What is it you can do to battle Stormers ????

Didnt they make lots of money doing what they loved. and gave a lot of it away. the money and the ice cream. I love roofing too. Its in my blood, to dumb to do anything else but smart enough to get someone as good as me to do the work, and I got all the work because I was damn good. If I had a project like the one Old School is working you can bet your as... that I'd be on that job everyday. but most houses are not that way

Who here read, or saw on a TV documentry the story of Häagen-Dazs? Not OT. It's actually related to the theme of this thread, imho.

As for money, I was born poor and plan on dying poor. I'm just doing what I love doing and marking time until I drop dead a happy fellow. :)

Not looking for comparisons Rocky. I'm advocating 'mindset' and 'gameplan'. We're on exactly the same page. Your gameplan is what I was saying. I'm just not as good with the words.

Tinner, you're in a different ballgame. There's no comparision. I didn't want to use my numbers but here goes, 2007-2.8 mil in sales 35% gross- 5%net 2008-3.3 mil in sales 36% gross- 6% net 2009 2.8 mil in sales 34% gross- 4% net 2010 4.0 mil in sales 38% gross- 8% net 2011 9.7 mil in sales 36% gross- 6% net. we had our own hail storm that hit in Oct. of 2010 and you can see where the sales went. There is one constant in all of this and that is our overhead. Which was 30% We new what that was and if you do, Then you should know where to set your sales price at to make a profit. Our goal was to be debt free and make 5% after everything was paid. We did this and never left our backyard. the storm came to us and we took advantage of the storm and helped thousands of people work thier way thru the insurance process. I didnt lower my margins to get more sales. Actually I made more net than I had hoped for. Imagine that. I hired 8 storm chasing SOB's and made them work under my plan. I hired 2 tearoff crews and 5 Install crews. Those guys we had to keep a close watch over. Everyone was estatic over the fact they didnt have a tax liability with the money they made from me. Now everybody is gone.Its settled. I would bet that only 50% of the storm damaged roofs are done. We have a marketing plan going with our normal guys and we our still doing better than the 4th quater of 2010. The storm chasers who worked for me earned their money fairly and made a bunch for me. It can be done.... but not if you're a 4or5 man operation, let alone 1 man. You guys have to stop crying the storm chasres are taking to many jobs. They are going to get them no matter what. What are you going to do to get yours? is the question.....

I am Chuck. And my competition have moved their prices closer to mine. I hear that some are also charging for proposals. :) Who wouldn't? Why ride around all day trying to sell something to a price shopper. Let them know you charge and weed out the shoppers. If everybody does that, we all 'win' in that we'll be on equal footing.

I ditched all employees, btw. Too much drama. :)

Those are good idea tinner. Are you a small shop with few employees. Do you do shingles or other commodity type roofing. I have always admired your post and pics. My impression you are a specialty roofing contractor ie Copper and slate.

B) :) :) B) Deep Down In Florida Where The Sun Shines Damn Near Every Day

Well Tom, I point that page out to the competition. What vcan they do? Keep bidding $100. for something I bid at $400.? Or maybe they get smart and say "Hey, we should bid $395. and underbid him!" If the latter, the prices are more inline all the way around. :)

I like what tinner stated one other time:

He posts his prices publicly so the insurance company can't undercut him. I wonder how well that really works?

CIAK Said: That is great for you tinner. How it helps the thread is another question. Not every model is the same. Not every company has the same position. For those who could use it is why this thread has been started. Can you add something that would fit the model What is it you can do to battle Stormers? B) :) :) B) Deep Down In Florida Where The Sun Shines Damn Near Every Day

I thought I was helping. :laugh: Establish yourself in YOUR market. Be reputable. Be reliable. Be dependable. Be recognizable. People with damage will call YOU and the Ins. agent. The agents always tell them to get a proposal. You give the proposal. I'm often asked if I use xactimate. I answer 'No'. I give my price and it's accepted. SF, and Allstate often tell their clients to call me. Bulifant and Sons market themselves as Disaster Relief Specialists and get the calls. Know your market and let it know you. Don't wait until a disaster strikes.

BTW, I also have my 'Base' prices listed on my website. Whenever an adjuster asks about my pricing, I refer them to it. It's 'The Published Rate' and hard to dispute, with or without xactimate.

Your market is NOT the stormer's market. They are often recognized as interlopers and they only get the dregs around here.

Of course, we never more than an F-2 or Cat2-3 hurricane either. :)

That is great for you tinner. How it helps the thread is another question. Not every model is the same. Not every company has the same position. For those who could use it is why this thread has been started. Can you add something that would fit the model "What is it you can do to battle Stormers?" B) :) :) B) Deep Down In Florida Where The Sun Shines Damn Near Every Day

To be honest, they've never bothered me. About 1-3 years after any event that brings them in, I get swamped with repair work because of workmanship 'errors'. There are several reputable companies here that get the calls from regulars and referrals. Some of us ignore the price wars and offer quality over price. Nothing else.

Look around. McDonalds has 7-8 cars in the lot. Ocharlie's (sp?) has 30-40. Price is NOT everything. I got a call today from a recent storm. I did work there 8-10 years ago. They didn't look around for the nearest stormer.

My seams are still good and tight because they weren't 'edge-soldered'. It's why people look at quality over price.

And I'll make an observation. I've never lost a job to a price shopper. That person is NOT who I'm interested in doing business with. Why bother trying to convince him I'm right for him? What's the point? IF I cut my margins to the bone, I have to cut corners. If I have to do that, I'll stay at home or go fishing.

I'm not a bean counter for the industry. The H/O knows what they are purchasing. How that fits into the thread is a sidebar. The idea here is to find ways of gaining business for local guys and reducing the take for the stormers. It is important so lets stay focused. You are very experienced Robert. What can you add?

B) :) :) B) Deep Down In Florida Where The Sun Shines Damn Near Every Day

I am curious though whats the point of having your home insured for wind and hail and 2 to 5% deductibles on them and then a storm blows in and the good hands people say were just going to replace three slopes on your home as thats where the damage is and you deductible is $7000.00 our estmate comes in at $7,500.00 and your preminums are inflated because your in an area deemed high risk by the insurance industry.So why not just be truthfull and tell the insured if a loss occurs and your not devasted by it your going to be buying your own roof. :blink:

Now i never stated you are for lousy workmenship or screwing the community,i was mostly ribbing you on that post.Hell you work for the good hands people! :laugh: