INBOUND CALL TO SIGNED CONTRACT, AUTOMATED
The 11-step path from a homeowner's first call to a signed contract — and how to remove every wait state in it.
The roofing sales funnel has been the same shape since the trade existed: lead in, inspection scheduled, quote delivered, contract signed. What changes per company is the wait time between each step.
Wait time kills close rate. We have direct data on this — pulled from 412 contractors and published in our first-to-the-roof piece — and the math is brutal: every additional 24 hours of wait time between lead-in and quote-delivered drops close rate by roughly half.
Below is the 11-step path most operators run, with the wait states highlighted. For each, there's a way to make it instant.
Step 1: Lead arrives
Source matters less than handle time. Whether the lead is from a paid Google ad, a permit data feed, a referral, or a storm canvass, the moment it hits your CRM the clock is running. The Quoting Agent picks it up inside 30 seconds and triggers the next step.
Step 2: Lead enrichment
Homeowner name, property record, owner-occupied status, insurance carrier (if available), prior permits, neighborhood storm history. This used to require a research VA. Now it's a parallel tool call returning in 8–12 seconds.
Step 3: Aerial measurement
Hipped, gabled, or complex roof. Total square footage, predominant pitch, complexity score. Aerial measurement providers return a structured payload inside 60 seconds for most properties. For ultra-complex commercial roofs, this still needs a human-in-the-loop tech.
Step 4: Scope inference
From the homeowner's intake — whether they submitted via web form, called, or texted — the agent infers the most likely scope (full replacement, repair, inspection-only). This is a guess, not a final call, and the homeowner confirms in the next step.