The Top 10 Tools to Generate Leads for Commercial Roofers

Introduction

Many of the fastest-growing businesses today rely on a “tech stack.” The “stack” refers to a group of tools that work together to complete a task in a fully automated way. These tools can complete tasks ranging from lead generation to sending invoices and asking past customers for testimonials and referrals.

If you’re a commercial roofing contractor looking to generate leads, opportunities, and sales, a stack of tools can help you reclaim hours in your day to focus on the tasks required to grow your business: hiring employees, building relationships, and quoting new projects.

Today’s sales environment has changed. With so many competitors in the market, relying on traditional methods to generate leads just isn’t enough to keep a business growing. This is because potential customers are already bombarded with ads, sales messages, and outreach from hungry sales reps looking to close deals – after all, their quota depends on it.

Without an effective lead generation strategy and the tools to support it, you risk falling behind your competitors, losing out on valuable projects, and slowing your business’s growth.

But the good news is, the right lead generation tools will help you attract more leads, streamline your sales funnel, and boost your revenue without adding undue effort.

These tools are designed to help you focus on what job you do best—providing top-notch roofing services—while they handle the heavy lifting of lead generation.

Summary of the Top 10 Essential Tools for Lead Generation:

1. Convex – Property intelligence software for identifying and scoring qualified leads

2. HubSpot CRM – Customer relationship management for smaller budgets

3. Salesforce – Feature-rich CRM for managing leads and sales pipelines at scale

4. ActiveCampaign – Email marketing and automation to nurture leads and engage prospects

5. Leadfeeder – Website visitor identification for turning traffic into actionable leads

6. Unbounce – Landing page builder and lead capture for creating high-converting pages

7. Sumo – Lead capture forms and pop-ups to grow your email list

8. Zapier – Sales process automation to streamline workflows and integrate apps

9. Intercom – Live chat tools for engaging website visitors in real-time

10. Hootsuite – Social media management to schedule posts and track engagement

(and a couple alternate tools)

In this article, we’ll explore the top 10 tools for accelerating your lead generation process and focus specifically on creating a “stack” designed to find qualified leads for commercial roofing contractors.

So, let’s get started.

Understanding the Lead Generation Process for Commercial Roofing Contractors

What Is Lead Generation?

Lead generation is all about building a pipeline of projects that turn into revenue. But that requires us to do a few preliminary steps:

1. Finding or attracting a target audience

2. Converting them into leads

3. Engaging them in a conversation leads to a sale

Lead generation’s primary goal is to find someone to connect with or get them to willingly provide their contact information so you can engage them in a conversation. It’s about creating interest in your services and nurturing potential customers until they’re ready to make a decision.

There are two main ways to generate leads:

• Inbound Lead Generation: Inbound means that you’re “attracting” potential customers who are already searching for commercial roofers through content marketing, SEO, and social media efforts.

• Outbound Lead Generation: Outbound requires your sales team to “reach-out” directly to prospects who fit your ideal customer profile (ICP) through cold calls, emails, direct mail, and advertising.

A balance of both inbound and outbound for commercial construction and roofing contractors will help you get the best results.

The best way to visualize lead generation is like a funnel. The larger the opening at the front end of the funnel, the more you can put into it. A combination of inbound and outbound widens the opening of the funnel, capturing leads who are looking for your services but also those who aren’t quite ready to begin a project.

Why Is Lead Generation Important for Commercial Roofing Contractors?

You’ve probably heard the term, “Lead generation is the lifeblood of a growing business…” and it is! Without a steady stream of new leads and opportunities, your sales funnel dries up, revenue stalls and long-term growth is difficult to sustain.

Think of an effective lead generation strategy like blood pumping through your body, or maybe a better analogy is; fuel for an engine. It keeps everything powered up and running smoothly.

The commercial roofing business is incredibly competitive, and potential customers have many options in the market. With an “engine” in place, you can capture more potential customers and convert them into sales.

Identifying Leads and Collecting Lead Data

Before we discuss the types of lead generation tools you’ll need to build an effective “engine,” let’s define a lead. A lead is someone who’s either responded to an outbound message from your team indicating an interest in moving forward with a conversation or given you their information in exchange for something of value. This could be a download from your website, a quote, or requesting a conversation with sales.

