The story of Becca Switzer’s meteoric rise to the top of the roofing sales industry cannot be told without first mentioning where she came from.
It’s easy for people to look at her now and think that Switzer is lucky, but like many successful entrepreneurs, her path to financial success was filled with roadblocks.
Switzer first got into sales after her sophomore year of college when she applied to work as a saleswoman for Cutco, a massive knife-selling company.
While Switzer admits she didn’t know the first thing about knifes, she quickly immersed herself in the company, and with the help of Cutco’s first-class sales training, Switzer found success.
In her first ten days at Cutco, she sold $12,000 worth of knifes.
By the time the summer was over, Switzer had sold almost $60,000 worth of product.
Per the sales agreement she had with Cutco, her commission was $30,000.
That was enough incentive for Switzer to forgo returning to college and instead focus all her energy on selling knifes for Cutco.
“Their sales training is so good,”
Switzer says of Cutco, which is why when Switzer later switched over to the roofing industry, she wasn’t hindered by the fact that she wasn’t given much sales training.
Nor was she bothered by the cutthroat nature of selling roofs. The savage competition, door-knocking, and constant chaos fit right in with Switzer’s perky and eccentric personality.
For Switzer, all the obstacles were just more motivation for her to become successful.
Yet if you talk to enough people within the roofing industry, not everyone is a fan of the Becca Switzer narrative.
There has been some debate over Switzer’s methods, with some saying she is unqualified to teach roofing sales because she’s not a roofer. Others balk at her ability to calmly deflect customer concerns to the wayside during sales meetings, calling her “painful to watch” and “unprofessional.”
Keep in mind, these criticisms have been levied by YouTube trolls, and not by industry-certified stalwarts.
And for Switzer, none of these criticisms matter because in her mind she is selling something people want, and that trumps her lack of expertise regarding roofing products or installation procedures.
“People might disagree with me on this,”
Switzer starts,
“but my attitude is the product in insurance sales, that’s not the sale. It really isn’t that important. Obviously we do want to put a good product on the roof, but we’re not selling roofs. What we’re actually selling in storm restoration is our service to be a part of their [the customer’s] insurance adjustment process.”
In that sense, Switzer is a genius
She’s right: most customers don’t know or care about what products are going on their roofs. They just want a quality product that will last them for many years to come, as well as someone who will make sure the insurance companies aren’t scamming them out of thousands of dollars.
This was where Switzer was able to circumvent her shortcomings and begin selling roofs at a historic 90% rate, on par with Roofing Process Conference keynote speaker, Rodney Webb.
To meet both Rodney Webb and Becca Switzer in person, reserve your ticket at the Roofing Process Conference down in beautiful Orlando, Florida today!
These days, after years of hard work, including the publication of her sales book Diamonds in the Sky, Switzer has embraced her role as an educator. Her program, Roof Sales Mastery, is all online, along with another new venture.
“I continue to make content on YouTube to inspire people,”
Switzer says.
Both her sales program and YouTube content aim to help those who now occupy the position she was once in. Here is a sneak peek at some of the wisdom she shares online.
1. In regards to sales fixing everything, Switzer is ambivalent:
“I wouldn’t say fixes per se, but salespeople are absolutely critical.”
2. Here is why her closing rates were so high, and why yours can be too:
“Is there any theoretical reason you [the customer] should say no?”
Switzer asks, citing the fact that when a roof is damaged, insurance has to repair that damage.
And after the initial deductible, the homeowner doesn’t have to pay anything, and hence that is why a good salesperson can land a number of contracts if they’re properly embracing their role as a liaison between the homeowner and the insurance company.
3. Gender doesn’t matter in sales:
“Every single person has their own perceived advantages and disadvantages,”
Switzer says, also mentioning that people have to avoid focusing on their negatives and instead exemplify their best characteristics.
“I always encourage people not to attach themselves to their perceived disadvantages.”
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