It sounds like the future, spoken as if it's theirs. Ownership language — “our new roof,” “when it's done” — questions about the process, the schedule, what happens next: those are buying signals, and the documented failure is missing them because you were busy finishing your pitch.
The short answer
Future language. The project discussed in the future tense as a fact, not a possibility. Ownership language. Possessives appearing — our roof, the install, plans for the finished result. Process questions. How long, what happens first, who do we call — questions nobody asks about a project they've rejected. Logistics talk. Schedules, access, the dog, the gate code — the mind moving into execution. Any one of them can be politeness; in combination, and rising in frequency, they are the decision forming out loud.
How it runs
The response discipline is as important as the hearing: a buying signal gets acknowledged and advanced on — a tie-down, a trial close, a step toward the decision — not steamrolled by the next presentation point you had queued. Reps miss signals for structural reasons: they're listening for their cue instead of for the homeowner, or they're afraid acknowledging momentum means skipping steps. The system says the opposite: the steps exist to produce these signals. When they arrive, the appointment has somewhere to go — go there.
Go deeper
The homeowner in a Spar round will test your ears the way a real one does. Round 1 is free; the full camp is $29/month. Spar before you knock.