First-Time Door Knocking: 10 Tips for D2D Roofing Sales

Are you going to knock on doors for the very first time as a roofing sales rep?

If so, I’m going to teach you 10 tips to:

• Make your first door-knocking experience much EASIER.
• Help you hopefully get your first appointment or even make your very first sale on day one!

That’s a BIG claim, but if you’re here, you’re probably dedicated to success, studying up, and doing your BEST. And these tips ARE going to help you be even more successful.

My one ask is to share this with someone on your team who could use a little help, even if they’ve already been out for the first time. If they’re still new to roofing sales, these 10 tips still apply and can help them.

Before we jump, I want to say a quick welcome or welcome back. Adam Bensman, The Roof Strategist. Everything I do here — and on my YouTube channel, on my podcast (on Apple and Spotify), and in my program — is designed to help you and your team smash your income goals and give every customer an amazing experience.

To help you do that, I have created this FREE training center that you can dive into right now by clicking that link (if you haven’t checked it out already). You can also get access by texting the word “FREE” to (303) 222-7133. When you do, we’ll text you a link, and you can jump right into my playlists on Canvassing and How to Ace Your Pitch.

Now, let’s get started.

Roofing Sales Door Knocking Tip #1: Drive there.

When you’re knocking on doors for the first time, you need to drive to the location where you’ll be knocking (by the way, I’m starting with the easiest tips first, working up to the harder ones).

I know it sounds nuts, but sometimes, the hardest part can simply be:

1. Getting started
2. Getting into your vehicle with purpose
3. Knowing where you’re going to go

So, plan to drive to wherever you’ll be knocking.

Tip #2: Don’t sit around waiting.

The hardest door to open can be the one to your own vehicle. So, don’t just sit there when you arrive in a neighborhood. Instead, remember this cliff-jumping analogy and think about:

• Sitting on the edge of a cliff, looking down
• Your heart beating SO fast
• Anticipating the worst
• Waiting a minute, which can make the situation worse

So, when you just get there, you just have to:

1. Leap up immediately.
2. Open your truck door because that first door can be the hardest one to get past.

Tip #3: Knock where no one’s home first.

I interviewed a gentleman named Carl on my YouTube channel, and one thing I learned from him is to knock when you know no one’s home. In fact, Carl told me that he’d:

1. Go up when he knew no one was home.
2. Knock on those doors of the empty homes first.

I love this (so, thank you, Carl)! You can check out that interview right here.

Now, Carl shared that he knocked where no one was home because it allowed him to:

• Get that one out of the way.
• Face that fear and that tension immediately with the hardest door to knock on, which is usually your first one.

So, give yourself an easy pass, and think of this like training wheels. It’s OK to need and use them until you don’t need them anymore.

Tip #4: Practice what to say at the door.

You need to practice what you’ll say when that door opens, and my SLAP Formula for canvassing and pitching can help you do just that. In fact, SLAP stands for:

1. Say “Hi,” and break the ice.
2. Let them know why you’re there, making it really familiar to their neighborhood.
3. Ask an open-ended question.
4. Present to their answer.

You can learn all about that in my FREE training center.

Practice what you’re going to say at the door using this SLAP Formula. After all, when you’re new in roofing sales going door to door:

• The MOST intimidating thing when we’re approaching a front door for the very first time is what to say when it opens.
• Anxiety can creep in and flutter up, freaking us out and causing our thoughts and words to get jumbled up.

So, we just need to:

1. Take a deep breath.
2. Practice what we’re going to say.

And here’s a quick example of how it works in practice:

• Say “hi” and break the Ice: Hey, my name’s [whatever your name is]. Adorable Labrador. I love the car or truck in the driveway [or comment on whatever else is there at the moment].
• Let them know why you’re there: The reason I’m stopping by is that I’m talking to some folks here on Lexington Lane.
• Ask an opener question: Hey, so where are you at in the process?
• Present to their answer once you hear it.

When you just practice and get those rehearsals in, knowing what to say and being ready to say it at the door can become quite simple. Plus, it can eliminate those nerves and really boost your confidence.

Tip #5: Expect challenges.

Roofing sales is NOT easy. In fact, if you’ve shadowed anyone in this business who’s really successful:

• They CAN look like a natural.
• I can tell you that there are really good chances they did NOT start out that way.
• Most likely, they started out just like you did. They were nervous, and they didn’t think it would be as hard as it is.

After all, there’s something really frightening about walking up to a stranger’s home and interrupting them in the middle of their day. That’s because:

• You have NO idea if they’re going to come at you.
• You do NOT know if they’re going to scream at you.
• All of the unknowns can play mind games with you.

So, expect it to be hard — and think of it like a workout.

