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Angry customers are the worst part of roofing sales. But these challenges create opportunities for us to grow. Here's how to overcome customer complaints, and how to prevent them.
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Hosted by Adam Bensman
- Started in D2D roofing sales in 2011
- Former Roofing Company COO (multi-state)
- Creator of the Roof Strategist Sales System (used nationwide for retail + storm)
- Founder of The Roofing STRONG Alliance by TAMKO™ (formerly known as the Roofing & Solar Reform Alliance)
- Author of the #1 Best-Selling Book: The Roofing Sales Survival Guide: Beat the Odds, Overcome Yourself, and Win Big
Content produced on or before 5/13/26 was previously produced by The Roof Strategist, TAMKO makes no representations or warranties regarding the content.
Angry customers, customer complaints,
they are brutal to deal with.
And the worst part is they
are completely inevitable,
meaning they are going to have.
No matter what.
And sometimes it's something really
small, like a shingle as it was falling
off the roof ripped to screen, and it's
a few dollar fix and it's no big deal.
No one's hurt or something horrible
happens like you're in the middle
of a deck and the wind comes through
rip the tarp off and it downpours
in the house for an hour and ruins.
True story that I'm going to pick up
here in a second and no matter how big
or how small these mistakes come up and
for folks like you and I, who truly care
about our customers, want to give an
amazing experience we're in this, not
only to make a good living, but because
we believe in what we do, we believe
in delivering exceptional service.
This stuff sometimes hits home and
it's hard to cope with, especially
for newer sales reps or growing teams.
And they distract us.
And we often, especially
newer salespeople, like
really freak out as a crew.
So in this video, I'm going to be teaching
you how to deal with it when it comes up.
So you can turn those into five star
reviews, true story coming very soon.
And the other thing I want to
teach you is how to prevent
this so welcome or welcome back.
We are about to get, move into first.
I want to say, I'm really
glad to have you here.
My name is Adam Benjamin, the roof
strategist, and everything I do here
is designed to help you and your
team smash your income goal and give
every customer an amazing experience.
And yeah, customer complaints come up.
Things don't always go, right.
But when you handle it the right way,
It can create an amazing experience and
funny enough, it's how we handle it.
That sets us apart.
Like the story I told the other
day, my wife, Sheena and I
were shopping for a vehicle.
We had a horrible experience
at this car dealership.
We found the vehicle that we wanted.
We went down there, we looked
at it, it was a used vehicle.
We looked at.
It was filthy nothing like the
pictures, Paul, the sales sales rep.
I'm like, Paul, you
completely wasted my time.
We just drove an hour
and a half to get here.
This vehicles in horrendous
condition, I'm not interested.
Every other vehicle is pristine.
This thing looks like a
dog had a heyday in here.
So we go to leave and they say, wait,
wait, give us an hour, go out to lunch.
We're going to get it cleaned up for you.
And then you let us know.
I said, okay.
So we go out to lunch for an hour.
We come back.
I swear.
It was like a slap.
They didn't care.
They burned our time.
I said, Paul, you just,
we came down already.
You had to spend more time.
This is an insult.
And then I shared the experience in the
last vehicle we bought at their competing
dealership in Paul felt horrible Sheena.
And I stormed around that building.
We didn't even walk through the dealer.
We're coming out the front door,
Paul flies out the sales rep,
the sales man, and he starts
apologizing and he took ownership
and I called him 15 minutes later.
He called with a sincere apology.
He was committed to making
it right, and guess what?
He went above and beyond.
And the very next.
We went from a complete 180 from not
wanting to do business with them at all,
wanting to write them off, wanting to
write them a horrible review, to not
only buying the vehicle, being very
happy with the experience of how they
handled it and what they did for us.
And I even ended up writing
them a five-star review,
acknowledging what didn't go.
Right.
But how they were committed
to making it right.
And that's the power of handling.
The right way by taking ownership in
laying out a clear path forward, which
I'll be sharing with you here today.
Now, before we get any further.
And before I share that story with you
about that house that got poured in for
over an hour, I just want to say that
if you haven't yet done it, you need the
click, the description and, or go over
to the roof, strategist.com right now,
and download a free copy of my pitch.
Roofing sales training, video library.
I have tons of playlists for you to binge
through whether it's, if you're new and
roofing sales, a whole starter list for
you, whether it's canvassing, pitching the
contingency agreement, retail supplements,
uh, marketing stuff for owners.
