Roofing Customer Retention: Guide for Contractors

What is Customer Retention?

Customer retention is when you get recurring business from customers. It’s a signal that you can do a solid, professional roofing job and serve customers well enough for them to come back.

In roofing, customer retention happens mostly with recurring maintenance services but you might also get customers to book you again for roof repairs after a storm, a roof upgrade to a new house, or an addition to their property.

You’ll naturally retain some customers after doing an excellent job for them, but there are some other strategies you can use to improve customer retention. When you start focusing on retention more strategically, you’ll be able to jump-start the growth and profitability of your roofing business.

Why is Customer Retention Important for Roofing Businesses?

Customer retention helps your business grow. Improving your services to retain customers is an expense, but acquiring a new customer can cost up to 25 times more.

Retaining customers can help you in many other ways, too:

• It increases profit: Customer retention can boost revenue by up to 95% since you don’t have to spend so much on acquisition costs.

• Upsells are easier: 49% of home services businesses are focusing on upsells to boost profits. It’s much easier to upsell to customers who already know and trust you.

• The job is familiar: When you book a second job with a customer, you know what you’re getting into. You know their roof measurements, preferences, and which service techs are a good fit for them.

• More referrals: Satisfied customers are more likely to refer you to friends and family. When you get business from a referred customer, you’re 37% more likely to retain them.

• Potential testimonials: Once you’re familiar with a customer, they’ll be much more willing to help you with longer testimonials. When you have testimonials for long-term customers on your site, it’s a powerful marketing tool that you can use to attract new customers.

If you want to reap all these benefits, you’ll need an accurate picture of your customer retention rate.

How Can Roofing Contractors Calculate Customer Retention?

Calculating customer retention is pretty straightforward. In roofing, customers should ideally get roofs inspected a few times a year—so you’ll probably want to measure retention over six months or more.

You’ll just need to know the number of customers you had at the beginning and end of that period and how many of those customers were new.

Below is the formula for measuring customer retention:

• CRR = Customer retention rate

• S = The number of customers you had at the start of the period you’re measuring.

• E = The number of customers you had at the end of the period you’re measuring.

• N = The number of new customers you acquired during that same period.

For example, say, over the past six months, you started with 60 customers and ended with 100 customers, 80 of whom were new.

In this example, your retention rate is 33 percent, and now you have a benchmark you can track.

How Can You Increase Roofing Customer Retention?

Improving customer retention is all about making customers feel valued and making it easy for them to book with you again.

Guardian Roofing delivers on its ‘customer for life’ motto with efficient processes for customers and techs. These processes help the company streamline communication and accurately schedule and dispatch techs for smaller jobs, which allows them to retain customers.

Here are eight ways you too can go above and beyond to increase roofing customer retention:

Let’s look at each one in more detail:

1. Make each customer feel unique

Making customers feel special is a crucial factor in increasing customer retention. 

Picture this: you call a company you’ve worked with before, and they greet you by name. The person on the phone remembers what you ordered last time and asks relevant questions about what you need this time.

You’d probably feel like they were taking special care of your project.

To do this for your customers, use ServiceTitan’s Call Booking feature. Customer information will pop up on your CSR’s screen as they receive each call. They’ll be able to see property data, details of the customer’s last job, and view previous-call scripts.

For example, say a customer previously requested a roof repair and now calls to ask about a new roof for their shed. With ServiceTitan, your CSR will see when the roof was repaired and can ask how it’s holding up.

Techs can access customer information in the field, and real-time information makes it easier for CSRs to provide more personalized service.

You can also access recordings of each call to coach new CSRs on best practices and spot performance issues before they cost you a loyal customer.

2. Don’t try to upsell

At least, don’t try to upsell too aggressively. Sometimes, roofing contractors will push customers to buy more expensive products when they’re on a budget, leaving a bad impression.

Instead, give your customers the power to choose and offer a simple checkout process.

With ServiceTitan’s Field Service app, your techs can use pricebooks to create instant estimates in the field, with good-better-best comparisons. When customers have more choices, they build trust, which helps increase customer retention.

Jay Kline of Penguin Air says the app empowers his team to build an extraordinary customer experience every time: “We’re really big on that customer experience and being transparent with the customer as to what options they’re getting, what sales they’re getting.”

When it’s time to pay, customers can pay on-site once the work is done, using their credit card, cash, or check to keep cash flow flowing.

3. Make it easy for customers to reach you

When customers have questions or need to reschedule a job, how easily can they reach you?

Long hold times are a mark against your customer service, and many customers avoid calling altogether. Seventy-five percent of customers prefer texting a business instead.

ServiceTitan’s Customer Experience software lets you chat with customers using SMS features connected to your office. You can also send automated service reminders, and customers can choose between replying to the text or calling your office.

Let customers reach you the way they want, and you’ll make them much more likely to reach out again.

4. Help roofers arrive fully informed

Customers don’t want to answer a bunch of questions twice. 

