How to Track Estimate Close Rate for a Roofing Business
Roofing close rate runs 25 to 40% on replacements. Here is how to track it by lead source and sales rep, what moves it, and how to identify the inspection-to-signed gap in your pipeline.
Key takeaways
- Residential roofing close rate runs 25 to 40% on replacement estimates. Insurance supplement work runs 45 to 65% because the buyer is already committed to the project.
- Close rate by sales rep reveals more than overall close rate. A top rep at 50% and a bottom rep at 18% require very different coaching.
- The inspection-to-estimate gap (how many inspections convert to a written estimate) is as important as the estimate-to-signed gap
- Same-day close rate in roofing averages 35 to 50% when the estimate is presented in person vs. emailed later. Emailed estimates alone close at 15 to 25%.
- Lead source close rate in roofing varies dramatically: storm lead aggregators close at 20 to 30%, referrals close at 50 to 70%, door-to-door close at 25 to 40%.
Roofing close rate looks low compared to service trades. A 32% close rate in roofing is healthy. The same number in plumbing is a problem. The difference is that roofing customers comparison-shop on a large, infrequent purchase. They get 3 estimates. Two contractors lose. Your job is to be in the top third, not to close every lead.
That said, there is a wide range of performance within roofing: 18% close rate vs. 45% close rate, both with the same lead volume, produce completely different outcomes. Tracking close rate correctly tells you where the gap is.
The 3 close rate metrics in roofing
Inspection-to-estimate rate: how many inspections you complete that result in a written estimate. In replacement roofing, this should run 85 to 95%. If it is below 80%, either your inspectors are deciding a replacement is not needed (which may be correct and is a quality signal) or they are walking away from sales conversations that should become estimates.
Estimate-to-signed rate: written estimates divided by signed contracts. This is the close rate most people mean when they say "close rate." Benchmark: 25 to 40% on self-generated replacement work, 45 to 65% on insurance supplement work.
Inspection-to-signed rate: the full pipeline metric. Combines the two above. A 90% inspection-to-estimate rate x 35% estimate-to-signed rate = 31.5% inspection-to-signed rate. Track this to see the full funnel.
How to track close rate in your CRM
Every major CRM can calculate this if your data is tagged correctly.
In Jobber: track inspections as Jobs with a "Roof Inspection" job type. Track estimates as Quotes linked to those jobs. Filter Quotes by "Approved" vs. total sent. Close rate = Approved Quotes / Total Quotes sent in the period.
In Housecall Pro: Estimates section shows status (Pending, Approved, Declined). Filter by period and calculate. Track inspections as a separate job type that links to estimates.
In ServiceTitan: Sales module tracks the full funnel from lead to signed job. Close rate by rep, by job type, and by lead source are all native reports.
In Jobber or HCP without native funnel reporting: export quotes to a spreadsheet. Tag each by lead source, assigned rep, and status. Calculate close rate per filter in a pivot table.
Text Clint: "What was my close rate by sales rep last month?" "Which lead source produced the highest close rate in Q1?"
Close rate by sales rep
Overall close rate masks individual performance. A team average of 32% might look acceptable until you see that your best rep closes at 52% and your newest rep closes at 19%. Those require completely different interventions.
How to track: in your CRM, filter accepted quotes by assigned sales rep. Divide by total quotes assigned to each rep. Compare.
The performance gap between top and bottom reps in roofing is typically driven by:
- In-person presentation discipline: top reps present the estimate in person at the kitchen table or at the property. Bottom reps email it and wait. Same-day in-person close rate runs 35 to 50%. Emailed estimate close rate runs 15 to 25%.
- Follow-up sequence: top reps follow up 3 to 4 times after sending an estimate. Bottom reps follow up 1 to 1.5 times. See the estimate follow-up cadence guide for the framework.
- Financing presentation: reps who offer financing on every job over $8,000 close 15 to 25% more of the leads where price was the sticking point.
Close rate by lead source
Roofing lead sources produce dramatically different close rates.
Storm lead aggregators (HomeAdvisor, Angi, storm-response networks): 20 to 30%. High volume, high competition. Customers submit to multiple contractors.
Door-to-door canvassing post-storm: 25 to 40%. The rep already has the conversation. Close rate depends on presentation quality.
Google LSA and paid search: 30 to 45%. Buyers with high intent who searched for a specific service.
Referral from past customer: 50 to 70%. Warm trust, lower price sensitivity.
Insurance supplement (storm damage claim referral): 45 to 65%. Customer is already committed to the project, just selecting the contractor.
Tracking close rate by lead source tells you which sources are worth the spend and which are producing volume without conversion. A lead source with 20% close rate costs 2x as much per signed job as one with 40% close rate, even if the cost per lead is identical.
The inspection-to-estimate gap: where close rate actually breaks
In many roofing businesses, the close rate problem is not at the estimate-to-signed stage. It is at the inspection-to-estimate stage. Inspectors who run 15 inspections per week but only produce 8 estimates have a conversion problem before the estimate is even written.
Causes:
- Inspectors not finding damage worth claiming (legitimate and correct)
- Inspectors not comfortable presenting a replacement recommendation
- Homeowners declining the estimate conversation during the inspection (the inspector does not close on booking the estimate meeting)
Track inspections and estimates separately. If your inspection-to-estimate rate is under 75%, the problem is pre-estimate, not in the estimate itself.
For the full KPI framework and benchmarks across trades see the home service KPIs playbook. For closing more of the estimates you already have, see the home service lead follow-up guide.
How Clint Tracks Close Rate by Rep
Calculating the three close rate metrics in this guide requires joining your inspection records, estimate records, and signed contract records, which in most roofing CRMs are in separate views with no pre-built cross-reference. Doing it by rep requires filtering each view individually.
Text Clint directly. "What is my inspection-to-signed-contract rate by sales rep this month?" Clint joins the data across your CRM stages and returns the composite rate per rep. Ask "which rep has the widest gap between estimate-sent and estimate-signed this quarter?" and Clint surfaces the training opportunity.
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
4 questions home service owners actually ask about this.
01What is a good close rate for a roofing company?
25 to 40% on self-generated replacement estimates. 45 to 65% on insurance supplement work where the customer is already committed. Below 20% on any lead source indicates either a pricing problem, a presentation problem, or poor lead quality from that source.
02Should roofing estimates be presented in person or emailed?
In person whenever possible. Same-day in-person presentation closes at 35 to 50%. Emailed estimates close at 15 to 25%. If an in-person meeting is not possible, a video walkthrough of the estimate (screen share or a short recorded video) closes at higher rates than a PDF alone.
03How do I track close rate by lead source in a roofing CRM?
Tag every lead with its source at intake (storm aggregator, door-to-door, referral, Google, insurance claim). In your CRM, filter signed contracts by lead source tag. Divide by total estimates sent to customers from that source. Calculate rate per source. This requires disciplined intake tagging. If your team does not tag sources consistently, the report is meaningless until they do.
04What is the biggest driver of low close rate in roofing?
Follow-up. The average roofing sales rep follows up 1.3 times after sending an estimate. The average signed roofing job required 2.4 contacts. That 1.1 contact gap is where most of the lost close rate lives. A 5-touch follow-up sequence over 14 days (see estimate follow-up cadence) recovers 18 to 28% of estimates that would have otherwise died.
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