This is the first step in the sales cycle, and automating this step can help you scale the process of identifying and capturing leads so you can save time and focus your energy on building relationships and closing deals.

The tools we’re going to cover in this section will help you do that.

Using Lead Generation Software

Lead generation software is an entire category of more than 500 tools that help you collect contact information from online channels. These channels include website visitors, social media, public and private databases, and your own web assets like websites and landing pages.

These tools help you target your sales and marketing efforts more precisely, identifying and attracting more leads, managing your lead gen process, and helping you streamline sales for efficiency.

Let’s talk about the top 7-10 lead-generation tools that can revolutionize your commercial roofing business.

1. Property Intelligence Software

Convex (we’re Convex)

Overview: Property intelligence software is one of the most powerful lead generation tools in a commercial roofer’s “tech stack.” Convex’s property intelligence includes key insights such as permit histories, building age, square footage, ownership, transaction details, and equipment data, making it easier to identify and close new leads.

But it also gives your sales team all the specific details they need about the account, like the property type (think hospital or airport), the key decision-makers to reach out to, their job titles, account names, and even tenant info.

One of the most powerful features is the lead scoring aspect of the platform. Instead of sales taking “shots in the dark,” our Signal strength feature shows you who’s actively looking for your products and services, so you know when to reach out and what to say!

Key Features of Convex:

• Property Intelligence: Access detailed data like building age, square footage, tenant information, ownership, and permit history.
• Atlas: Visualize property and contact data on a map, create lead lists, and sync customer data bidirectionally with your CRM.
• Signals: Identify prospects ready to buy with lead scoring based on buyer intent data.
• Engage: Reach out to high-priority prospects based on their signal strength.
• Generative AI: Send highly personalized emails or prepare phone scripts in just two clicks based on potential customers’ data as well as your own account and contact info.
• CRM Functionality: Track leads, assign stages, tag coworkers, and manage pipeline with integrated CRM tools.

Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars on Capterra

Why it’s Great for Commercial Roofers: Since Convex was specifically designed for sales teams prospecting property owners and managers, it includes all of the tools needed for effective lead generation. It can accomplish these tasks in 3 – 5 minutes. What’s more, teams using Convex experience a 9x median ROI*, based on year-average estimates with a 95% customer retention rate and 45% profit margin.

2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tools

Managing relationships with your customers is vital for building trust, retaining clients, and ensuring long-term business growth. A CRM tool helps you organize customer data, track interactions, and streamline your sales processes. Here are two top CRM options to consider, depending on your budget and needs:

1. HubSpot CRM (Best for Limited Budgets)

Overview: HubSpot CRM is a powerful yet budget-friendly option for commercial roofing contractors looking to manage leads and customer relationships without breaking the bank. Its intuitive interface, free version, and seamless integration with HubSpot Marketing tools make it an excellent choice for businesses just getting started with CRM software.

Features:

• Contact and lead management

• Email tracking and templates

• Meeting scheduling tools

• Pipeline management and task automation

• Integrates with HubSpot Marketing for a complete solution

Pricing: Free version available; paid plans start at $30/month for small teams.

Rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars on G2.

Why It’s Great for Commercial Roofing Contractors: HubSpot is perfect if you’re working with a smaller budget but still need an all-in-one solution to manage your sales funnel and track leads effectively. Its user-friendly design and scalability make it a popular choice among roofing contractors.

2. Salesforce (Feature-Rich- Especially if You’re Not on a Budget)

Overview: Salesforce is the industry leader in CRM tools, offering advanced features that allow businesses to handle everything from lead management to complex sales automation. If you have a larger budget and need a robust solution, Salesforce provides all the bells and whistles for managing customers at scale.

Features:

• Highly customizable sales pipelines

• AI-powered lead scoring and analytics

• Workflow automation and task assignment

• Integration with a vast marketplace of apps

• Advanced reporting and forecasting

Pricing: Paid plans start at $25/user per month but can increase depending on customizations and features.

Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars on G2.

Why It’s Great for Commercial Roofing Contractors: If you’re running a larger commercial roofing operation with a dedicated sales team, Salesforce offers unmatched flexibility and power. Its advanced features make it easier to track leads, manage complex sales funnels, and scale your business more efficiently.

