Don't want to come across as "salesy?" Learning new sales skills feeling robotic or unnatural? Watch this to learn how to NOT sound "salesy," even when learning new roofing sales skills.
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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.
How to be a salesperson without
coming across as a salesperson.
How do you learn new techniques
and not just sound like you're
regurgitating a bunch of sales
garbage and turning homeowners off
and coming across as a slime ball?
Who's trying too hard?
Yeah, this is a good question and in fact
this video, this is a shout out by the
way, for my first video that was suggested
by family member, my cousin, Harrison.
Harrison.
Thank you.
So Aon, who is a total fellow book nerd
in all of the best ways we swap book
ideas in Aon, is someone who is very
keen to understand human psychology.
Communication, buying and creating
good sales experiences that not
only are effective, but are pleasant
to go through for the recipient.
So Aon sends me a message she
watches, uh, videos, by the way.
Thank you.
Aon shares in with folks in her office.
Office.
She says, Hey, Adam, can we get a, a
res video on how to be a salesperson
without coming across as a salesperson?
And then she further explains, and
this was just so well written that I,
I wanna read it to you word for word.
She goes, example sales guy.
Watched the videos, read some books,
and now when he talks to people, he
applies everything he learned, like
using their name, demonstrating active
listening, particular body language
cues, certain phrasing, et cetera.
Unfortunately, the customer recognizes
these tactics and while they're
well-intentioned, John just comes across
as someone trying to sell her something.
Now, Harrison, thank you again because
this is a topic that does come up.
People say, I don't
wanna sound like a robot.
I don't wanna sound forceful.
I don't wanna be pushy, and
I don't want homeowners to
feel like they're being sold.
And this becomes even more common amongst
companies who place a really high value
on hiring what I call good with people.
People, maybe you call them that too.
I'm looking for people who are good
with people, folks who you know, you
don't have to question their ethics.
You know they're gonna take
care of homeowners, you know
that they uphold your values.
And sometimes when these, excuse me, folks
are, are learning to sell, they feel in
sound in a way that's incongruent with
how they really want to come across.
So I really appreciate
this video suggestion.
And in this video I wanna break down
three different ways to help you learn
new things in sales and apply them
without sounding salesy, sleazy coming
across as a salesperson or making you.
Commission breath.
Just wanna say a quick welcome or
welcome back right before we get started.
My name is Adam Bens, I'm the roof
strategist and everything that we do here
on this channel and on my podcast and in
our programs is designed to help you and
your team smash your income goal and give
every customer an amazing experience.
So thank you for spending your
valuable time with me here today.
If you like this video and you want more,
then hop into our brand new free training
center available@theroofstrategist.com.
Or you can just text
the word free to 3 0 3.
2 2 2 71 33.
That's free to 3 0 3 2 2 2 71 30.
All right, let's rock and roll.
So how do we come across
as not being salesy?
First, groundwork.
Groundwork is this, homeowners now in
today's modern time are bombarded from
every single angle with sales messages,
marketing messages in people wanting
to reach out and grab their money.
Uh, consumers in today's times are
smarter and savvier than ever before
because the gimmicks are being used
and overused and abused, and everyone
sees what works and replicates it.
And before you know it,
homeowners, and by the way, last
I checked, count on your own.
If you open up a social media
app, uh, what I've found is
you get about seven organic.
And then it ads.
Seven ads.
Seven ads, and with how often we
flip our thumbs through these things.
We just see ads and video ads
and YouTube ads, and podcast
ads and TV ads, and radio ads.
Anywhere we can go.
You'll even see ads driving down
the highway, sitting on an airplane,
walking through an airport.
Everyone is reaching out, trying to
grab attention and grab your money.
And because of this, because of the
exposure that we get, we sniff through it.
So our mission then, when we're in
the house, is to learn to communicate
effectively so we can guide that
homeowner into making what we believe
to be the best decision for them.
So I want to ask you, in your heart of
hearts, in your heart, do you believe
in your heart of hearts, do you believe
that you are the very best person and
the best company to not only win the.
When that customer's trust to do
their roof, but to actually do the
install and then stand behind it at
all costs, is that you now, if you're
sitting there saying, absolutely,
and that's how I was, especially, I'd
love to serve the little old ladies.
I treated them like my grandmother.
I'm like, I wanna help you so the
next guy doesn't scam you or Kanye.
And I felt that in my heart of heart.
So if that's you, if you agree with me on
that statement, then the next challenge
is, Now if you really believe that it's
your ethical and moral responsibility
to communicate clearly to homeowners,
that exact message, so they choose you.
So when we think about it, if we
really believe that we're the best,
if we really believe that we have the
highest integrity, then we have to
communicate in that way to to drive
that message across so we can earn
the business and fulfill our mission.
But the problem is sometimes when we learn
sales, we get a little, a little robotic.
