The price objection is the dirty water at the mouth of the river. If you want to clean up the mouth of the river, you have to go upstream to the location of the factory dumping pollutants. You have to deal with the fishing boats that putter little drops of oil and you have to stop people from tossing in small amounts of trash up and down the banks.

A reader to Roofing Contractor wrote me and noted that my articles regularly focus on residential sales and appropriately requested that I offer some insights into commercial sales. Only a few days later, I was conducting a seminar at which one attendee expressed frustration about his wasted time in the plan room of general contractors, which resulted too frequently in lost bids. My advice: Get past the plan room.

On the surface, roofing contractors all look the same to consumers. After all, nearly every website from contractors promises service, quality and satisfaction from a contractor that has been around for generations with satisfied clients and guarantees of good work. 

Just think: If price were the only factor in a builder’s purchasing decision, a roofing contractor could fire all its salespeople. 

Frequently, contractors will ask how much volume should a salesperson or project manager be able to sell. This is a very difficult question to answer because there are so many variables. 

If your business goal is to create satisfied customers, I recommend you rethink your strategy and strive for something better - customer elation.