3. Email Marketing and Automation

ActiveCampaign

Overview: ActiveCampaign is an email marketing tool and service that helps you turn cold leads back into warm ones. It offers marketing automation, email marketing, and CRM features in one platform.

Features:

• Automated email workflows

• Segmentation and personalization

• Integration with other marketing tools

Pricing: Paid plans start at $29/month.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars on G2.

Why It’s Great for Commercial Roofing Contractors: Stay top-of-mind with potential customers by sending targeted emails about roofing maintenance tips, new construction projects, or special offers.

4. Website Visitor Identification Tools

If people are coming to your website, in other words you’re getting a lot of traffic, but no-one seems to be converting (i.e., scheduling a meeting, downloading a resource, or requesting a quote, you may want to try and capture some of those visitors and convert them into leads.

Leadfeeder

Overview: Leadfeeder is a powerful tool that helps businesses understand and engage with companies who visit their site in real time. It identifies anonymous website visitors and turns them into actionable leads.

Features:

• Identifies which companies visited your site

• Shows what pages they viewed and for how long

• Integrates with your CRM for seamless lead management

Pricing: Last time I checked they offer a 14-day free trial, paid plans starting at $99/month.

Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars on G2.

Why It’s Great for Commercial Roofing Contractors: Imagine knowing which businesses are interested in your commercial roofing contractor services but haven’t contacted you yet. Leadfeeder gives you valuable insights into potential customers, allowing you to reach out proactively.

5. Landing Page Creation and Lead Capture

1. Unbounce

Overview: Unbounce is a landing page builder that helps you create custom landing pages and lead capture forms without coding.

Features:

• Drag-and-drop landing page builder

• A/B testing to optimize conversions

• Popup forms and sticky bars

Pricing: Paid plans 14-day free trial then plans start at $99/month for up to 20,000 visitors and 500 conversions.

Rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars on G2.

Why It’s Great for Commercial Roofing Contractors: Create dedicated landing pages for specific campaigns, such as roofing maintenance packages or roof replacements, to capture leads more effectively.

2. LeadPages

Overview: LeadPages is one of the most popular tools for building and capturing emails on your site.

Features:

• List building tools like popup forms and welcome messages

• Social sharing features

• Analytics to track performance

Pricing: start at $37/month (annual), $49 per month without)

Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars on G2.

Why It’s Great for Commercial Roofing Contractors: Capture leads from your website visitors by offering valuable content, such as free roofing inspections or maintenance checklists.

6. Sales Process Automation

Sales automation can take dozens of tasks off your plate, and tools like Zapier are key to “removing hats” so you can focus on closing deals and building relationships.

Zapier

Overview: Zapier works much like IFTTT does; if a specific action occurs, then another is automatically completed. It’s a powerful tool to automate your workflows.

Features:

• Connects over 2,000 apps

• Automates repetitive tasks

• No coding required

Pricing: Free; paid plans start at $19.99/month (billed annually).

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars on G2.

Why It’s Great for Commercial Roofing Contractors: Automate tasks like adding new leads to your CRM or sending follow-up emails so you can focus on building relationships with potential customers.

7. Live Chat and Social Media Tools

It’s truly shocking how much time people spend on social media these days- but this means it’s a great opportunity for you. Search for relevant posts and topics, find leads, and schedule posts that your audience can engage with. Once they’ve interacted with your content, there’s a good chance they’ll check out your website, this is where you can use live chat tools to interact with them.

1. Intercom

Overview: Intercom is a live chat tool that enables your team to grab the attention of site visitors using a chat bubble visible on any pages that you set.

Features:

• Live chat with website visitors

• Automated messaging

• Integration with other software tools

Pricing: 14-day free trial; “Essential” plans start at $39/month per seat.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars on G2.

Why It’s Great for Commercial Roofing Contractors: Engage with potential customers in real-time, answer their questions, and guide them through the sales funnel.

2. Twitter (X Premium) for Search

Overview: Twitter Search is a free tool that can help you find leads on Twitter.

Features:

• Search for keywords related to commercial roofing

• Engage with users discussing roofing needs

• Monitor industry trends

Pricing: Free use for search – $3 per month for a premium accout.

Why It’s Great for Commercial Roofing Contractors: Connect with businesses and individuals looking for roofing services, and showcase your expertise.