We can come across inauthentic.
And again, homeowners sniff.
Now that we've got the groundwork
outta the way, let's talk about those
three different things that we can do
in order to come across as not salesy.
So, Number one, we're gonna talk
why we use formulas and not scripts.
Okay?
Number two, we're gonna talk about concept
and understanding, and number three, we're
gonna talk about the way to fast track it.
So I know I was a little loosey goose.
Hang with me here.
Let's get to it.
Number one, in roofing sales,
specifically roofing sales, I do not
believe in word for word scripts.
I repeat, I do not believe in
word for word scripts, and the
reason for that is in roofing.
We have storm and retail.
On the retail side, there are four
reasons people replace the roof.
Therefore, we've got
about four main pitches.
There's a couple subtle nuances between
the two, but four main categories, so four
main pitches on the storm damage side.
We have four stages of the claims
process within each of those two
mindsets, with the exception.
The final one, which is they're
sitting on a check, which means
there's seven mindsets, four stages.
You put seven pitches.
So seven mindset.
We have seven pitches to those mindsets.
Retail.
We have four.
Roofing salesperson, therefore
needs to learn how to sell
to 11 different scenarios.
11.
You heard me right?
If they're selling both store and
retail, which tells me that a word
for word script is not going to work.
I mean the data in, in true
to life scenarios just.
Tell you the truth, like you're not
gonna sell to someone, for example,
who's sitting on a check from the
insurance and wants an estimate the
same way you would if you show up
at their house and they have no idea
that they might even have roof damage.
Likewise, you're not gonna sell a roof
to someone who has an active leak or
a problem the same way as you would
to someone who calls you up and says,
Hey, we're just trying to get some
estimates, cuz we know we need to
replace the roof in five to seven years.
Right?
There are very different.
So the reason that I teach formulas
my slap formula at the door, a r o
objection handling formula in the,
in the most powerful one, in my
opinion, is the carpark formula.
C A R P A R K.
That's my in-home sales
presentation process.
And when I say presentation,
I mean the minute.
Knuckles go on that door.
That door opens everything.
Every step leading up to getting on the
roof, getting invited, reporting the
findings, getting the homeowner to tell
us and take ownership of the damage.
Tell us the roof is damaged.
Transitioning to your presentation,
doing your presentation, asking for
the business, getting referrals,
kickstarting that relationship.
So all these formulas allow you to.
Follow a framework and follow a
certain order, and that's gonna do
actually probably more than two things.
Let's start going through the list.
Thing number one is it's a mental cue.
So on the carpark formula, if I lose
track, For example, the homeowner
derails me and I have already connected
with the homeowner, which is the first
C, assess their situation to find
out where they are in the process.
Once I'm on the roof, I move on to
R, which is reporting my findings
and getting invited inside.
And then I go through and I
go, oh, next I gotta present.
How do I transition next?
I do this.
So it becomes that placeholder that if
you go off course gives you kind of.
Do this, this, this, and this, and
provides a little bit of flexibility.
Well, how can it provide flexibility?
That brings me to my next point.
Here's how you ever see those
cooking shows, those challenges.
Gordon Ramsey has one like
the mystery box challenge.
I'm gonna give you five ingredients,
race off to the pantry, come on back, and
then cook me a delicious me deep meal.
So imagine this, if I said, Hey chefs,
you're gonna have a mystery box challenge.
I want each and every one of you
to make me a delicious steak.
Here's the thing, all you get
is these five ingredients.
Steak, any cut you want butter.
Potatoes, salt and pepper.
That is it.
Ready, go.
Now all the chefs are
gonna race into the pantry.
One guy or gal's gonna come out
with a beautiful filet mignon.
The next one comes out with a rare but
delicate and just gorgeous bone in filet.
The next person comes over.
With a ribeye.
Next one comes over with a tomahawk.
Ribeye.
Next one comes over with a New York strip.
You get the gist and I can continue.
You can tell I'm a fan of steak.
Then how do they cook it?
Well, this guy's gonna grill it.
This one's gonna sou V, the steak.
This one's gonna reverse sear.
This one's gonna pans.
And now we got all these
different cooking modalities.
Then now it comes time to the potato.
We got baked potato twice, baked
steak fries, hash browns, all
these different combinations.
Assemble.
And then what happens is the
chef will come to that table.
What I made for you is, and then they
describe the dish and it is usually
very delicious because that chef knows
how each one of those ingredients,
just like a formula in selling.
comes together, how to work with
them and assemble them into a
cohesive dish right there at the
kitchen table for them to enjoy.
And yes, there's a lot of puns
on purpose because that is
exactly what we do in sales.
So when we learn to follow a framework
or a formula, it allows us to break free
of the word for word verbatim scripting.
, you might be wondering this, is
there a time and is there a place?
And the answer is maybe.
And and when I say, maybe, let me explain.
