I hear some folks whispering that door-to-door sales are a thing of the past, but let me tell you, they couldn’t be wronger.
Why? Because D2D is not just alive; it’s kicking and screaming success!
65% of the outside sales warriors part of our training programs are smashing their quotas, outperforming their desk-bound counterparts by a cool 10%.
Picture this: Andrew Matson of Big League Roofers, just another face in the crowd, with a business running on the sheer grit of a solo rep and himself. Fast forward from January 2022 to the close of 2023, and he had a powerhouse team of 17 reps and leaders pulling in an eye-popping $8M in revenue.
The transformation? Mind-blowing. The catalyst? The Business Bootcamp.
Andrew not only soared past the $1.3M mark but also crafted an empire with a full-fledged canvassing department, inspection team, and robust sales and operational back-end.
From D2DCon to the sales acceleration program, Andrew didn’t just attend; he absorbed the knowledge that catapulted him to the major leagues. Ready to be the next Andrew Matson? To transform your hustle into an empire?
In this digital age, where “no calls” lists, cold emails, and AI-driven cold calls are fast becoming the norm, door-to-door sales are making a massive comeback, especially in the B2B arena.
It’s about getting real, getting personal, and making those face-to-face connections that no email can replicate.
Watch instead!
Based on my 17 years in the trenches, here are my Top 10 tips for door to door sales.
1. Understand the Awesomeness of Door To Door Sales
The first d2d sales tip is to realize that selling door-to-door is awesome!
It is one of the best vehicles you could ever get into and has changed hundreds and thousands of people’s lives. And they wouldn’t be where they’re at today without door to door. I mean, this goes back to generations ago. People such as Sarah Blakely, Paul DeOrio, and Mark Cuban, and all these guys that have gone on to do some successful things, all started here in D2D sales because you learn the grit and the grind and the sales skills that it takes to be a successful salesman.
Door to door sales is not just a job; it’s a lifestyle. It’s a way to challenge, grow, and make a difference. You meet new people daily, solve their problems, and create value for them. You get to control your income, your schedule, and your destiny. You get to be part of a team, a culture, and a movement changing the sales game.
So, don’t let anyone tell you that door-to-door sales are outdated, irrelevant, or unethical. They’re not. They’re awesome, and you should be proud to be a part of it.
2. Become a Hunter vs a Scavenger
The second d2d sales tip is straightforward. It’s to develop a hunter-sales mentality versus a scavenger mentality. Now, a lot of society’s jobs are very scavenger-esque. What I mean by that is the hunters are out there, going out, creating things, creating businesses, creating opportunities, and the scavengers are kind of there to pick it up. They’re kind of there to put it in places; they’re kind of there picking up the scraps. Door-to-door gives you the prime opportunity to become a hunter.
A hunter is someone proactive, not reactive. Someone confident, not timid. Someone who is ambitious, not complacent. Someone hungry, not satisfied. A hunter goes out and makes things happen, not someone who waits for things to happen.
So, to be a successful door-to-door salesman, you must adopt the hunter mentality. You have to go out daily with a purpose, a plan, and a passion. You have to hunt for leads, hunt for prospects, hunt for customers, hunt for referrals and reviews, hunt for upsells, hunt for everything. You have to be relentless, persistent, and consistent. You have to be a hunter, not a scavenger.
3. Accept the Challenge of Door to Door
The third d2d sales tip is to accept the challenge of door to door. You have to be able to say this will be hard. This is going to test me in all elements: physically, mentally, and emotionally. You will be traveling A LOT! You may have to deal with rejection. You deal with many things in this job; accept it as a challenge. See, I like doing hard things. I want to be uncomfortable.
Because I know that the harder the challenge, the greater the reward, I understand that the more I push myself, the more I grow. I know that the more I overcome, the more I become. So, don’t shy away from the challenge of door to door sales. Embrace it. Welcome it. Enjoy it because the challenge makes you stronger, smarter, and a successful door to door salesperson
4. Welcome Rejection
The fourth d2d sales tip is to welcome rejection. If you welcome rejection as if it’s going to happen, there’s a quote by Brené Brown that says that to create, you have to be vulnerable. To be vulnerable, you have to be willing to fail. You have to be willing to accept this rejection.
Rejection is inevitable in door to door sales. You’re going to hear a lot of no’s, a lot of not interested, a lot of go away, a lot of slam doors, a lot of hang-ups, a lot of objections, a lot of excuses. But you know what? That’s okay. Because rejection is not personal, it’s not permanent, and it’s not fatal. It’s just feedback. It’s just an opportunity to learn, improve, adapt, and try again.