3. Hootsuite

Overview: Hootsuite is a comprehensive social media management tool that helps you schedule posts, engage with your audience, and monitor your brand across various social platforms. It’s a must-have if you’re looking to manage your social media presence more efficiently.

Features:

• Manage multiple social media accounts in one dashboard

• Schedule and automate posts across platforms

• Monitor brand mentions and social media engagement

• Analyze performance with detailed reporting

Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $99/month.

Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars on G2.

Why It’s Great for Commercial Roofing Contractors: Hootsuite allows you to save time by automating your social media posts and engagement. It’s especially useful if you’re trying to stay active on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, where potential commercial roofing clients may be looking for services. You can keep a pulse on your brand while focusing on generating more leads.

Adding Hootsuite gives you a powerful way to manage your social media presence without having to take time each day to post. You can also track brand engagement, and make sure you’re connecting with potential clients across multiple channels.

How to Put it All Together

So, I realize that’s a lot to think about, how do you put it all together?

Start with a sales intelligence or property intelligence software like Convex to find qualified prospects. This will be the “front-end” of your sales funnel.

Once identified, manage captured leads and pipeline efficiently with CRM tools like HubSpot or Salesforce – enabling you to provide the right resources to opportunities at every step in the sales cycle.

If your prospects aren’t ready to buy just yet, you can keep them engaged using email marketing tools like ActiveCampaign. To boost those conversions, check out landing page builders like Unbounce.

And don’t forget about real-time engagement—live chat tools like Intercom can really help with that! Plus, Hootsuite is great for keeping your social media presence strong.

Now I realize that many of you have other tools that you prefer using or are actively considering – how do you ensure that they fit well into an effective tech stack?

Choosing the Right Lead Generation Tools

Lead-gen tools are always evolving, and since every roofing business is unique, you really need to think about which software will fit best into your daily workflow. Here’s a systematic process to evaluate which tools are right for your needs.

Evaluating Your Lead Generation Needs

Ask yourself:

• What are your lead generation goals? Do you want more leads, better lead quality, or improved lead management?
• Who is your target audience? Understanding your target audience helps you choose tools that reach them effectively.
• What is your budget for lead-generation tools? Consider both the cost per lead gen tool and the potential return on investment.

Selecting the Right Tools for Your Commercial Roofing Business

Consider:

• Features vs. Needs: Choose tools that offer the features you need without overwhelming complexity.
• Integration Capabilities: Ensure the tools can integrate with the other tools in your existing systems.
• User-Friendly Interface: A tool should be easy to use so you can get up and running quickly.
• Training and Support: Many of these tools will require some level of support to ensure they’re connected properly with other tools in your stack. And ongoing team training will ensure that they’re fully utilized by your sales team. Make sure the platform you choose includes both.

Implementing and Optimizing Your Lead Generation Tools

Finally, let’s talk about optimizing the lead generation tools you’ve chosen. Generally these tools require a bit of a learning curve and you’ll want your whole team on board so they’re effective.

• Showcase the Benefits: Overcoming resistance to change may be one of the biggest challenges you face. The best way to overcome this is by showing how easily these tools fit into an efficient workflow. Talk about the increases in sales and potential of these tools, and get “buy-in” from your team.
• Set Up and Integration: Once you’ve selected your tools, set them up and integrate them into your workflow.
• Monitor and Analyze Results: Use analytics to understand how your lead generation efforts are performing.
• Optimize Your Strategy: Make adjustments based on data to improve your lead generation process over time.

The Importance of Lead Generation Tools for Commercial Roofing Contractors

Keep in mind that the purpose of these lead-generation tools is to help you turn potential customers into paying clients. Salespeople will try to get you with shiny object syndrome and sell you on all the features and benefits of these tools – stay focused on the end goal: Automating and streamlining the lead gen process so you spend less time on administrative tasks and more time closing deals.

Conclusion

Don’t let your competitors get ahead while you miss out on potential customers. Changing your sales workflows to include lead generation tools and capture more leads is not always easy, but it’s a key step to increasing your revenue and growing your commercial roofing business.

If you’re ready to take the next step, integrate a few of these tools today and watch your business grow in the right direction.

Convex can simplify lead generation for commercial roofers. Schedule a demo to see how our tools can find you hot leads in minutes.