Providing quick, quality estimates for roofing projects is an important part of any roofer’s job.
In fact, mastering this skill is a necessary piece of becoming a successful roofing contractor. And one of the best ways to estimate is with the (good-better-best) pricing model.
Good-better-best pricing is effective and profitable. But what is it, and how can software for roofers will help you make good-better-best estimates? Let’s dive in!
What Is a Good-Better-Best Estimate?
A good-better-best estimate uses the three-pronged pricing model to categorize a potential job into three tiers:
- Good = This option is the cheapest option and won’t include as many services/products.
- Better = This is a middle-of-the-road option for the price and services offered.
- Best = This option is the highest price but the highest quality.
This pricing structure gives the customer more options and is a simple way for roofing contractors to demonstrate the full scope of their value.
Why Use Good-Better-Best Estimates?
Avoid Giving Customers Too Few Options
Roofers who operate on a single-option pricing model severely limit their potential customer base.
A tiered service model allows your business to appeal to a wider range of customers across different budgets. Individuals might view it as a take-it-or-leave-it situation if they have only one price option. If they don’t like the price, they’ll go somewhere else.
That’s why it’s common for homeowners to seek quotes from several roofing contractors in the area. Once they have several estimates, they compare the quotes against each other to get the best price and value.
Getting multiple price options empowers the customer. They feel in control and aware of a rough average cost for their project.
Avoid Overwhelming Customers with Too Many Options
Alternatively, while providing a single choice makes homeowners feel like they’ve lost control in a situation, offering too many options leaves individuals feeling overwhelmed. This situation is sometimes called choice overload or overchoice.
Give Customers the Right Amount of Roofing Options
The good-better-best model makes it easy for homeowners to understand exactly what they’re getting with each option and why one costs more than another. This way of framing estimates shifts the customer’s focus from the service price to the value.
That’s why the good-better-best pricing model is right in the sweet spot. It provides three value choices:
- The lowest level of service for a great price
- An average middle point
- A high level of service at a premium
Give the customer multiple pricing options from your business so they can compare your services against each other—not a competitor. A good-better-best estimate helps them decide the best value for them, so you’re more likely to win the bid.
See how roofing software can help with this.
How to Use a Good-Better-Best Pricing Structure
To implement a good-better-best pricing structure, you need to evaluate the services your roofing company provides first. Start by documenting everything you currently offer before categorizing which services belong in which tier.
Once you have a good baseline for your current services, start to group your services into those that cost more and those that cost less. This will outline which services belong in which tiers going forward. Once you have a good outline of services, mix and match them to create three-tiered packages.
Start off your good-better-best estimate by offering the least costly service available and work your way up to the highest-priced package. Be sure to include a detailed description of what is included in each tier to explain the resulting price difference.
When you provide this type of estimate to a customer, keep in mind that the tiers don’t need to be labeled as “good,” “better,” or “best.” We recommend labeling your three options like:
- Bronze, silver, and gold
- Basic, standard, and premium
How to Use Roofing Software for Estimates: Roofing Estimate Example
Roof software makes it easy to send accurate estimates and save time. Contractors can quickly build a good-better-best estimate in their roofing software and send it off to customers with the click of a button.
No one likes to wait a long time for an estimate from their roofing contractor. At a certain point, it’s considered bad customer service and will turn a prospect away from your business altogether. Providing quick, accurate, high-quality estimates to homeowners improves their customer experience.
An excellent customer experience will always pay dividends for your company in the long run. Research shows that positive customer service experiences correlate with recommendations: customers who rate a business’s service highly are 38% more likely to recommend the service to others.
How you make a good-better-best estimate will depend on the roofing software you use. But the general process includes these nine steps. We’ll walk you through the steps using JobNimbus.
- Create a new estimate
- Select the Good, Better, Best template
- Add a section
- Fill out that section with your “good” option
- Add all the items included in that pricing package
- Do the same with your “better” and “best” pricing packages
- Check that the information is correct for all three packages
- Save the estimate
- Send the estimate via email or text
Mastering the good-better-best pricing structure for roofing estimates is a great way to highlight the value your company brings to a job. Give your customers three job options, and you can win more bids and even earn a higher profit.
Have you started using good-better-best pricing in your roofing business? Let us know how it’s worked for you by leaving a comment below.
