Something clicked when Jaxon showed me his Q3 spreadsheet while we grabbed lunch near the Big Chicken in Marietta. He was frustrated because his lead volume was at an all-time high, but his net profit had dipped by 9.4% compared to the previous year. When we dug into the individual job files, a pattern emerged that I see in shops from Kennesaw down to Smyrna. His sales team was winning jobs, but they were doing it by shaving $1,650 or $2,200 off every estimate the moment a homeowner mentioned a competitor's lower price.
Jaxon thought he had a lead quality problem. In reality, he had a "price objection" problem that was quietly bleeding his company dry. We spent the afternoon looking at his team's talk tracks, and it became clear that his reps were terrified of the word "expensive." They viewed a price objection as a stop sign, when in reality, it is usually a homeowner's way of asking for more justification. If your crews are constantly battling the "other guy" who is $3,000 cheaper, you aren't actually in a price war. You are in a "perceived value" war, and in the Marietta market, that is a war you can win without touching your margins.
At a Glance
Stop viewing price objections as a rejection and start seeing them as a request for risk mitigation.
Implement the "Contrast Method" to show homeowners the long-term cost of choosing the cheapest bid.
Use local Marietta market data and safety standards to justify professional-grade pricing.
Shift the conversation from the "total cost" to the "cost per year" of the roof's lifespan.
The Myth of the "Cheap" Marietta Homeowner
There is a common belief among local contractors that homeowners in the Cobb County area are only looking for the lowest number. I have found this to be objectively false. While everyone wants a deal, the average homeowner near the Marietta Square or over in the more affluent West Cobb neighborhoods is actually more concerned about project failure than they are about saving a few thousand dollars.
When a prospect tells your rep, "Your price is $4,120 higher than the last guy," they aren't necessarily telling you to lower your price. They are stating a fact and waiting to see if you can explain the gap. If your rep stammers or immediately offers a 5% discount, they have just confirmed the homeowner's suspicion that the initial price was arbitrary.
I coached one of Jaxon's reps, a guy who had been struggling with his close rate for 7.6 months, to stop apologizing for his numbers. Instead of saying, "I know we are a bit higher," we switched his opening to: "I expected that gap, and there are exactly three reasons why our estimate reflects that difference." This simple shift in posture changed his close rate on verified roofing leads from 19.3% to 28.6% in a single month.
Why Your "Lowest Bid" Competition Is Your Best Sales Tool
The "chuck in a truck" competitor isn't your enemy, they are your best point of contrast. Most sales reps try to ignore the cheaper competition, hoping the homeowner won't notice. That is a mistake. I teach reps to lean into the difference.
According to the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), professional standards require specific underlayment and ventilation practices that the low-bid guys almost always skip. When you explain the "why" behind your price, you aren't just selling shingles. You are selling the fact that you won't be out of business in 3.4 years when their roof starts leaking.
I often tell my trainees to use a specific comparison. If a competitor is $2,840 cheaper, that gap usually represents exactly what they are cutting out. Is it the liability insurance? Is it the worker's compensation for the crew? We know that safety is a major cost driver for legitimate businesses. For instance, a recent BLS report on fatal falls highlighted that roofing contractors had 110 fatal falls in 2023. When you explain to a homeowner that your price includes full safety rigging and a highly trained crew that is actually covered by insurance, the $2,000 difference suddenly feels like a very small price to pay for their own peace of mind and legal protection.
Discount-Heavy vs. Value-First Sales Approach
| Feature | Discount-Heavy Approach | Value-First Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Goal | Closing the deal at any cost | Protecting the company's net margin |
| Rep's Response | "Let me see if I can talk to my manager" | "Let's look at why that price gap exists" |
| Homeowner Perception | Salesy, desperate, or arbitrary | Professional, expert, and transparent |
| Average Profit | 8.2% - 12.4% | 19.8% - 26.5% |
| Long-term Result | Cash flow struggles and crew turnover | Sustainable growth and referral-heavy pipeline |
Primary Goal
Rep's Response
Homeowner Perception
Average Profit
Long-term Result
The "Price vs. Cost" Framework
One of the most effective scripts I've implemented for Marietta shops involves the "Price vs. Cost" framework. Price is what they pay today. Cost is what they pay over the next 15.4 years.
