Roofing Podcast: Hook Better Leads

Guest: Jeff Cronin — Founder, Primetime Consulting | Close Like Cronin
Guest Links: Skool: Close Like Cronin | Instagram & Facebook: Jeff Cronin

Homeowners aren't picking your competitor because they like them more. They're picking whoever offered financing.

Jeff Cronin trains plumbing, HVAC, and home service sales teams across the country, and spent years at the top of the board in the field before that. He breaks down the deadly mistakes contractors make with financing, starting with the most common one: not offering it at all (9:54). Tim shares how Owl Roofing lost deals in its first summer to competitors who simply offered payments (10:30). Jeff also explains how to diagnose where revenue leaks between leads and collected money (33:59), and why chasing unicorn salespeople usually backfires (41:37).

You'll learn:

• Why "afford" is the word that kills the deal, and what to say instead
• Why every five digit price should have a three digit payment right next to it
• Why waiting for "I can't afford it" before offering financing is a sales sin
• The 6% dealer fee rule and why long no-interest deals can eat your margin
• How to frame a 15-year loan so it sounds like flexibility, not a prison sentence
• Why one option per page beats dumping all three at once
• How to tell if you have a close rate problem or an average ticket problem
• "Pass the mic": the two words to say when you don't know what to say

Guest: Nayt Pingry — Sales, Owl Roofing
Guest Links: Website: https://owlroofing.com

$1 million in roofing sales in three months, 80% retail, in a market where everyone is still chasing insurance.

Nayt Pingry started as a graphic designer on the back end of roofing companies, worked his way up to sales director, then gave up management to sell full time at Owl Roofing. He started July 1st and crossed $1 million in about three months. He breaks down how he flips a denied or high-deductible insurance claim into a retail sale (7:43), why cedar shake homes are the easiest retail opportunity right now (3:01), and why homeowners are buying more practically than emotionally (18:01). Plus an honest look at the growing pains inside a company doing 20 roofs a week in year one (9:56).

You'll learn:

• The three questions he has homeowners ask their insurance company before filing a claim
• Live role play: how to pivot a denied claim into a retail conversation
• How to handle "I could pay the deductible, I just don't want to"
• Why cedar shakes and insurance non-renewal letters are the current arbitrage
• Why he asks every homeowner "have you done any research?" (including ChatGPT)
• His split: 33% self-generated, 67% company leads
• Why a strong brand makes cold door knocks feel warm
• Why family owned and operated is a real differentiator, not just a headline

Guest: Noah Berglin — Co-Founder, Owl Roofing
Guest Links: Website: https://owlroofing.com

A year ago he said don't join the roofing industry. Now he runs a roofing company. Real numbers, no spin.

Noah Berglin came on this podcast a year ago and vented about how rough it was to be a roofing sales rep in the Twin Cities. That episode kicked off him leaving his company and co-founding Owl Roofing. This is the honest one-year check-in: $4 million sold, $5 million collected, aiming for $7 to $10 million, with roughly 50/50 retail and insurance work. He explains why the insurance model is quietly converting to retail whether contractors like it or not (3:42), why door knocking underperformed expectations (17:18), and why he thinks financing is the actual future of roofing (27:46).

You'll learn:

• Why actual cash value and roof payment schedules are turning insurance jobs into retail sales
• The real split: what's working and what isn't at the one year mark
• Why sold and collected are different numbers, and why deposits are the scariest trap in roofing
• How much cash a roofing company should carry into winter
• The $30K storm response budget sitting ready for digital billboards and postcards
• Why 100 doors a week got harder when leads went up
• The dad joke yard sign strategy and how to A/B test 500 signs at a time
• Why you're not competing with other roofers, you're competing for attention

Guest: Brianna Skiffington — Founder, Free Agency | Co-Founder, Space Heroes HVAC
Guest Links: https://callspaceheroes.com | https://freeagency.ai | https://cxc.ai

A fractional CMO who spent 10 years marketing the trades just started her own HVAC company. Goal: $10M next year.

Brianna Skiffington runs Free Agency, publishes Moneyball Marketing, and just launched Space Heroes HVAC in Huntsville, Alabama, remotely. She built the website with Claude in three days, is budgeting 25 to 30% on marketing through 2030, and is finally testing everything she's been telling clients to do for a decade (44:59). The conversation also gets into lead aggregators most roofers dismiss (14:38), the satellite GBP playbook after running 50 of them (40:00), and why marketers should stop pitching against each other.

