carriers are increasing deductibles, denying more claims, and introducing policies that reduce payouts. Homeowners are also dealing with tighter household budgets and may delay replacing a roof even when legitimate damage exists.
Jacob explained that showing up used to be enough to win roofing work. Later, roofers needed polished presentations, strong proposals, good technology, and professional branding. Today, every lead is a competitive fight.
“Anybody can sell when it’s easy. You’ve got to figure out how to sell when it’s hard.”
A salesperson trained only to sell after storms may not know how to create urgency, uncover a homeowner’s priorities, explain the value of an upgraded roofing system, or protect the company’s margins. That is why Birdcreek Roofing brought in an experienced sales leader and began rebuilding its sales process around rapport, differentiation, urgency, and value.
Train Salespeople to Sell Value, Not Just a Roof
Selling an impact-resistant or premium roofing system requires more than placing it on a list of options. The salesperson must understand the homeowner’s goals and explain why the additional investment makes sense.
Jacob recommends asking how long the homeowner expects to remain in the house, whether their children may soon leave home, and whether they plan to sell or downsize. The salesperson should also look beyond the immediate roof damage by asking about hot and cold rooms, excessive air-conditioning usage, tree contact, or other concerns affecting the home.
These conversations help the salesperson recommend the right solution instead of presenting the same roofing system to every customer. Birdcreek Roofing is also developing a sales approach that begins with the homeowner’s dream roof before moving down to other options when necessary.
Training must teach salespeople how to hold margins, not simply tell them to do it. Jacob compares this to a baseball coach shouting, “Throw strikes.” The pitcher already knows the goal. What they need is instruction on how to grip the ball, move their body, and complete the throw.
Roofing salespeople need the same level of practical coaching. Owners and sales leaders may need to ride along, knock doors, observe appointments, and demonstrate how difficult conversations should be handled.
Protect Margin for the Long Term
Reducing prices may help a salesperson close a job, but the company still owns the warranty, liability, and long-term financial risk. When margins are already thin, one unpaid balance or unexpected repair can eliminate the profit from several other jobs.
Roofing companies should establish margin floors and train their salespeople to explain value without immediately discounting the project. Compensation plans can also encourage the right behaviors. For example, a company might consider paying a higher commission percentage on profitable upgrades than on a basic roofing system.
However, slower markets expose more than the salespeople. They also reveal weaknesses in the C-suite, sales leadership, operations management, and compensation structure. Leaders must be willing to examine their own decisions instead of blaming everyone below them.
Build an Intentional Referral System
Jacob challenges the idea that referrals automatically happen whenever a roofing company does good work. Quality work is essential, but a dependable referral pipeline requires an intentional process.
Birdcreek Roofing teaches its salespeople to “be braggable.” That means creating an experience homeowners will want to talk about and giving them reasons to share it with others.
Salespeople begin priming the referral early by acknowledging the person who made the introduction and expressing excitement about helping the homeowner’s friends and family in the future. They also look for meaningful ways to provide additional value, such as installing extra leak barrier in vulnerable areas at no additional charge.
The key is to make sure the homeowner understands what was done and why it matters. Jacob describes the process simply: tell customers what you are going to do, do what you promised, and then remind them that you completed it.
Birdcreek Roofing also uses the “Five Rs” for every inspection:
- Relationship
- Reroof
- Repair
- Review
- Referral
Beginning with the expectation of a review and referral encourages the salesperson to deliver an experience worthy of both.
Become Famous in a Focused Market
Roofing companies do not need to dominate an entire city to build a powerful brand. Jacob recommends becoming highly visible within a smaller, carefully selected area.
He once focused on a neighborhood of approximately 6,100 homes and set a goal of becoming famous within that specific community. Birdcreek Roofing built relationships, supported community initiatives, generated recommendations from residents, and developed a strong local presence. Over time, the company completed hundreds of roofs there.
This focused strategy demonstrates the power of repeated visibility and trusted relationships. Instead of trying to be everywhere and becoming memorable nowhere, a roofing contractor can become the obvious choice in a neighborhood where the right homes and customers are concentrated.
Build a Company That Can Thrive in Any Market
Roofing companies cannot control the weather, insurance policies, or the economy. They can control how they train their people, protect their margins, serve homeowners, manage capacity, and build local trust.
Storms may create rapid opportunities, but those opportunities will not build a lasting company by themselves. The roofing businesses that thrive are the ones that protect their reputation when demand is high and develop stronger salespeople when demand slows.
By focusing on disciplined systems, intentional referrals, genuine customer relationships, and values that guide difficult decisions, roofing contractors can build companies capable of succeeding through every stage of the market.