If you’re ever going for that big run or you’re going to the gym and you’re tired — and you KNOW it’s going to be hard — what do you do?

You do it anyway. You go through with it, and you get the workout done. It’s the same for roofing sales.

Tip #6: Set daily goals.

You need to have a daily goal in roofing sales. Whether your goal is to hit 60 doors or 100 doors, that goal can push you to keep going and stick with it when you expect it to be hard.

Just like working out or going to the gym:

• You have a routine you’re going to follow.
• You know the mileage you’re going to run.
• You’re jumping on your bike to pedal a certain distance (or for a certain amount of time, whatever it is).
• You KNOW that it’s not going to be easy, but you’re going to get through it anyway — and you’re going to keep going until you hit that daily goal.

So, set that daily goal for yourself.

Tip #7: Recognize that everyone won’t like you.

Now, we’re getting into the mindset part of this discussion. In roofing sales, you’re going to come across people who:

• Shout at you.
• Scream at you.
• Call you names.

If that happens unexpectedly, you can begin to believe those things, thinking:

I AM a scumbag. I AM sleazeball.

If they wanted my services, they’d call me.

Why am I showing up at their door?

Now, you have to remember that when you are aligned with the right company and you’re offering a valuable service:

• You are there to help people.
• You are there to solve one of the MOST expensive problems that most people will face, which is replacing their roof. It’s the single most expensive maintenance item on a home.
• Not everyone is our customer. It’s sales, it’s life, and it’s business. Not everyone’s going to like you, and that was the hardest part for me. But that’s OK because not everyone is my customer. There are plenty of other folks that will serve them, and the same applies to you.
• You are offering a valuable service to people who absolutely need it. If you get kicked off someone’s doorstep or something, don’t sweat it.

So, just remember that you have to tune out the negativity, stay focused on the problem you’re solving, and bring valuable service.

Tip #8: Acknowledge the fear.

Expect some fear — and remember that the fear is ALL between your ears. It’s ALL in your head.

And I’ll give you a great example of this fear. A gentleman emailed me one day. He was a combat veteran who served in Iraq, stationed in one of the most dangerous places with regular firefights and horrific things.

He reached out and said:

Adam, I was in battle. I was in combat, and I never would skip a beat. BUT coming out here to put my hands on a stranger’s door, that SCARES the daylights out of me.

The fascinating thing here is the fact that our internal fears can be the realist and SCARIEST of them all. Even though bullets, IEDs, and PRGs are REAL — and we’re just encountering words in door-to-door roofing sales — the fear in our heads can be real.

Now, I know that’s an extreme example, but it shows how you can get a grip on that fear. In fact, when you sense that fear, you can even get control of it and rewrite your experience, using this acronym:

• Feel
• Excited
• And
• Ready

So, when you notice that fear creep in, you can acknowledge and tell yourself, I’m not afraid! I’m feeling excited and ready!

Make that your mantra because all that fear is all up in your head — and you can control it.

Tip #9: Have fun!

Don’t forget to have fun and be energetic when you’re out knocking on doors. Look, it’s easy to get beat down, get lethargic, and feel crummy.

And humor can go a LONG way, both with your attitude and how people receive you.

So, just have FUN with it.

Example: When that door opens after you knock on it, you can say, “Hey, I’m in the neighborhood collecting high fives for smiles.” Now, if someone gives you a high five, they’re going to smile!

Even if it’s tough, be yourself — and be that person who rises to the occasion and maintains that level of enthusiasm and energy.

Again, remember you’re there to provide value and be of service. Positive energy can really add to that.

Tip #10: Make a great first impression.

I’ve covered this before in some of my videos (like this one), and it’s key for first-time door-knockers. You’ve got to focus on making a WILDLY AWESOME first impression.

That’s because the minute a homeowner opens the door and looks at you, the first things going through their mind are these questions:

• Is this person safe or are they dangerous?
• Are they a threat or are they a friend?

So, we need to send international “friend” signals right away to disarm people.

In fact, sending those friendly body language signals ASAP is far more important, in my opinion, than whatever scripts we’re saying at the door.

That’s because in that first micro-second of seeing you, the person at the door is drawing conclusions about who you are as a person.

So, we want to make a first impression that’s wildly disarming and friendly.

To do that, we need to use certain signals that we would automatically use when we see or greet a friend. That can include:

• The eyebrow flash
• The chin raise
• Squaring up our stance
• Smiling

It’s ALL about bringing that energy and enthusiasm to make the whole process that much easier.

So, those are the 10 tips for making your very first door-knocking session that much more effective. With these tips, you can have much better chances of getting your very first appointment or your first sale on the spot.

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Thanks for joining me, and I look forward to sharing more with you in the next blog.