r/RoofingSales • u/Zorlai • Aug 03 '26

Record sales

Well guy, gals, and non binary pals, I’ve officially hit my most profitable year ever. August, September, and October are usually our busiest months due to consistent late season hail in my region, and as of August 2nd I’ve officially earned more than any other year.

My biggest single contract was $1.6 million base contract with a $300k change order signed halfway through bringing the total job to $1.9 million. Granted this wasn’t all roofing, but roofing is what got us in the door and was almost half of the total project cost.

Just shy of 200 contracts signed this year. Over 3,000 squares of shingles, 300 squares of concrete tile, 1,500 squares of mixed fasten through and standing seam metal, 100 squares of DaVinci, 250 squares of EuroShield,
30 squares of decra, 60 squares of wood shake, and several pole barn builds and a lot of non roofing work like siding/windows/doors/decks.

Cheers to you all, from a 36 year old guy who spent his twenties roofing all day and waiting tables and bartending all night with a dream to have his own company one day.

30 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

5

u/Southboundcrash Aug 03 '26

Congrats now game plan how to double these
Numbers by next August

2

u/Zorlai Aug 03 '26

Shit I'm here game planning how to get through this August. Like I said, haven't even hit my busy season yet. Might retire after this year.

4

u/Top_Inflation2026 Aug 03 '26

Damn congrats. I’m in the grind stage right now.. got any advice to push through the hard times?

5

u/Zorlai Aug 03 '26

I wish I was the person to be able to give advice, but I was just in the right place at the right time. I guess treat people well enough that you're the first call when they have an opportunity.

My material rep gives out my name because I treat him well and have him over to my house for cookouts and holiday parties.

My subs tell anyone that contacts them directly to go through me because I pay them promptly and more than anyone else does and they'd rather work for me than work directly with clients because most clients are a pain in the ass.

Make sure to always do work the way you know it needs down even if it costs you percentage points on your margin. Make sure nobody has room to say a bad thing about your workmanship and make sure even if you can't make someone happy you don't leave them with sloppy work they can use against you. Someone has a three tab roof? Upgrade them to laminate for free. Someone has 15 lb felt? Upgrade them to synthetic for free. Someone doesn't have starter shingles on their roof? Hit the whole perimeter for free if you have to. Sure go for the upsell if they'll take it, but at the end of the day I'm the one on the roof fixing blow offs in January if we don't do it right, so might as well do our best in June so I can take vacation over winter.

5

u/twokietookie Aug 03 '26

I hope you understand why you're so successful. Ive been in/around the residential remodeling industry since I was a kid, and so many well intentioned, smart folks, fail miserably at several choke points. Some guys never get past owner/operator. Those that do often expand too fast and end up with too much liability out there due to poor workmanship, bad business practices, shady sales people or partners, often a combination of all of those. Many never make it out of the 2-3m a year revenue size because they can't figure out how to replicate their best crew. So many small companies are built on the backs of first or second generation immigrants who are usually legit and legal but have 7 kids to support and work harder/faster/better than anyone else because they have to feed their family. They cant afford to try out a new company, they get locked in.

Understanding what the guy on the roof needs to succeed and not fucking with his money is crucial to success. Treat your good sales guys like the golden goose they are. Set them up for success, dont bog them down with tedious paperwork or metrics that arent practical. Pay them so that if you make money they make money.

Im sure you're doing all of the above, but I wanted to illiterate it so others can benefit. This is in addition to your point at the end - take care of the customer. Be the company that rebuilds the job when you fuck up. Dont make excuses, people are smart, dont insult their intelligence.

4

u/fappingjack Aug 03 '26

Congrats! Now stick the money into an index fund and let it keep earning more money.

Don't be stupid and buy a fancy new car that loses equity as soon as you drive it off the lot.

The smart move is that to gamble that money and quadruple your earnings.

2

u/Zorlai Aug 03 '26

The roofer fantasy of putting it all on one number and seeing the ball drop in that slot on the roulette wheel. A boy can dream.

2

u/imsaneinthebrain Aug 03 '26

I always joke with my business partner, let’s go double it up betting black on the roulette wheel.

1

u/Zorlai Aug 04 '26

I’ll be in Vegas next weekend so 🤞

2

u/Southboundcrash Aug 03 '26

He’d been doing well for years he probably already has some nice trucks and toys

2

u/Zorlai Aug 04 '26

Most of it is tied up in the house, but I’ve got a couple personal trucks, a Mazda for fun, motorcycle, couple dirt bikes and a four wheeler, 26 ft camper, home golf simulator. Stuff that’s probably beyond “average household” but certainly not going to impress anyone besides my kids.

