Overcome everyday business challenges and grow your roofing business with the right technology and tools.
Here at MarketSharp, we’re proud to have home pros with a range of specializations using our contractor-specific CRM system. For that reason, we’re dedicated to educating ourselves about our customers’ different crafts to provide the best resources and expert advice possible!
Roofing, for example, is a huge part of our industry, and roofers make up a significant chunk of our customer base. Last year, 40% of all MarketSharp users completed at least one roofing job, and of all jobs ever completed within MarketSharp, 24% have been roofing jobs. It’s also no secret that roofing jobs present hefty challenges on the daily. From safety issues to problematic weather conditions to measurement accuracy, roofing can be an overwhelming job if you don’t have the right tools to help you. And while there is so much technology out there designed to address the common problems they encounter; roofers should keep an eye out for specific features when it comes to roofing software.
What to Look for in a Roofing Software
With the right software platform, roofers can not only dodge the everyday challenges of their work, but can also increase profitability, productivity, and overall customer satisfaction. Having lived in the home improvement industry for so long, we’ve seen what makes a roofing software work well for contractors, and we’ve boiled it down to four key features:
1. Remote Measurement Services 
In the age of COVID, having the ability to take remote measurements is huge. By taking measurements remotely, you spend less time on-site, and therefore limit the amount of contact with your client. Plus, obtaining measurements remotely means not having to get up on the roof, which eliminates the risk of potential accidents and delays due to inclement weather. That being said, if you’re shopping for roofing software and they don’t offer remote measurement services, move on, because this is an innovative, time-saving feature for any roofing software.
2. Access to Aerial Imagery
We’ve established that you need a roofing software that offers remote measurement services, but that doesn’t limit it down much. A lot of companies meet this requirement, but the key is to find one that can use aerial imagery to obtain your measurements. While all measuring techniques – including measurements taken on site – will have some margin of error, aerial imagery does deliver clear benefits over the satellite imagery other providers use. Think about it: it doesn’t matter how good a satellite’s camera is, it’s still located in outer space. Aerial imagery, on the other hand, is captured by surveying aircraft with high-tech cameras. And as a result of taking images closer to the ground, you will get clearer, sharper images.
Additionally, aerial imagery sources typically fly and photograph their covered areas yearly – sometimes 3 or 4 times a year. This means that northern regions, where foliage and leaves are abundant, can get imagery when the leaves are all off the trees. Aerial imagery is also usually more up to date; satellites companies don’t update their covered areas very frequently, and their imagery can be up to 4 years old.
3. Measurement Services at a Predictable Price
When it comes to measurement services, top roofing software providers can turnaround measurements the same day they’re ordered. And most of the time, these providers charge the same price as providers that take 24 hours or more to return measurements. When it comes to your roofing software, just be sure to watch out for companies that inflate prices for same-day measurements, as well as those who aren’t clear on the price of measurements with a fast turnaround. Your roofing software should be extremely clear on the prices you’ll pay for measurement services, and those costs should be fixed so that you know what to expect every time you place an order.
4. The Ability to Integrate
A great roofing software will also have the ability to integrate with your other business software, namely your CRM system. If you can integrate a roofing software with a CRM – even if it’s just enabling your two systems to pass minor pieces of information to one another – you can reduce the amount of manual data entry you conduct day-to-day to increase productivity. Better yet, if your CRM system has quoting tools (like MarketSharp), then having measurements quickly accessible in the same system will make creating estimates a whole lot simpler.
We at MarketSharp want the best for our roofing customers, which is why we care so much about what software they use in their day-to-day. As we continue to move through 2021, MarketSharp will be investing more in the roofing industry and are working to develop resources and tools that can help roofers grow their businesses. There are a lot of exciting announcements coming up, and we recommend you stay in the loop!
Sign up now to get first access to new MarketSharp roofing tools and resources!