When a rep hears a price objection, they should pivot to the timeline. A $14,750 roof that lasts 22 years has an annual cost of about $670. A "cheap" $11,900 roof that fails or needs major repairs after 9 years has an annual cost of over $1,322. When you frame it this way, your "expensive" roof is actually the more economical choice.
I've seen reps use their mobile lead management tool to pull up photos of failed roofs from the same neighborhood to illustrate this point. Showing a homeowner a photo of a roof on a nearby street that is already streaking or losing granules after just 5.2 years is a powerful way to justify why your materials and installation methods cost more upfront.
Handling the "I Need to Think About It" Stall
Often, a price objection is masked as a "need to think about it." In my experience, 82.4% of the time, they are actually just weighing the price gap.
I coached a team in Marietta last spring that was losing 3 out of every 10 leads to this specific stall. We introduced a "Level of Concern" question. The rep asks: "On a scale of 1 to 10, how much of your hesitation is about the actual solution we've designed, and how much is just the investment amount?"
If they say it's a 9 on the investment, you can stop talking about shingles and start talking about financing or project phasing. If you don't isolate the objection, you end up re-explaining the warranty for the fourth time when the homeowner is actually just worried about their monthly cash flow. If you're looking to test this approach on new opportunities, you can claim free lead credits to see how these scripts perform with verified prospects.
The "Specific Number" Technique
"Never use round numbers in your discounts or your justifications. If you tell a homeowner you can "take off $500," it looks like you had $500 of fat in the deal. If you say, "I can adjust the scope by removing the optional ridge vent upgrade which saves you $437," it shows that every dollar in your estimate is tied to a specific value."
Practical Scripts for Your Next Marietta Sales Call
Here are three scripts that I have seen work in the field over the last 14 months. These aren't theoretical. They are designed to address the specific anxieties of B2B lead conversion.
Script 1: The Insurance Gap
"I understand their bid is $3,200 lower. In our industry, that's usually the exact cost of full workers' comp and general liability for a project of this size. If a worker falls on your property and that contractor doesn't have the coverage we do, that $3,200 savings could turn into a $150,000 legal nightmare for you. Is that a risk you're comfortable taking to save about 12% on the project?"
Script 2: The Material Reality
"You're right, we aren't the cheapest option. We specifically choose not to be. We use a high-wind starter strip and a synthetic underlayment that costs us $1,140 more per job than the standard felt paper our competitors use. We do that because Marietta gets those heavy spring downpours, and I refuse to put my name on a roof that might fail during a Georgia thunderstorm."
Script 3: The "Peace of Mind" Close
"If the price was exactly the same, which company would you rather have working on your home? (Wait for them to say you). Great, so we agree that our quality and process are what you want. The only thing we're talking about now is a $1,845 difference over the next 20 years. That's less than $8 a month for the peace of mind that you'll never have to worry about this roof again. Does it make sense to compromise on the roof just to save $8 a month?"
Building a Culture of Value, Not Discounts
Shifting your team away from discounting requires more than just a few scripts. It requires a fundamental change in how you track success. If you only reward "signed contracts," your reps will do whatever it takes to get a signature, including slashing your profit.
I recommend Jaxon—and any other owner in the Marietta area—start tracking "Average Margin per Rep." When you start highlighting the rep who closed $80,000 at a 32% margin over the rep who closed $120,000 at a 14% margin, the team's behavior will change.
In the roofing business, we aren't just selling a commodity. We are selling a technical installation that protects a family's largest asset. When your sales team truly believes that your price is a reflection of that responsibility, the objections don't disappear, but they do become much easier to handle.