The best way to get free roofing leads is to do great work (which leads to word of mouth jobs). You can then leverage your "great work" by using low-cost marketing tools to keep the roofing referrals coming (such as sending post cards to existing customers and having a good online presence).
Here are five easy ways to get close to free roofing leads:
- - Do great work (which leads to referrals).
- - Improve your online presence (website).
- - Respond quickly to incoming calls or emails.
- - Get your customers to review you online.
- - Network with local real estate agents.
Let's dig into each of these in a little more detail:
1. Do great work (which leads to referrals).
Referrals still account for the vast majority of projects won. Not advertising, but old fashion referrals. The bottom line is, if you do great work, the person you worked for will likely refer you to a friend. We do recommend that you engage in a practice of sending your existing customer base at least twice a year to remind them you exist. It can be a simple post card. That's all you need.
2. Improve your online presence (your website).
Establishing a website is a low-cost method of supporting your referrals. You need a place to send your prospective customers so they can read about you and your work. Make sure there is an easy way for customers to contact you. Make your phone number obvious and provide an easy to complete form for someone to submit.
3. Respond quickly to incoming calls or emails.
If you respond to prospective customers quickly, your win rate will likely increase. This can be done by 1) forwarding everything to your cell phone, 2) having an answering service, or 3) having an administrative assistant handle inbound requests. Just make sure you have every call or email covered so the customer will hear from you quickly.
4. Get your customers to review you online.
You will need to set up some kind of review program (using Google, Yelp, TrustPilot, or something similar). Once you have setup the program, you can just send a link to your customers and request that they post a review.
5. Network with local real estate agents.
Real estate agents are constantly in need of assistance. Just add agents to your mailing list and send them the same information that you send to your past customers.