There's a whole bunch in there even more
than what's available on YouTube and
an easier way to digest all that info.
So go on over to the roof, strategist.com
right now and get your free copy.
And if you're on YouTube,
which if you're seeing.
Beautiful shiny mug.
You are click the video
description, by the way.
I'm just getting there.
Click the video description.
There's a link right in there.
It's the top link and you'll be all set.
All right.
So customer complaints first
we've covered the facts.
They are inevitable.
They're going to happen.
Now we're going to cover step one, which
is how to prevent them from happening.
And then we're going to move into step
two, which is how to overcome them.
But first a story.
Here's a story.
I'm three hours away.
One of our reps name is
Joe doing this house.
It was an old Victorian style
home, two stories, uh, multiple
layers shingles on top of shake,
which required what a recheck.
So we're in the middle of the decking.
There's no weird weather
in the news by the way.
So crew is got everything torn off.
No decking whatsoever.
All of a sudden they see
rain clouds coming in.
So they tarp everything.
Okay.
Wind kicks up.
They're like, oh no, this ain't good.
So they're on ladders.
Two stories up trying to
get this tarp to stay down.
Boom, crack lightning strikes.
They can't be on ladders
in a lightening storm.
They scrambled down go to their
truck in the skies, open up with
a fury of rain for about an hour,
straight to a home with no tarp on it.
And.
And to add insult to injury, not
only was the main floor wood floor.
So as the second floor, I get
a phone call, my phone rings.
It was the hardest phone call.
I've gotten business
actually second hardest.
And I hear this homeowner and
I'm like, Hey, I I'm hearing all
this noise in the background.
I'm hearing smoke detectors,
Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt.
And he says, Adam, I
think you need to get out.
And I said, yeah, what's going on?
He says, well, we've got water
pouring through the house.
Absolutely everywhere.
The roof torn off and it's down pouring
rain and everything is drenched.
And I am freaking out.
This is how the story starts
fast forward into what.
I just told you, but the part that's,
the real challenge was the fact that
those hardwood floors on the second
floor, along with the hardwood floors
on the first floor were warped.
Every single surface of that home was wet.
We had to move these homeowners out
of their house for six to eight weeks.
I can't recall if it was six or eight
weeks, we had to bring in dehumidifiers.
We had to hire a restoration company.
We had to do the dry out.
We had to repaint.
We had to refinish the.
And guess what, there
was not one legal threat.
I had received a letter of
recommendation from this homeowner
because of how we handled the project.
And they stated that they would
never hesitate to hire us again
in the future, or refer a friend
because of our commitment to standing
behind what we do, because they
realized it was a freak accident.
This is what you're
going to learn right now.
Now let's get to step number one.
Preventing these complaints.
This is by setting what I'm going
to call realistic expectations.
You know, we had a conversation
about this and the pitch pro
movement, and I said the class.
Under promise and over deliver.
And Marcos was saying, you know,
I really don't like that under
promise and over deliver because
why should we under promise?
We should just give amazing service and
deliver promise at a really high level
and then deliver above and beyond that.
And I got to say, Marcos,
I appreciate that, man.
He, you challenged me and that's
the beauty of the movement.
We don't always have
to disagree by the way.
That's why there's five mentors.
In there.
And that's why we have a
discussion board and why we
encourage everyone to participate.
So the core concept of under promise
and over deliver is not to do this.
Mr.
Homeowner, I'm going to make sure
everything goes off perfectly.
Nothing is going to go wrong.
We're going to start on time.
We're going to end on time and
you're going to have zero complaints.
Well, let me tell you this.
My friend is a lie.
And even though you mean it with your
greatest intent, you can't control it.
You can't control the material delivery.
You can't control.
Excuse me.
If the supplier even shows
up at the right house.
Yep.
Have that one happen.
Ended up tearing off the wrong roof once.
Cause the supplier dropped the
shingles in the wrong spot.
Crew shows up, sees the
bundle, didn't check.
Anything was in a rush up on the roof,
tearing it off bad things can happen
and there's things beyond your control.
So instead, what we want to
do is under promise or promise
really high, but the main thing
is to deliver at an even higher.
And here is what I recommend for you.
And especially for every
single new sales rep.
I like to explain to that homeowner
that something likely will go.
And the reason for that is a bundle
of shingles, about 80 pounds, three
square to a bundle start new in the
maths, about 240 a square times.
