The Kitchen Table

How a 26-Year-Old Roofer Stopped Knocking Doors and Built a Referral Machine with Donovan Davis

Episode Summary

Ken Baden sits down with Donovan Davis of DTE Roofing, a mentee of Chris Zimmerman, to talk about how a young Ohio roofing company grows without door knocking. Donovan explains how he and his brother left their old jobs to start their own company, and why the low barrier to entry in roofing makes running a clean, compliant business a real edge. The core of the conversation is DTE’s lead strategy: building professional referral partnerships, especially with State Farm agents, and using evidence packages to get claims approved. They also cover pricing with instant quote tools instead of Exactimate, Ken’s retail-versus-insurance approach, and what the ramp-up period looks like for anyone who wants to try this model.

Episode Notes

Key takeaways

• DTE hasn’t knocked doors in about two years. Leads come from brokered relationships with insurance agents, tree companies, real estate agents, home inspectors and handymen.
• Anyone who is inside customers’ homes is a potential partner.
• Cold emails to agents ask for a lunch meeting and aren’t a pitch for preferred-roofer status. Donovan’s estimate is that 100 emails get roughly 20 takers.
• Pitching agents: you make their customers happier and make them look better. Donovan says DTE has never compensated agents for referrals.
• State Farm agents are DTE’s biggest referral source. Offering to review stalled, difficult claims is the quickest way in.
• After a roof sale, ask for the customer’s insurance agent and hand-deliver paperwork for any shingle-class premium discount.
• New reps shadow agent meetings instead of learning door knocking.
• DTE’s evidence package, paired with lump-sum pricing, gets approved about 60% of the time up front.
• When a carrier “requests” something, ask whether it’s a request or a requirement.
• Donovan’s expected ramp-up for the agent model is about a month to see consistent leads.
• Ken’s view: the better you get at retail, the better you get at claims.

Mentioned in the episode

• Chris Zimmerman and John (board of advisors and mentors)
• Exactimate, Roofle-style instant quote tools, Eagle View, SRS and ABC
• State Farm and Allstate
• GAF and the Power Roofing model
• Fair Labor Standards Act and 1099 considerations (Donovan notes he isn’t an attorney)

Find the guest: DTE Roofing (https://www.dteroofingllc.com/), Facebook DTE Roofing, Donovan Davis and Mitchell Davis on Facebook.

Note: the transcript spells Roofle as “ruffle” in places, so double-check the product name before publishing.

Search Keywords

roofing podcast, Kitchen Table podcast, Ken Baden, Donovan Davis, DTE Roofing, roofing sales, insurance restoration, roofing insurance claims, evidence package, Exactimate alternative, roofing referrals, State Farm agents, insurance agent referrals, stop door knocking, roofing lead generation, roofing business growth, retail roofing, instant quote roofing, Roofle, roofing supplements, Diversified Roofer, Potomac Custom Remodeling, Columbus Ohio roofer, roof claim approval

Timestamps

• 00:00:18 – Intro and welcome to Donovan Davis of DTE Roofing
• 00:00:55 – Chris Zimmerman as mentor, and the evidence package’s impact on approvals
• 00:01:57 – Ohio market, retail vs. insurance mix, and the Columbus storm
• 00:02:53 – How Donovan and his brother got into roofing
• 00:03:57 – The low barrier to entry and why it hurts the industry
• 00:05:00 – Hiring lessons and a rep filing claims on his own
• 00:06:36 – Pop-up storms, running a clean business, and the 1099/FLSA lesson
• 00:08:59 – Contractor licensing in Ohio and Pennsylvania
• 00:10:40 – Treating insurance work like retail and moving off Exactimate
• 00:11:40 – Lump-sum pricing and instant quote tools
• 00:14:30 – Retail options and good-better-best packages
• 00:15:50 – GAF/Power Roofing model and ventilation
• 00:17:15 – Referrals and finding the “dance partner” in a neighborhood
• 00:19:00 – Professional referral partnerships and the cold email to agents
• 00:21:29 – State Farm agents as the biggest referral source
• 00:22:50 – Building the agent network and post-roof insurance paperwork
• 00:25:30 – No door knocking: training new reps on agent meetings
• 00:28:30 – State Farm focus and selling agents on making them look better
• 00:29:30 – Frivolous claims and honest inspections
• 00:31:45 – Ramp-up timeline and winning agents with stalled claims
• 00:33:00 – No compensation to agents, and keeping the model clean
• 00:33:37 – Exactimate writers and supplementing in-house
• 00:34:40 – The two-step evidence package
• 00:35:45 – Request vs. requirement, and the Allstate call story
• 00:38:15 – Reasonable pricing and local price verification
• 00:40:00 – Wrap-up: ages, three years in business, and community
• 00:41:35 – Exit strategy and EBITDA mindset
• 00:42:25 – Retail vs. insurance focus and plans for spring
• 00:43:55 – Where to find Donovan and DTE Roofing
• 00:44:50 – Chris’s plane, Diversified Roofer and closing