So, don’t let rejection stop you; let it motivate you. Don’t let rejection discourage you; let it inspire you. Don’t let rejection define you; let it refine you. Welcome rejection as a part of the process, part of the journey, and part of the game. It is the best door to door sales advice that you can give to a fellow door to door salesperson
5. Treat it Like a Sport, Not a Job
The fifth d2d sales tip is to take door-to-door selling as a sport, not a job. Many people do this to make money, but you’ll make enough to survive door to door, just like any other job, because that’s what you’re training your brain to do. But if you want to compete, thrive, and make more money than you probably ever made, you must treat it like a sport. Go out to compete every day and stop looking at the paychecks.
You will start getting healthy paychecks if you compete and throw in numbers.
See, a sport is something you play for fun, passion, and glory. A sport is something that you practice for, train for, and prepare for. A sport is something that you have a coach for, a team for, a strategy for. A sport is something that you have stats for, records for, and awards for. A sport is something that you have rules for, standards for, and expectations for. A sport is something you have a vision for, a goal for, a dream for.
So, if you treat door-to-door sales like a sport, you’ll have more fun, passion, and glory. You’re going to have more practice, more training, more preparation. You’re going to have more:
- Coaching
- Teamwork
- Strategy.
- Stats
- Records
- Awards
You’re going to have more vision, more goals, more dreams, more success, more impact, and more fulfillment. Take this is a door to door sales advice that you need to give yourself once in a while
6. Have an Hourly Mindset vs a Commission Mindset
The sixth d2d sales tip is that you must have an hourly mindset versus just a commission mindset. The common problem people get into when they get into a commission-based job or door-to-door is they tend to live paycheck to paycheck, which means a deal to deal. They buy things like, oh, that’s just like one sale. I’ll buy that. They’ll sell a lot. And then they won’t work for a week and I’ll be broke again. They’ll sell a lot. They won’t work for a week.
They’ll be broke again. And they go through this salesmanship rollercoaster, which is what we call it. So the reality is if you can treat this, even though the commission pays you if you can treat it like an hourly job, meaning no matter what, I work these desired hours, no matter what, whether I sold zero that day or I sold 50 that day, it doesn’t matter. I stick to the schedule, even though I’m paid based on the deal. So if you have the mindset, if I work the hours, no matter what, I promise, you’ll be a much more successful door to door salesman than those on the salesmanship roller coaster.
An hourly mindset is one of consistency, discipline, and accountability. It involves showing up, working hard, and delivering value. It also involves treating your time as your most valuable asset, not your most expendable resource. Finally, it involves being professional, reliable, trustworthy, committed, dedicated, and loyal.
So, if you have an hourly mindset, you’ll have more consistency, discipline, and accountability. You’ll have more value, hard work, and results. You’ll have more time, more money, and more freedom. You’ll have more professionalism, reliability, and trust. You’ll have more commitment, dedication, and loyalty. And you’ll have more stability, growth, and happiness.
7. Don’t Make Excuses
The number seven d2d sales tip is that excuses don’t make you money. Now, I hear every excuse in the book. It’s hot, it’s cold, I’m hungry. I have a bad area. I don’t have a car. I don’t have leads. I don’t have support. I don’t have time. I don’t have energy. I don’t have skills. I don’t have confidence. I don’t have motivation. I don’t have anything. Well, guess what? You don’t have anything because you make excuses. Excuses are the enemy of a successful door to door salesman. Excuses are the reason why you fail. Excuses are the reason why you quit.
So, don’t make excuses; make solutions. Don’t make problems; make progress. Don’t make reasons; make results. Don’t make complaints, make changes. Don’t make blame; take responsibility. Don’t make doubt; make faith. Don’t make fear, make courage. Don’t make excuses; make money.
8. Have A 5 Year Vision
The number eight d2d sales tip is that don’t do this job as a temporary thing, do this job through college, and then get a real job. I will do this for a couple of months until I’m trying to figure out my life. Don’t do that. You’re going to get poor results. You’ll get a subpar outcome plan if you do this for at least five years. And you’re like, Sam, that might be a long time. Look, I don’t. That’s like, I don’t want to commit that long. You may not commit that long, but I promise your decisions today will differ. If you know you’ll do this for five years versus just temporarily, you’ll treat it like a profession.
You’ll grow as a leader; take it a lot more seriously.
Find a way to contribute and add value to the company. You’re treated as if this is a career, not just a temporary thing because I take pride in knocking on doors and am proud to say I’m a successful door to door salesperson.