In our new roof with solar sales
system, for example, there's a time
when we transition from selling
the roof to the solar system.
We have to time the ask
when we do it, how we do it.
There's a transition script to set
the hook to peak someone's interest.
That is one of the very few times
that I am a fan of word for word.
Getting through that repetition to you,
see what works in the field and before
you start being a little flexible with it.
So that's kind of the only time,
and again, that's one little tiny
iotta of the whole sales process.
So with rare exception,
not a big fan of word for.
Very, very, very rare times.
And the reason I say maybe is once
you start doing it a few times, you'll
see how you can go quote unquote off
script while embodying the core meaning
and psychology and philosophy of
what that scripting is in place for.
Alright, so point number
one, how to not sound salesy.
Don't follow scripts.
Follow a formula.
If you wanna learn the formulas
that I teach, you can get access
to that while you train your entire
team using our all in one system.
And there's des uh, details in the
description below, or you can text
the word demo to 3 0 3 2 2 2 71 33.
That's demo to 3 0 3 2 2 2 71 33.
All right.
Now this brings us to point number
two and I think it's time for
some coffee while we do this.
Point number.
We have to understand the core philosophy
of what it is that we're doing.
So when Aon said, Hey, you know, they
read the books, they're doing the
body language things, what we're often
doing is regurgitating blah, right?
Which is no different than
saying what year did World War?
I begin, I, by the way, my history
and you're roofing salesperson, so
maybe your history is phenomenal.
But for many of us, it's.
that's regurgitating.
Does, do you, does it mean that,
you know the significance of how
it all started or the history?
No, it just, you're regurgitating effect.
And so many of us in sales,
we just regurgitate, we hear
this, we spit it back out.
But what ends up happening is then
it comes across as being salesy
or forceful or like inserted.
Like we're overly trying.
And then, and then homeowners pick it up.
The, you'd ha you'd if
you were close to me.
Now here's my, do you
have any objection mug?
I'd have coffee, breath,
I'm drinking espresso.
Right.
And when we're dealing with home,
That's gonna be commission breath.
And when they hear smell that you
want that sale, that you need that
sale, you're not gonna get it.
Now the fix is understanding the
theory and philosophy behind it.
I'm gonna give you an example.
When you read Robert Chal Dini's book, Dr.
Robert Chaldini, he wrote a book
called Influence and one of the factors
of influence, there's two of them.
One is authority.
There's six that he teaches in the book.
Uh, one is authority and the
other is social Proof and
authority is I'm the expert.
Social proof is, look what other
people are saying about us, right?
Your ratings online, those factors
are very important to build into the
sale, but when you understand how and
why they're important, they allow.
Put them into practice, talking about
the neighbors, talking about your
reviews, sharing what other people
have to say about you in the right way.
You are now learning how to leverage
a philosophy in a fluid conversation
by understanding the core principles
versus if I said, if this part
in the process, you say this.
Then you just sound like a robot.
So reason number two to not, or
method number two, to not come across
as salesy is to simply understand
the, the deeper philosophy and
meaning in the psychology of applying
what it is that you're learning.
Okay, so we got, number one
is formulas, not scripts.
You can access all my formulas in
the training in the link below.
Reason number two is to
understand the deeper message.
Now, let's come into reason number
three, and we'll leave this one on
a wrap, and that one is repetition.
Repetition causes new neural
pathways in the brain and allow you.
To communicate clearly and
effectively without stuttering,
stopping, or thinking about it.
So with repetition, i e role play or
sales practice, you now can take the
thing as you learn it and use it.
It's a little fumbly and
awkward, and that's why we work
out the kinks in role play.
You work through that unnatural, forceful
zone, and before you know it, you come.
It is truly authentic because guess what?
It is because you have done, uh,
three things combined together.
Number one is you've learned a
proven framework to follow to
allow you to deliver your sales
message in the right order.
Number two, you understand the philosophy
of the buying decisions of the psychology
of human behavior, so you can leverage.
And then number three, we practice and
we do that without being in the home.
We do that in role play, in sales practice
to develop those new neural pathways.
So it comes authentic, comes
across authentically and naturally,
and we link all those up.
You become an absolute sales machine and
by doing so, my friend, you, you and your
team get to smash your income goal and
give every customer an amazing experience.
And the best part is it will help
you serve even more customers.
So that's all I have for you on
this video, and I want to hear.
Did I miss something?
Drop in the comments below.
What do you do and what is your number
one tip for a salesperson to come
across as not being salesy or sleazy?
I'd love to hear from you.
Drop a comment below.
Hey, thanks for joining
me in today's video.
If you like this one and you want
some more, well, let's do it.
Hop into our new free training
center right here, or you can text,
uh, free to 3 0 3 2 2 2 71 33.
And if you wanna hang with me here on
YouTube, jump right into this video.
I'll see you in the next one.