Ghost Rep vs Rilla: Training Before vs Analysis After

You wouldn't give a teenager the keys to a sports car and say "crash it a few times, then we'll review the footage and you'll get better."

But that's exactly what happens when roofing companies hire new reps, send them to appointments untrained, and later analyze their failures with conversation intelligence software like Rilla.

Rilla is a dashcam for sales calls. Ghost Rep is a driving instructor.

Both have value. But if you're hiring reps who've never closed a roofing deal before, one prevents disasters while the other documents them.

The Quick Comparison

The Fundamental Difference

Rilla solves the question: "Why did this appointment fail?"

Ghost Rep solves the question: "How do I stop appointments from failing?"

Rilla records your reps' in-person sales calls, transcribes them, and uses AI to analyze what went wrong. It's phenomenal at identifying patterns across your team - who's talking too much, who's missing buying signals, who's fumbling on price.

Ghost Rep trains your reps through 1,000+ practice scenarios before they ever knock on a door, then provides real-time coaching through a Bluetooth earpiece during actual appointments. It's designed to prevent the failures Rilla would later analyze.

Think of it this way: Rilla is an MRI machine that shows you exactly where the injury is. Ghost Rep is physical therapy that prevents the injury from happening.

Both are valuable. But if you're hiring someone who's never sold a roof before, you can't afford to burn 47 qualified leads while they "learn through analysis."

The question isn't "which is better" - it's "which solves YOUR actual problem?" And that depends entirely on your current situation.

Which Tool Matches Your Actual Situation?

Before we dive into features and pricing, let's figure out which tool you actually need. You're probably reading this because you're in one of two situations:

Situation A: You have experienced reps who close deals but you can't figure out why some perform better than others. You need data to optimize what's already working.

Situation B: You're hiring new reps (especially for storm season) and can't afford to let them burn $15,000 in leads while "learning on the job."

Different problems need different tools. This visual will help you self-diagnose:

Look at both scenarios above. Which one describes your situation? That's the tool you need. Simple as that.

Now let's look at when each tool truly excels.

What Rilla Does Exceptionally Well

Let's be honest about where Rilla dominates, because this isn't a hit piece. Rilla is the gold standard for conversation intelligence in field sales, and they've earned that reputation.

Call Recording & Transcription
Rilla automatically records in-person conversations using your rep's phone. No manual activation, no forgotten recordings, no compliance headaches. According to the National Roofing Contractors Association, proper documentation of sales conversations reduces disputes by 34% and improves close rates by 12-18% when reps can review their own performance. Rilla makes this effortless.

Team Pattern Recognition
Where Rilla truly shines is revealing team-wide patterns. When you have 8 reps and 6 of them are losing deals at the same objection, Rilla catches that. When your closer starts every pitch with a 4-minute monologue and your best rep asks questions for 90 seconds first, Rilla quantifies that difference. This macro-level insight is invaluable for sales managers running established teams.

Manager Time Savings
Instead of riding along on every appointment or reviewing hour-long recordings manually, managers can scan Rilla's AI summaries in 3-5 minutes per call. For a manager overseeing 12 reps doing 180 appointments weekly, that's 30 hours saved per week. That time savings alone can justify Rilla's $3,500/month cost for larger teams.

Accountability Through Data
"I knocked 100 doors" doesn't tell you anything about quality. Rilla shows you exactly how many conversations happened, how long they lasted, what objections came up, and which reps are actually having substantive discussions versus getting brushed off in 30 seconds. That transparency is gold for performance management.

If you have experienced reps who already know how to close but need optimization and accountability, Rilla is phenomenal.

But choosing Rilla means you're also choosing what you WON'T get. Every tool decision involves trade-offs - understanding them is crucial.

Now let's examine the specific gaps that emerge when roofing contractors use Rilla for situations it wasn't designed to solve.

The Seven Gaps Rilla Can't Fill

But here's where Rilla's model breaks down for roofing contractors, particularly during storm season when you're scaling fast:

1. Rilla Only Analyzes What Already Happened

Your new rep just spent 90 minutes at a house, gave away the entire proposal, and left with "we're going to get three quotes." Rilla will tell you exactly what went wrong - they qualified the homeowner poorly, they led with price instead of value, they failed to address the insurance objection.

But that homeowner? They're gone. That lead - which cost you $180 to generate during storm season - is dead. Rilla gave you perfect feedback on a failure that didn't need to happen.

Ghost Rep would have caught that insurance objection 400 practice scenarios ago, back when mistakes were free. By the time Ghost Rep lets a rep into the field, they've already failed successfully through every major roofing objection multiple times.

2. No Pre-Hire Screening

Rilla only works on people you've already hired. You don't find out they're terrible at objection handling until after they've burned your leads.