That’s why your project management skills are crucial for increased customer retention. Your techs should arrive with all the information the customer gave your CSR so customers don’t have to explain what needs to be done (again).

With ServiceTitan’s Field Service app, you can help techs do just that. They can pull up detailed job histories on-site, including past jobs, photos, and any issues past techs have noted.

They can even listen to a recording of the customer’s call with the CSR before they arrive to understand precisely what the customer requested.

5. Arrive on time

Chances are you’ll need customers to prep a little for the job: they’ll have to move vehicles out of the way, clear the yard around the roof, and secure their pets. That can be a big inconvenience, so it’s essential to ensure your crew arrives when the homeowner expects them to.

Improved customer retention starts with your dispatch board. When customers book a job, your CSRs can use ServiceTitan’s Service Scheduling software to schedule techs based on their availability, avoiding last-minute scheduling hassles.

You can schedule jobs months in advance and tag each one so your techs know exactly what they need to arrive ready to start roofing.

Customers get an automated SMS confirmation message before every appointment, so you can stop wasting time on customer no-shows.

With ServiceTitan’s Customer Experience software, homeowners can track roofing trucks in real time, just like they would with their favorite delivery app.

That means you can also track where your techs are and guarantee on-time arrivals.

6. Use a customer loyalty program

Loyalty programs incentivize customers to book with you again or recommend your services to a friend. For example, you could offer a discount on biannual roofing inspections if they choose you for a new roof installation.

Or, you can provide referral offers. These can work two ways: either you offer the customer a discount on their services for a referral, or you can offer the referred customer a discount.

Guardian Roofing uses ServiceTitan to manage its membership program. Rather than just replacing a roof, the firm sets itself apart by offering repair and maintenance as well—and ServiceTitan’s reminders help their team stay on top of all repair and maintenance appointments.

Since roofing is a high-ticket item for most homeowners, a discount can be a powerful incentive to refer a friend. Just ensure the discounts don’t cut into your profit margins too much.

7. Ask for customer feedback

Customers like it when you’re interested in what they have to say. 

Asking for feedback is part of improving customer retention and reputation management. Feedback can provide valuable insights into how to improve your services.

If a customer is dissatisfied, asking for feedback gives you a chance to improve. You might end up retaining customers who would have otherwise chosen someone else next time.

Guardian Roofing uses ServiceTitan to automate review requests, get alerts for each new review, and link customer satisfaction scores directly to each tech’s performance KPIs. 

As owner Matt Swanson says, using technology in these ways is essential to staying competitive: “If you look at how the industry has changed, everything revolves around technology […] The fact that you're getting reviews back every day, the fact that you better be monitoring every customer and how they feel about you.”

8. Tailor each contract to customer needs

What does that process look like when customers need to re-book with you? Improving customer retention involves ensuring that you don’t miss maintenance appointments and that contracts are tailored to match your customer’s preferences, budget, upgrades, and more.

With ServiceTitan, you win more bids from the start with service agreement features that let you create automatic memberships that techs can draw up on-site with their smartphones or tablets.

You can specify each service's equipment, location, and cost details and then automate agreement appointments. That way, customers won’t need to do anything to set up maintenance, and all the details are right there for your tech’s next visit.

What Factors Affect Customer Retention in Roofing Businesses?

While there are many things you can do to increase customer retention, those tactics won’t work well if a core part of your customer service is lacking. 

Here are some key factors that can affect your customer retention:

• Service quality: A job well done is probably the most important factor in retention. Using high-grade materials, making sure roofs are repaired to code, and a professional-looking finish will earn customer trust.

• Customer service: How your CSRs interact with customers before, during, and after a job can make or break loyalty. Customers need to speak to a friendly, responsive rep if they have an issue.

• Technician service: The professionalism of your on-site technicians will also directly impact loyalty. Well-trained techs who respect the customer’s property and clearly explain their work help customers rest easy and trust that the techs will do a good job.

• Communication: Keeping customers as informed as possible builds trust. Clarity about costs, materials, and issues will ensure your customers aren’t left with any unwelcome surprises.

• Training: Ongoing training for CSRs and techs ensures your team stays up-to-date as your services and customer base change.

When you have these core business aspects, you have a solid foundation to improve retention.

Over to You

As tradesman Joe Cunningham says, it’s up to you to prove that you care: “...if you don’t act like you really care, the customers aren’t going to care about you, because they want to know if you're empathetic with their situation.”

Building that trust is key to improving customer retention, right from the moment they call in. Software that helps you improve communication, project management, and professionalism can help you provide a better experience throughout the entire job.

Roofing companies fail when they don’t prioritize quality service. Top-notch service will help you grow into a roofing brand that customers book with again and again.

ServiceTitan is a comprehensive software solution built specifically to help roofing companies streamline their operations, boost revenue, and substantially elevate the trajectory of their business. Our comprehensive, cloud-based platform is used by thousands of trade businesses across the country—and has increased their revenue by an average of 25 percent in just their first year with us.