However many squares the roof are,
is usually multiple tons of shingles,
which doesn't include the hundreds of
nails or the felt or anything else.
And I explained to the homeowner,
Hey, Peggy, guess what?
We are going to do the absolute
very best we can to protect your
home and to take care of you.
That being said, there are.
Tons of debris going up on the
roof and coming off the roof.
And there is a chance, despite is careful
as we can be in doing thousands of roofs.
We might have something
that doesn't go right.
And I don't want you to panic.
And the reason I say that is I
am committed and our company is
committed to making it right.
So if you see anything, you've got
my card, I want you to call me right.
Y.
So I'm aware of it and I can put together
an action plan to get it addressed.
Now this doesn't happen on every job,
many jobs go off without a hitch.
But if it does, I just want you to
know we have your back now let's pause.
This was step one, setting these
realistic expectations this way.
You've under promise.
If the job goes great, they are
going to be blown away because
you did better than they expect.
What's the best review ever
better than expected not.
They told me they do this.
And didn't, that's the number one
thing you hear with complaints
that I've filed through on my word?
Yes or no.
No, but this way you can, you want
to set realistic expectations,
tell them something can go
wrong and then over deliver.
And number two is if or when
something occurs, do you think
that homeowner is going to panic?
No, there can be like Adam
told me this might happen.
I'm upset.
I'm pissed at my flowers.
I'm upset that the screen's ripped,
but Adam said, he'd take care of it.
We're going to give him a shot.
I don't need.
And now when you get that phone
call, it's not hysteria and I, okay.
It's people, it could be, but you're
going to be in a way better position
than if you said nothing at all.
So biggest takeaway today.
So far in this video, before we proceed
is do what set realistic expectations,
which leads us right into point number
two, which is how to overcome this.
Let's lay the foundation.
And then I want to tell you a
story and give you a framework, the
foundation, number one, we need to
listen and we need to truly listen.
Okay.
What do I mean by listen, pay attention.
When homeowners yell at you,
you need to let him get it.
They just need to get it out.
So just shut up.
Let them get it out.
Okay.
Wait until they run out of breath.
I don't care how long it takes.
This is how you show you.
Listen, you don't want to
be like, no, no, no, no.
Don't don't don't don't worry.
Don't worry.
Don't worry.
We're going to take, take care of it.
Don't do that.
Let them yell.
Let them call you all
the names in the book.
Believe me.
They're kind of like puppy dogs
that have sat in a cage too long.
They just got to get it out.
I think I just messed my hair up.
Well, I messed my hair up.
That's cool.
All right.
So first we need to listen.
Then you need to care by the way,
if you don't have a heart and you
don't truly care, I just got to
tell you now is a really good time
for you to exit this business.
Why?
Because if you don't care about
your customers and you're only in
this for the money that will come
back to bite you, you need to have
a heart, at least in my opinion.
And at least the people like you, who are.
This is the kind of people who truly
care about the customer experience.
They need to feel that.
And then the last thing you need to do is
to commit to an action plan, all right.
Commit to fixing it and how
you're going to do that.
Okay.
So this is the foundation.
Now the story I was going to tell you,
when I, which I teach by the way, in my
all-in-one sales training, sales strategy
and sales system, which is a current.
System from knock to close for both sermon
retail being used by thousands of reps
across the U S we're, even in Canada
and Australia for both storm and retail.
And this system teaches the aro
objection, handling formula, which
by the way, the last two private
trainings I ran, the number one rating
feedback was the objection handling.
And the objection handling for me that I
teach in there was founded and I created.
By bad customer experiences, the
aro acknowledged reassure overcome.
And I learned if it can work to diffuse
these crazy situations, it'll work
really well for a simple objection.
And that again is acknowledged reassure,
overcome a R O and I want to show
you how to apply this on a customer
service level, a stands for acknowledge.
So let's give.
Okay.
Uh, I want to use the example, the
true life example of this customer.
We're going to call her Peggy
who's tarp ripped off rain in the
house destroyed the home caused.
I think it was almost $80,000,
$75,000 for the damage they had to
be relocated and it was a nightmare.
And first thing I did
was acknowledge Peggy.
Oh my gosh.
I do not blame you for being mad.
This is a horrible situation.
Your roof is not there.
There's water everywhere.
And if I were you, I would be.
Then, by the way, we're going to reassure,
I'm breaking this down in a second,
reassure Peggy, no matter what it takes,
we are going to make this right for you.