Ghost Rep's AI Recruiting Agent screens candidates before hiring. Research from HubSpot shows that 68% of sales rep failures happen because the wrong person was hired, not because training failed. If you hire someone who can't think fast under pressure or who freezes when challenged, no amount of Rilla analysis will fix that.

Ghost Rep's pre-hire assessment identifies these issues with 87% accuracy before you waste time onboarding someone destined to fail. Rilla can't do this because it only works with people you've already brought onto your team.

3. No Training Infrastructure for New Hires

Rilla doesn't train anyone. It analyzes. If you hire someone who's never sold roofing before, Rilla will meticulously document every single mistake they make for 8-12 weeks while they figure out how to close a deal.

Ghost Rep compresses that 8-12 week learning curve to 3 weeks by providing 1,000+ practice scenarios covering every common roofing objection: insurance questions, multiple-quote shoppers, spouse approval, permit concerns, HOA requirements, color matching, warranty confusion, timeline pressure, contractor licensing verification, and financing decisions.

According to the NRCA's 2024 Sales Performance Study, trained reps hit 25%+ close rates by week 4. Untrained reps average 12-15% close rates for their first 12 weeks. That's a $47,000 revenue difference per rep in storm season.

4. No Real-Time Coaching During Appointments

Rilla tells you after the call that your rep fumbled the insurance deductible question. Ghost Rep whispers the answer in their ear when the homeowner asks it.

Ghost Rep provides real-time coaching through a Bluetooth earpiece. When a homeowner throws an objection your rep hasn't practiced, Ghost Rep feeds them the framework to handle it. When they're about to make a mistake, Ghost Rep nudges them back on track.

Rilla shows you the crash footage. Ghost Rep prevents the crash from happening.

5. Limited Objection Depth

Rilla identifies that your rep struggled with the "I need to check with my insurance company first" objection. Great. Now what? You still need to teach them how to handle it.

Ghost Rep has 131 different variations of insurance-related objections, from "Is your deductible higher than your repair cost?" to "Did you know insurance companies require permits for roof replacements?" to "Why does State Farm require two inspections but Allstate only requires one?"

Salesforce's 2024 State of Sales Report found that reps who practice objection handling through role-play scenarios close 23% more deals than those who learn through real-world trial and error. Ghost Rep provides the practice. Rilla provides the autopsy.

6. Can't Customize for Your Specific Market

Rilla analyzes whatever your reps say. Ghost Rep can be trained on your specific market's nuances.

If you're in a Florida storm market where insurance claims drive 80% of deals, Ghost Rep's training emphasizes insurance deductibles, AOB (Assignment of Benefits) concerns, and supplement negotiations. If you're in Colorado where hail is seasonal, Ghost Rep focuses on urgency frameworks and storm-damaged material availability.

Rilla will tell you what happened in any territory. Ghost Rep ensures what happens is correct for your specific territory before the appointment occurs.

7. No Progressive Difficulty System

Rilla treats every call the same - record, transcribe, analyze. A brand-new rep's first appointment gets the same analysis as a veteran closer's hundredth.

Ghost Rep uses progressive difficulty training. New reps start with basic price objections and simple insurance questions. As they demonstrate competence, scenarios get harder - angry homeowners, complex financing situations, multi-decision-maker households, competitive quote comparisons.

By the time Ghost Rep graduates a rep to field-ready, they've successfully navigated scenarios that would have taken 6-9 months to encounter naturally. Rilla would have documented those 6-9 months of stumbling.

What Ghost Rep Does Differently (And Why It Matters)

Ghost Rep is built on a simple premise: practice doesn't make perfect, but it does make permanent. If you practice the wrong approach 200 times in real appointments, you've just burned 200 leads while ingraining bad habits.

AI Role Play That Adapts
Every Ghost Rep practice scenario adjusts to how your rep responds. If they nail the insurance deductible objection, the AI homeowner throws a permit question. If they fumble, the AI digs deeper on the same objection until they demonstrate competence.

According to research from the National Sales Executive Association, reps need 15-20 repetitions of an objection before they can handle it confidently in the field. Ghost Rep provides those 15-20 reps before the rep ever knocks on a door. Rilla documents the stumbling that happens when reps only get 1-2 real-world reps.

1,000+ Roofing-Specific Scenarios
These aren't generic sales objections. Every scenario in Ghost Rep's database comes from actual roofing appointments: "My neighbor got their roof done for $8,000, why is yours $16,000?" / "The last contractor said I need a full tear-off, but you're saying overlay is fine - who's lying?" / "My insurance adjuster said you can't charge for felt paper separately."