9- Have Integrity In The Sell
The ninth d2d sales tip, so many people think you have to be sleazy to sell a lot of accounts. I’ve been a top individual. And I feel like I’ve done it very honorably. Now, you don’t have to follow. Maybe your manager’s teaching. You say something like, wow, I disagree with that. First, seek to say, why do you say that? And second, say, if you don’t align, don’t say it. There are a lot of ways to sell a deal. You don’t have to do it exactly how everybody else does it. You can find ways to be a very effective salesperson and do it with integrity. Integrity also means when you say you’re going to do something, do it. That means if I’m like, my goal this year is to do a hundred. I’m going to do a hundred. I commit to doing this, do it. If you’re like,
Hey, I’ve committed to this company for six months, and I signed a contract. I’m going out with you. Do it. Don’t be the guy who doesn’t live up to his word because of his weak mindset. If you say you’re going to do something, do it.
10- Enjoy The Process
This job doesn’t just have results. So many people, because of our millennial mindset in our instant phone, can Google it instead of an encyclopedia. So many people, because you have a microwave and fast food and all this stuff, we think we can zap things and just be good. The reality is that this is no new. Like this is new, this is a muscle. This is like something like a professional violinist athlete. Anything else? They didn’t just overnight be excellent at this. Some people have practiced their craft, and that’s why they’re so good at this is because they put in the 10,000-hour rule; they found that they have to go through the grind, and you can’t accelerate that there’s no substitute for the journey, practice, longevity, training, focus on your craft and become a successful door to door salesperson, the tenth d2d sales tip, last but not the least, will share more tips and techniques In another blog or podcast
Exploring the Door Approach
Enough about the tips! Let’s discuss the door approach
I bet you have always wondered what’s going through the head of a top performer when they’re about to knock on a door.
In this video, I demonstrate a practical door approach. Check it out below, or keep reading for the key takeaways:
1- 80% Of Selling Is Mental
The truth is, what you say doesn’t matter as much as how you approach this door. Okay? So, a lot of sales has to do with what’s in here (your mind). 80% of this is mental, and 20% is what you’re saying. So, I have watched my guys and many reps say the same thing. They are saying the same thing that I have been saying. They look at me, and they are going why?
How can I not close when I say the same thing you said? And I’m like, yeah, there’s a difference of what’s going on in your head.
2- Your Energy Matters
A few other key things go into play here: your confidence in yourself, your belief system of why you’re not closing deals, and why you’re not getting that deal. All of this comes down to the energetic state that you’re in. That’s one of the bigger secrets to door-knocking. If I walk up to a door all sluggish, down, and tired, do you think anyone will give me the time of day? If you have ever watched some of my life and if you watch some of the videos of what I do, I’m in such a peak state. I’m so enthusiastic. I’m so sharp. I’m ready to be there. I’m listening and paying attention to all the little signs they give me. It takes a lot of work to keep this energy up from door to door, but it is worth it! Tell yourself that you are not feeling it the next time you approach the door.
Aren’t you ready to get energetic and hit the door with enthusiasm? Get there. Make it happen for yourself. If you are going to go to the door and knock anyway, why not make it worth your time? If you don’t approach that door with the right energy, you might as well not approach that door at all. It will have the same result as if you do not walk up to that door.
3- Demand Their Attention
So, when I knock on a door, and they open that door, it’s like boom, I hit them, and they’re like, wow, no door to door person has ever treated me this way. No one has ever entertained like this. No one has ever, you know, asked me the questions you did. No one has ever been as courteous. No one has ever been as knowledgeable. And when I knock on that door, I’m saying pretty much the same stuff, but the way I’m coming off is a lot different. And so all of a sudden, I’m demanding their attention. Through my enthusiastic and confident persona, I request that they listen to me because I have authority.
4-Their Door Is Your Office
When I walk up those stairs, I say, that’s my office. I own that doorstep. When you reach the door, that is your playing ground, not theirs. This is your home field, and you must play like it is. Walking up to that door, you must treat that as your space to pump yourself up. Do whatever it takes to get in the moment and get energy flowing through you. If you don’t know what it takes to get there, figure it out! That’s all it takes. So, to be a top performer, check out our YouTube channel and podcast, go to D2DExperts.com, and subscribe today.
I knocked doors since I was 11! Never bought into the whole hourly normal job, and used direct sales to be the vehicle to create MASSIVE success. I Started the Direct Sales division for Solcius as their VP building it up to have 70+ sales reps nation wide. In 2018 I left to pursue a greater mission to unify and uplevel the Door to Door industry and founded the D2D Experts.