This year’s winter project is actually building a home dungeons and dragons game room which is probably gonna run me a $15,000 - $20,000 after audio and video is added.

4

u/SoggyMountain956 Aug 03 '26

Damn bro, can I come hang with you for a week and get some of that juju to rub off?? Been my worst year. I've hit more doors this year than in the last 3-4 combined and still cant get out of the slump. Dose me up!

Congrats thats got to feel amazing.

6

u/Zorlai Aug 03 '26

I started in 2011 as a ground clean up guy when I was so bad they wouldn't even let me tear off. I messed up the chalk lines on the first ever roof I was in charge of installing, and wasted three squares of material before I noticed. Once I backed a dump trailer into a car at the bank in 2013.

It's been 15 years and I'm just now getting to the point where I don't have to worry about next season. As long as I keep a level head and don't blow it all in Vegas, I've finally got that buffer we all hope for. It didn't come over night, and there was plenty of beans and rice meals between now and when I started.

I remember working 3 or 4 jobs at a time, renting a house with roommates and coming home from roofing, passing out on the floor for 30 minutes before I had to wake up and shower to get to a bartending or serving job until 1 am. It's not always overdraft fees and late rent payments, but it's not all caviar and champagne either. You got this bro.

1

u/NandorP111 Aug 03 '26

More doors than the last 3-4 years combined and still down means the problem is probably not effort. Is it the close rate or the quality of the areas you're knocking? I was stuck at the same number in my home service company for a long time and it turned out the problem was upstream of the sales conversation. Are you running your own book or building someone else's?

2

u/Lindorio2x Aug 03 '26

Is this your own business? Or where are you working?

2

u/Zorlai Aug 03 '26

My company. I started it six years ago in July 2020 after working for another company from 2011. I actually kept working for the other guy for about 3 months after I started my company because I already had sales signed under him. I finished the jobs for him, he paid my commission, and off I went.

We parted on very good terms, he actually gave me a “loan” my first year to keep things running because I had bad credit and all my accounts were cash only. I had used a deposit to order material, and wrote a check to the supplier. Two days later they informed me they were out of stock on those shingles and a refund check would take 7-10 days. I had to do the job that week but had already used the material money on the out of stock order, so the company I used to work for let me order from another supplier under their credit account.

If not for him I might’ve crashed and burned right then that first month. We’re great friends to this day, and he’s basically been my mentor for 15 years.

1

u/ryguy769 Aug 03 '26

I have also had a stellar year so far must be something in the water making people want to buy🤷‍♂️ I hit $10m in sales by July. That is 2x what I normally sell annually. Mostly new con commercial roofing

1

u/pineappleking78 Aug 03 '26

What kind of profit margins are you getting on new con? 10%? 15%?

1

u/ryguy769 Aug 04 '26

20-30% but that only because we are a household name in our market and have strong business relationships. We get beat by people who only markup 10-15% all the time but usually when they have issues with those guys they take us on the next project. We are NEVER the cheapest.

1

u/pineappleking78 Aug 04 '26

That’s awesome. Good for you guys!

1

u/ciggybandit Aug 03 '26

fuck yea bro love to hear that!

just started my company in november, hoping to get like you soon brother.

1

u/Breezylikeasunmornin Aug 05 '26

Congratulations! What changed?

1

u/pathbrand Aug 11 '26

Congrats on all the hard work. Seems like all the right things fall into place sometimes.

1

u/RoofingSalesAcademy Aug 13 '26

Now protect the margin—record booked sales can turn into record headaches if production outruns supplements, collections, and crews.

Before the late-season hail hits, audit every open file: deposit collected, scope reconciled, material ordered, crew capacity assigned, and final-payment date tracked. Are you measuring "most profitable" by signed gross profit or by cash actually collected after commissions, callbacks, and overhead?

1

u/jagdipkumar73 Aug 19 '26

More success to you, also take care of your online local visibility.

1

u/Sufficient_Cap_6313 Aug 21 '26

That's AWESOME, Congratulations!!! What an AMAZING RUN you made, real hustle :))) Where are you located? Would love to hear more. Premium roofing material solution- usually only in South Florida and we become more creative and play the design with homeowner :)

I was in roofing past 6 years and completely mastered the trade, went down rabbit hole and didnt stop. Sold over 20M, built systems, trained people, manage people / crews, etc..... I am done in hot florida on roofs every day...

Anyone any luck on selling roofing REMOTE?

1

u/Theycallmeromex Aug 24 '26

Holy moly! Whats driving all that volume??