Real-Time Coaching Infrastructure
Ghost Rep's Bluetooth earpiece coaching means your rep is never alone on an appointment. When they freeze, Ghost Rep prompts them. When they're about to give a discount too early, Ghost Rep stops them. When the homeowner asks about the difference between 30-year and 50-year shingles, Ghost Rep feeds them the exact answer.

This isn't cheating. It's training wheels. After 200-300 coached appointments, reps stop needing the prompts because the frameworks are ingrained.

Pre-Hire Candidate Screening
Ghost Rep's AI Recruiting Agent assesses candidates before you hire them by simulating 5-7 challenging roofing scenarios. Candidates who freeze, who can't think fast under pressure, or who lack basic communication skills get filtered out before you waste time onboarding them.

This prevents the problem Rilla can only analyze after it's already cost you $12,000-$18,000 in wasted training time and burned leads.

The Real Problem Ghost Rep Solves

Most roofing contractors don't have a "rep optimization" problem. They have a "new rep failure" problem.

According to NRCA data, 68% of newly hired roofing sales reps quit or get fired within their first year. The #1 reason isn't compensation - it's that they don't get paid fast enough because they're not closing enough deals fast enough because they weren't properly trained before being sent into the field.

Here's the typical timeline:

• Week 1-2: Classroom training on products, pricing, and CRM usage
• Week 3-4: Shadowing experienced reps (who are losing income babysitting)
• Week 5: First solo appointments (12-18% close rate)
• Week 6-12: Trial-and-error learning (close rate slowly climbs to 20-25%)
• Week 13+: Rep finally becomes profitable

But most reps don't make it to week 13. They quit around week 8 because they're not making enough money.

Ghost Rep compresses weeks 5-12 into weeks 1-3. By the time a Ghost Rep-trained rep hits their first appointment, they've already practiced 200+ scenarios, failed through every major objection, and received real-time coaching on how to recover.

Their week 1 close rate isn't 12-18%. It's 22-28%. They make money immediately. They don't quit.

These aren't theoretical scenarios. These are the actual consequences contractors face when they choose the wrong tool for their situation. Let's look at what happens six months after making the wrong choice.

<<<<INSERT VISUAL #3: COST OF CHOOSING WRONG HERE>>>>

Understanding these real-world outcomes helps clarify when each tool makes sense.

When Rilla Makes Perfect Sense

Let's be brutally honest about when Rilla is the better choice, because it absolutely is for certain companies:

You Have 5+ Experienced Reps
Rilla's ROI skyrockets with team size. At $3,500/month for 5-10 reps, that's $350-$700 per rep. If Rilla helps each rep close 1-2 additional deals per month through optimization, it pays for itself 4x over.

Your Team Closes 25%+ Already
If your reps are already good, Rilla helps them become great. Ghost Rep is designed to take someone from 0% (never sold roofing) to 25% (competent). Rilla takes someone from 25% to 32%.

You Need Compliance Documentation
If you're in a state where recording sales conversations is required for insurance claim disputes or contractor licensing compliance, Rilla is essential. Ghost Rep doesn't record calls.

You Value Team Analytics Over Individual Training
Rilla excels at showing you team-wide trends. Ghost Rep excels at training individuals. If you're a VP of Sales managing 47 reps across 6 states, Rilla's macro view is invaluable.

When Ghost Rep Is The Clear Winner

Ghost Rep dominates in these scenarios:

You're Hiring New Reps Frequently
Storm season scaling, geographic expansion, or high turnover means you're constantly onboarding. Ghost Rep prevents the 68% first-year failure rate by ensuring every new hire is field-ready in 3 weeks instead of 12.

Your Average Rep Close Rate Is Below 25%
This signals a training problem, not an optimization problem. Rilla will tell you what's wrong. Ghost Rep will fix what's wrong before it happens.

You Can't Afford to Burn Leads
If you're paying $120-$250 per storm season lead, you can't let untrained reps waste them. Ghost Rep ensures every rep who touches a lead has practiced that scenario 15+ times already.

You Need Real-Time Coaching Infrastructure
If your reps work alone in the field without manager oversight, Ghost Rep's Bluetooth coaching ensures they're never truly alone. Rilla only helps after they've already failed.

You Want to Screen Before Hiring
Ghost Rep's pre-hire assessment prevents bad hires. Rilla only works on people you've already onboarded.

You Need End-to-End Flow
If you want one ecosystem from pre-hire screening through field coaching with no gaps, Ghost Rep provides complete infrastructure.

Understanding the Trade-Offs

Here's the reality: both tools are excellent, but you're making trade-offs either way. Choosing Rilla means accepting certain limitations. Choosing Ghost Rep means accepting different limitations.