You will be comfortable as
comfortable as possible.
And I hope that you're in as good
or better condition when we're done.
And then I over.
Okay, so overcome Peggy.
Here's what we're going to do.
This is where I made the commitment.
And then I did the most important thing,
which is I followed up on it and I
set those expectations for next steps.
By following this aro formula,
what you want to do first again?
I told you I'd break it down first.
We want to acknowledge simply repeat back.
All right.
So what I'm hearing is you're
really upset because we started,
like, what I'm hearing is.
We have a flat tire and the dealership
telling you, you need four tires.
Cause it's a BMW and they don't
want one and it's all wheel drive.
So just acknowledge, reassure your
commitment to making things right.
And then we can overcome
by making that commitment.
Now, one other thing that I want
to share with you is often ask.
So when we overcome, there's
a really powerful, we can ask
homeowners, how can I make this?
Right.
Oftentimes their first.
Response to you is going to be a
lot less than you think, and it
might even be more advantageous
to you, but it doesn't matter.
It's what they want and give them
the opportunity to lay that path out.
So how can I make this right?
They're just going to say, I
don't care about the money.
All I want.
Is this done?
The comfort?
I don't care about anything.
I just want four new tires.
I don't care about anything.
I just want to a 60 bucks to go buy
a new Rose Bush, whatever it is.
So.
Ask them how you can make it right.
If you can fulfill upon that promise,
say, this is what I'm going to do next.
I can't make this decision, but what
I'm going to do right now is call up
the owner, my manager, whoever it is and
ask if we can get this done and find a
solution for you, what you can expect
from me again, this is the follow-up.
X Y and Z, once we call them
here, she's going to come out or
I'm going to call you right back.
When we follow this framework
that we use this negotiation to
ask, how can I make this right?
First?
They.
Before you, and we'll give you the answer
of, if you can do this with this solve
the problem, we're using sales in a way.
So I want to give you an example,
a different example, customer
calls up another true story.
The rare Bush that was in the
front of the house was, was ruined.
There was a tarp that, that ended up
getting debris and then it squished it.
And this woman was
really upset by the way.
I don't blame her.
I love my landscaping.
And if I had a really rare Bush and it
was big into that stuff, I'd be pest.
So when she called, I said, yeah,
we're going to call her Peggy to.
No, we'll call her.
Carla.
Carla is a good one for tonight.
By the way, maybe this'll be a new thing.
We're going to have carloads now.
So, Carla, I'm really sorry
that we squished your Bush and,
ah, right.
We gotta, we got to cut that part out.
Now.
We're going to leave it in.
We're really sorry that we
squished your very rare shrub.
Is that better?
We're very sorry that we fit.
We squished.
You're very rare shrub and.
I want you to know I'm reassuring
now that we will do whatever it
takes to make this right for you.
This is your property
and this shouldn't be.
Overcome, how can I
make this right for you?
And then Carla, who's Bush Weezer.
Squash is going to call me up and
say, all I need is I need to go
to this one store where they sell
these rare plants and they're 120
bucks or 60 bucks, whatever it is.
And I just want to get
a new one and plant it.
And I'm like great, $120 for a
plant, whatever we can be done.
Things happen cost of doing business.
So I can say, Hey, Carla, if.
Approve a credit or either on your
account or get you a gift card.
Would that put you at ease and
get this problem solved for you?
And then Carla is going
to say, yes, it does.
And then I'm going to make
that commitment, Carlos.
Great.
Here's what I'm going to do next.
And I tell her what's going to happen.
And then I follow through upon that
commitment and following this framework,
your customers are going to feel
heard, cared for and know that you
have their best interest at heart.
And now my friend.
Are armed with a very
simple strategy, two steps.
Number one is setting those expectations.
So when things come
up, people don't panic.
And then number two is a very
simple framework to follow.
And the key question to
ask, should it come up?
So now I want to ask you.
What other topics do you want me
to cover in an upcoming video?
Drop a comment right now and ask
me, I pay attention to these things
and I'd love to hear from you.
So thank you for joining
me on today's video.
If you liked this video, do give
it a thumbs up that helps me out
a ton, and it's a great way of
helping this whole thing grow.
So yes.
Can serve even more people
together and grow this community.
Thank you again for being here.
If you haven't yet done it, click right
here to get a free copy of my pitch.
Like a pro roofing sales training video
library, and you can continue your
journey with me by watching this video.
I'll see you on the next one.