You'll learn:

• The lead aggregators everyone says suck that actually work (Thumbtack, HomeAdvisor, Yelp, Modernize)
• The car insurance story behind her "call three times in one minute" rule
• Why speed to lead beats everything and how to wire it into your CRM
• How to open a satellite GBP the right way (citations first, internet bill, Chrome hack)
• Why you check the top 3 reviewed companies before betting on LSAs in a new market
• The voice memo to blog pipeline she runs with field techs from 800 miles away
• Tim's backlink reverse-engineering play: write for what AI wants to cite, not your ideal customer (35:00)

Guest: Sam Tacheny — Owner, Tacheny Exteriors
Guest Links: Website: https://tachenyexteriors.com

Two Twin Cities roofing competitors sit down and share everything. Culture, sales systems, PE horror stories.

Sam Tacheny runs Tacheny Exteriors in the Twin Cities and reached out to talk shop instead of treating the competition like the enemy. The conversation gets into why private equity is flooding the roofing market and what happens when it goes wrong (14:36), the Roscoe bankruptcy that left homeowners with unfinished work, why family owned businesses should act like enterprise companies anyway, and Sam's three recommendations for building a sales team without wrecking it (21:22).

You'll learn:

• Why most price objections are actually a lack of discovery
• How to find your real core values instead of aspirational ones on a wall
• Why you need one documented selling system, not "here's some videos, good luck"
• Why the insurance game is getting harder and retail should be your focus
• What to watch for in PE acceleration clauses before you sign
• The hook, open loop, and pattern interrupt formula for contractor video (32:56)

Guest: Tom and Karen Belko — Owners, Vector Services
Guest Links: Website: https://callvector.com

How this HVAC and plumbing company went from $3M to over $10M in two years. Three moves did it.

Tom and Karen run Vector Services in the Twin Cities doing HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and drains. In 2023 they were nine employees running white vans out of their houses. Now they're pushing $12.5 million and hiring a sales director. They break down the three moves that got them there: going deep on Service Titan instead of treating a CRM like a bolt-on (2:38), the Kick Charge rebrand with Dan Antonelli that put their wraps all over the metro (18:44), and hiring people smarter than them and actually getting out of the way (19:54).

You'll learn:

• How to get technicians to actually adopt new software
• The follow-up dashboard and daily report that holds salespeople accountable
• Why your CRM setup IS your business process, not an add-on
• The difference between a high performing salesperson and a real sales leader (25:06)
• Why family owned beats PE-backed when you're recruiting
• The yard sign and wrapped bus strategy for cities that ban billboards

Guest: Lance Bachmann — Founder & Owner, LB Capital | MN Exteriors
Guest Links: Website: https://lbachmanncapital.com

Lance Bachmann grew up in foster care and group homes, went bankrupt in his 30s, and now runs LB Capital, a home service platform on track for $150 to $175 million in revenue with 14 roofing companies under MN Exteriors, all funded with his own money and zero private equity. In this episode, he explains why roofing in 2026 is where HVAC was 30 years ago, breaks down the LB Capital 50% partnership model and why retaining local brand equity is non-negotiable, and gets blunt about the three metrics that actually matter. It's a raw conversation about energy, marriage, haters, gratitude, and why most people overcomplicate a business that comes down to sold revenue, gross profit, and net income.

You'll learn:

• Why roofing in 2026 is where HVAC was 30 years ago (and why PE can't find good companies)
• The LB Capital model: 50% equity, operational control, and full playbook access
• Why retaining local brand equity beats consolidating under one name
• How adding roofing to an HVAC and plumbing business added $15M in revenue
• The three metrics that actually matter: sold revenue, gross profit, net income
• Why 50% gross profit almost guarantees 15 to 20% net if operations are right
• The daily automated text report he gets at 6am (leads, booking rate, close rate, average ticket, rehash)
• Why he fired his own mother from bookkeeping over a mindset mismatch
• Why he never discusses business with his wife (and why he thinks no one should)
• How bankruptcy happened: no financial literacy, not a bad economy
• Why he owns real estate outright so he can never go bankrupt again
• Sauna, ice bath, prayer, and cutting alcohol: the energy management routine
• The Man in the Arena principle and why haters don't get attention
• Why he'll sell the platform but only to someone who keeps him leading it
• "We have obstacles, not problems" and the gratitude mindset behind it

Guests: Steve Akian — Owner, Akian Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electric | Co-Founder, Fix to Finish
Eric Karofsky — Founder, VectorHX | Co-Founder, Fix to Finish
Guest Links: Website: https://fixtofinish.ai

Steve Akian is a plumber by trade who grew Akian Plumbing to $14 million over ten years. Eric Karofsky spent 25 years leading digital programs for Michelin, Royal Caribbean, Fidelity, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Together they're building Fix to Finish, an AI platform that lets a homeowner diagnose their own plumbing problem, see real pricing, and book the job in five minutes, trained on 50,000 real work orders from Steve's company. In this episode, they break down what AI can actually do in a home service business right now, why customer expectations in the trades haven't changed in 40 years, and how one Saturday water heater call got cut in half because the tech showed up already knowing exactly what to do.

