To run a successful roofing business, you must have a particular skill set.
The best roofers have a good mix of technical expertise, hard skills, and soft skills, making them an asset to their company. They know all the ins and outs of roofing and how to think on their feet, manage their time well, and communicate effectively with customers and other roofers.
In this article, we’ll look into the top 10 essential roofer skills to master for success.
1. Technical Expertise in Roofing Systems
Technical knowledge of different roofing systems is one of the most vital skills to master. Many different roofing materials—such as shingles, tiles, metal, and smart roofs—have vastly different installation and repair techniques.
Developing your technical skills in each roofing system ensures you can offer diverse services that meet your clients’ needs. This, in turn, helps bring in more customers for your business.
Professional roofers should be fully trained in installing roofing membranes, using bitumen, and the importance of vapor barriers. Research the popular roofing systems in your service area and stay up-to-date on the latest trends so you can brush up your skills where needed.
2. Attention to Detail
Excellent attention to detail reduces errors and ensures flawless measurements, cutting, and installation. This reduces waste, contributes to cost savings, and saves time, meaning roofing projects are completed on time and within budget.
Furthermore, roofers who pay close attention to detail can quickly spot mistakes, preventing leaks and future damage to customer property that will negatively impact your reputation. Fixing these issues before they become problems ensures good service and happy customers.
3. Knowledge of Safety Standards
Your safety and that of your team, clients, and other third parties around your job site is crucial. A deep understanding of OSHA regulations and safety procedures helps keep everyone safe while roofing work is underway.
Ensure you and your team are trained on proper equipment handling, harness and safety equipment usage, ladder safety, how to move heavy materials, and other key safety protocols, such as:
Are the weather conditions conducive to safe roof work (no storms, heavy rain, high winds, or excessive heat forecast)?
Has a perimeter flag line been installed six feet from all unprotected edges?
Has safe roof access been established, including the installation of fixed ladders at all elevation breaks of 19 inches or more?
Staying updated with safety procedures helps reduce risks and accidents in the work environment. ServiceTitan users can upload safety checklists and guidelines to the Field Service App so they are accessible in the field through your technicians’ mobile phones when needed.
4. Problem-solving and Adaptability
As a roofer, you will likely experience problems at some point while on the job. From adverse weather conditions to structural issues, there are many obstacles you might face that hinder job completion, safety, and even sticking to your budget.
Overcoming challenges and solving or adapting to unexpected problems helps roofers avoid costly delays that can damage customer satisfaction. It is crucial to think on your feet in difficult situations.
Staying informed and up-to-date on job changes can help you overcome challenges as they arise. With the ServiceTitan Field Service App, every technician can stay in the loop from the field with real-time project updates, so no information gets missed.
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5. Time Management
Customers expect their projects to be completed on time and require timely responses to their bookings, especially in emergency repair situations.
Working on your time management skills helps ensure you provide timely service to your customers at each part of the project lifecycle, from initial booking to completion.
Just as good time management skills are vital, so are the right business management tools for effectively managing your scheduling and dispatch.
ServiceTitan’s Service Scheduling software lets you anticipate availability for each technician, allowing your front office staff to book projects efficiently and respond to emergencies quickly. Each job is categorized so you can ensure your crews arrive fully informed and prepared.
Furthermore, ServiceTitan’s Dispatch software provides intelligent scheduling, allowing users to easily shorten, lengthen, or reschedule projects to optimize technician time.
It also provides a live map so customers can see when you will arrive for their job, increasing satisfaction by removing unnecessary wait time.
6. Customer Communication and Service
Explaining complex roofing processes in a way that customers understand is crucial for managing expectations and ensuring they fully grasp the scale of their project before it begins.
Communication is vital in providing good customer service, so improving your communication skills can enhance overall customer satisfaction and experience.
It’s also important to know the key touchpoints, such as when you should speak to or follow up with your customers as the project progresses.
ServiceTitan’s Customer Experience software sends automated appointment reminders to ensure the customer is available on the day. Users can even send technician bios to help clients feel more comfortable.
Furthermore, with two-way texting capabilities, you can communicate with your clients in more ways than just over the phone.
7. Business Management Skills
Running a roofing business requires more than roofing skills alone. Your business management skills are vital for ensuring your business operates efficiently and stays financially healthy.
A key aspect of successful business management is financial management. Maintaining healthy cash flow, staying on top of invoices, and managing expenses all contribute to whether or not your business succeeds.
ServiceTitan’s Contractor Payroll software has built-in timesheet features where your technicians and front-office staff can log their work hours. The system tracks overtime and even automates bonuses, saving you from the time-consuming manual work.
Timesheets also link to the platform’s job-costing features, ensuring employee payroll is accounted for so you can make the best pricing decisions.
In addition, ServiceTitan’s Accounting features, which integrate with popular accounting software like QuickBooks, let you accurately track your finances and control your business spending.
8. Marketing and Sales Skills
Marketing your business well and successfully closing deals are the cornerstones of revenue and business growth, so you must master these skills.
It’s much easier to win jobs when you can provide an accurate, detailed estimate and a professional proposal. Thankfully, ServiceTitan’s Roofing software lets you quickly create good-better-best estimates to provide the best options for your clients and close deals faster.
Your technicians can also create estimates while in the field using ServiceTitan’s Field Service App.
Tracking your return on investment is crucial in marketing. This will allow you to make more informed decisions about future campaigns and strategies.
ServiceTitan’s Home Services Marketing software lets you add trackable phone numbers to each campaign so you can accurately monitor their success. You can also view a heatmap showing neighborhoods where your campaigns are most successful.
9. Teamwork and Leadership
Being a good leader means keeping your team motivated and productive while being a good team player yourself. Successfully managing your team contributes considerably to the quality of your roofing projects.
With ServiceTitan’s Project Tracking software, you can streamline invoicing and payments and monitor team productivity and project costs. This data provides much-needed insights that inform your leadership strategy, helping you manage your teams efficiently and effectively.
10. Continuous Learning and Industry Updates
The roofing industry constantly changes, so roofers must stay informed to avoid missing new technologies, techniques, or tools. This is even more important as building codes are updated.
Regularly attending job training workshops and trade shows and obtaining certifications helps you stay up-to-date and shows customers you can provide the most modern roofing solutions.
The Bottom Line
Brushing up on your skills can help you provide excellent customer service, complete more projects, manage your teams better, and stay ahead of the competition.
Pairing these skills with a comprehensive business management solution like ServiceTitan can take your business to new heights in 2025 and beyond.
ServiceTitan is an all-in-one home services software solution that helps trade businesses improve their business management, marketing, scheduling, and dispatch processes. It is trusted by over 100,000 contractors across the United States.
ServiceTitan Software
ServiceTitan is a comprehensive software solution built specifically to help service companies streamline their operations, boost revenue, and substantially elevate the trajectory of their business. Our comprehensive, cloud-based platform is used by thousands of electrical, HVAC, plumbing, garage door, and chimney sweep shops across the country—and has increased their revenue by an average of 25% in just their first year with us.