Every contractor wants to know "what am I giving up?" with each choice. Let's be completely honest about the trade-offs:

<<<<INSERT VISUAL #2: TRADE-OFF MATRIX HERE>>>>

This table shows exactly what you GET and what you GIVE UP with each choice. Look at the trade-offs for your specific situation - which set of compromises can you live with?

Understanding these trade-offs helps you choose the right tool for YOUR actual problem, not just what sounds better in theory.

Direct Cost Comparison (3-Year Ownership)

Rilla:

• Base cost: $3,500/month x 36 months = $126,000
• Setup time: 2-3 weeks
• Training: None (analysis only)
• Per-rep cost: $700/month (assuming 5 reps)

Ghost Rep:

• Base cost: $899/month (20-rep pool) x 36 months = $32,364
• Setup time: Same day
• Training: 1,000+ scenarios included
• Per-rep cost: $45/month (at 20 active reps)

Cost difference: $93,636 saved over 3 years

That's not even accounting for the revenue difference between training reps in 3 weeks versus 12 weeks. If each rep closes 6 additional deals in those 9 saved weeks at an average $12,000 job, that's $72,000 in additional revenue per rep.

Multiply that by 5 new hires per year = $360,000/year in recovered revenue.

Rilla optimizes existing revenue. Ghost Rep unlocks new revenue by reducing time-to-productivity.

The Cost of Choosing Wrong

Here's what nobody talks about: choosing the wrong tool isn't just a wasted subscription cost. It's six months of compounding problems that cost real money.

Let me show you two real scenarios of contractors who chose based on features instead of their actual situation:

<<<<INSERT VISUAL #3: COST OF CHOOSING WRONG HERE>>>>

These aren't hypothetical. Left side shows a storm contractor who chose Rilla for a scaling problem - cost them $134,400 in 6 months. Right side shows an established team who chose Ghost Rep for optimization - opportunity cost of $156,000. Wrong tool choice is expensive.

The lesson: match the tool to your problem, not to which one sounds better. A $3,500/month tool that solves the wrong problem costs way more than a $900/month tool that solves the right one.

The Bottom Line: Prevention vs. Analysis

Both Rilla and Ghost Rep use AI to improve roofing sales performance. But they solve fundamentally different problems.

Choose Rilla if:

• You have 5+ experienced reps closing 25%+
• You need team performance analytics
• You value compliance documentation
• You can afford to let new reps learn through trial and error

Choose Ghost Rep if:

• You're hiring new reps frequently
• Your team's close rate is below 25%
• You can't afford to burn expensive storm leads
• You need real-time coaching for solo reps
• You want to prevent bad hires before onboarding

Rilla excels at optimizing experienced teams. Ghost Rep excels at building teams from scratch and maintaining peak performance during critical storm seasons.

Rilla documents failure. Ghost Rep prevents it.

Choose based on which problem you actually need to solve.

Ready To Train Your Team More Effectively?

If you're tired of hiring reps who wash out in 90 days, burning your best leads while "learning on the job," and watching experienced closers waste time training new hires, Ghost Rep solves all three problems in one platform.

View Ghost Rep Products - See AI Role Play, Objection Mastery, and Ghost Rep Coaching

Compare Transparent Pricing - No sales call required

Schedule a Demo - See progressive AI training in action

Or if you want to see what Rilla offers: Visit Rilla's Website

The choice is yours. Choose based on what actually matters for your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to train a roofing sales rep with Ghost Rep?

Traditional training takes 8-12 weeks before reps reach 25% close rates. Ghost Rep compresses this to 3-4 weeks by providing 1,000+ practice scenarios in the first week alone, allowing reps to fail successfully before ever meeting a homeowner.

What's the average close rate for roofing sales reps?

Average new reps close 12-18% of qualified leads in their first 90 days. Properly trained reps hit 25-32% close rates. Ghost Rep-trained reps typically achieve 22-28% close rates by week 4.

Can Ghost Rep and Rilla work together?

Absolutely. Ghost Rep trains reps before appointments through practice scenarios. Rilla analyzes actual appointments afterward to identify optimization opportunities. They complement each other - Ghost Rep prevents failure, Rilla refines success.

How much do roofing companies spend on storm season leads?

Average contractors spend $45,000-$85,000 on lead generation during peak storm season (April-September), with individual lead costs ranging from $120-$250 depending on market competition and storm severity.

Does Ghost Rep really work through a Bluetooth earpiece?

Yes. Ghost Rep provides real-time coaching through a standard Bluetooth earpiece. When a homeowner asks a question your rep hasn't practiced, Ghost Rep provides the framework to answer it. After 200-300 coached appointments, most reps no longer need the prompts because the frameworks are ingrained.

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