You'll learn:

• Can AI actually diagnose an HVAC or plumbing problem (and why they started with plumbing)
• How 50,000 work orders became the training data for a real diagnostic tool
• The Saturday water heater story that cut job time by 50%
• Why techs who hate selling are the ones most excited about this
• The win-win-win philosophy: company, customer, and platform all benefit
• Why home service customer experience hasn't changed in 30 to 40 years
• How the inventory tool matches receipts to photos for real job costing
• Why technicians buy five valves when they only need three
• The app adoption problem and why leadership and culture make it non-negotiable
• Why enterprise AI still isn't taking off (it's a stickiness problem, not a budget problem)
• Design by HIPPO: why the highest paid person's opinion ruins products
• How to segment and test with real customers instead of random panels
• Why one angry customer is not a reason to change your process (but a cluster is)
• The Blockbuster and taxi industry warning for contractors who wait too long

Guest: Jon Brown — Executive Pastor, Journey Church (Kenosha, WI) Guest Links: Instagram: @PJon | YouTube: JRNY Church

Jon Brown has spent 25 years at the same church, working his way up from youth pastor to executive pastor overseeing 36 staff pastors, 75% of whom he developed from a young age. In this episode, recorded in Italy, he breaks down the universal leadership principles that apply whether you're running a church, a roofing company, or a marketing agency: how to actually grow yourself before you grow others, why your competition should become your allies, how to handle the pressure of perfection when everyone expects you to have it together, and the Sabbath discipline that keeps high performers from burning out on the long haul.

You'll learn:

• Why leading yourself is the hardest leadership job you'll ever have
• How to build a personal growth plan that targets your actual blind spots
• Windshield time: turning drive time into learning time with audiobooks
• "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go farther, go together"
• How jealousy of competitors reveals your own insecurities (the Joseph Kellogg story)
• Why you should reach out and encourage the person you're most jealous of
• Treat people like they love you, and eventually they'll start to believe it
• How to handle critics who question your motives and character
• Why leaders don't get to have a bad day (chug the Red Bull in your truck)
• Complain up, never down: why you need someone above you to vent to
• If you don't heal what hurt you, you'll bleed on people who don't deserve it
• John Maxwell's 5 levels of leadership: position, permission, production, people development, pinnacle
• Why 25 years in one place creates compounding mastery and generational impact
• The Sabbath principle: one day a week fully unplugged (and the auto-text that protects it)
• Why hobbies and play make the other six days more effective

Guest: Tony Vincent — Owner, Ultimate Roofing | Ultimate Properties | Ultimate Tree Service | Ultimate Equipment Rentals Guest Links: Website: https://getultimateroofing.com | Facebook: Ultimate Roofing WV

Tony Vincent runs four businesses out of West Virginia and has built Ultimate Roofing into a $20 million operation with 100+ employees across 5 states, while quietly stacking $9 million in heavy equipment and 70 rental properties on the side. In this episode, he ranks the most lucrative home service industries for 2026, breaks down why he stopped chasing top-line revenue at 16% net, and pulls back the curtain on the systems that let him manage 100 people without losing his mind. The conversation also dives into the financing playbook that gets him to 90% financed jobs, why blown-in insulation and gutter guards are the secret weapons for landing premium roofs, and how a single $1 door hanger incentive turns laborers into canvassers.

You'll learn:

• Tony's ranked list of the most lucrative home service businesses for 2026
• Why tree service has 75-80% GP and is one of the best businesses to add to roofing
• The "less saturated = more lucrative" rule for picking your next trade
• Why he killed the fencing offshoot after 100 jobs
• The 5-or-6-manager hierarchy that lets him run 100 employees from a distance
• Why titles motivate people more than monetary compensation
• The low-base, high-KPI compensation structure used on every single employee
• How a $1 per door hanger incentive generates real referral jobs
• Why he stopped chasing $50M revenue and dialed in at $20M with 16% net
• The "control the supply chain" rule that drove his decision to drop fencing, gutters, soffit, fascia, doors
• Why his ad spend is $80K on Google for roofing vs $1K for equipment rentals
• How to use Service Finance for 90% financed jobs (and why Foundation is the wrong primary)
• The "what's your budget look like?" frame that closes more roofs like car sales
• Why blown-in insulation and gutter guards at zero margin land $25K roofs
• The 55% close rate that comes from giving away promotional items
• Why most contractors should be financing every job over $10,000
• How his real estate portfolio (70 properties) became his retirement plan after stocks