The question we get all the time: “What do I even say when I knock on doors?”
There are a lot of misconceptions around door knocking. Some people think it’s dead. Some people think it’ll ruin your reputation. Some people just don’t know where to start.
After building Pest Badger into a $10 million company and training teams of door knockers across multiple markets, I’ve learned exactly what works. I’ve had guys do 15 sales in a single day. I’ve had technicians with zero sales skills learn to sell and completely transform their lives.
Let me show you the exact door knocking script and strategy that works.
The Opening Line: You Have Three Seconds
Maybe I’m just old school, but it’s simple. Every door can be a little bit different, but there are openers that work really, really well.
One that I have mentors who’ve used on almost every single door: “Are you the homeowner?”
That’s an easy one.
The next easiest one in my opinion is when they have an animal. Usually it’s a dog or cat. Doesn’t matter, but it’s usually the dog barking at the door.
They come out and there’s this little tiny dog. You say, “Oh, thanks for not siccing the guard dog on me.”
Immediately drops their walls. They start laughing. “Oh no, he’s fine. What are you out about?” The dog is an easy segue.
From there, find something that’s relatable.
You have three seconds, just like a headline in marketing, to get their attention and get to the next thing you’re going to say. The next step in the pitch.
The First Part: Your Icebreaker
The first part of the pitch is your icebreaker. What’s something you can relate very well to that customer with?
In between doors, you’re not busy looking at your phone. You’re scoping out the neighborhood. You’re looking at the houses. You’re looking at people’s backyards.
Do they have kids? Do they not have kids? Do you see issues? Are people getting stung by wasps? Do you see wasps at each of their houses? All these things you’re looking for.
But going back to the question, the very first thing I do is try to connect with the homeowner as fast as possible.
How do we do that?
Is there a flag hanging? Could be an NFL team, could be a college team. Is there a truck parked? Is it backed in?
These are the things I’m looking for. I’m profiling the person before I knock.
If that truck’s backed in, super nice and neat, I know what kind of profile that is. That’s going to be a pretty good sale.
Also, is there a boat in the yard? He walks outside, he’s wearing nice shoes. Something I can talk about. A college football team flag in the ground. Anything like that that’s relatable that I can talk to him about to get him to drop his walls right away. That’s what I’m going to do.
My number one goal is to get three more seconds with him to start getting to know who he is. And that’s what the intro is about.
Understanding the RDR: Reactionary Defense Response
People’s guards are up when you knock on their door.
It’s called an RDR. Reactionary Defense Response.
Think of it like when you’re walking into a grocery store or going to look for new shoes. Those guys walk up to you and say, “Hey man, can I help you find something?”
What do 99% of people say? “No, I’m okay. No, I’m okay.”
I’m not like that because I just know that’s what I’m looking for. I don’t want to be in here very long. Help me find this thing and I’ll get out.
Most people though are like, “No, get away from me. I don’t want to talk to you right now.” It’s just a reactionary defense response.
It’s the same thing at the door. They don’t know why you’re there. They’re not even listening to you. All these thoughts are going through their head. All they want is for you to get out of their space.
Getting them to drop their walls is the first thing you want to do.
And like I said, it can never be about you.
If you walk up to the door and say, “Oh, it’s really hot out here,” they’re like, “Who gives a shit?”
It always has to be about the customer. Show them something that proves you took the time to find something unique about them.
Examples of Good Icebreakers
Let me give you some examples.
Nice Car
If someone has a really nice car, maybe it’s not even a brand new car, but maybe it’s just a nice older car they kept very clean. Maybe it’s like an early 2000s Sabre that’s super nice.
“Oh man, that’s really nice. I can’t believe I’ve seen a Sabre that nice in a really long time.”
They probably like that. That’s their profile. They probably take really good care of their stuff.
Nice Lawn
Someone who takes care of their grass. They open the door and you say, “Oh, is Tiger Woods here?”
And they’re like, “What?”
“Yeah, the grass is so nice. I figured Tiger Woods is playing out back.”
They kind of laugh. You’re in.
The Bull (Jacked Up Trucks, Toys, Business Owner)
These people are going to be short with you. Very direct. They might come out and say, “What do you want?”
I’ll say, “Man, you have such a nice lawn.”
“What do you want?”
“Yeah, I was just walking past your neighbors. They have a ton of crabgrass that’s creeping into your lawn.”
Now they’re not pissed at me anymore. They’re pissed off at the neighbors. I came at them at an angle. They’re mad about the crabgrass.
That gives me three more seconds. I resonate with them. They start complaining about their neighbor. That gives me another three, five more seconds to start talking about their lawn. We can relate to something now. Start talking about their property. It gives me another way to segue into what I’m trying to do, which is tell them why I’m there.
Where to Stand: The 45 Degree Angle
Are you standing right at the door when you’re knocking?
I started knocking doors in COVID. I didn’t come from the door knocking world. I’m not from Utah. This was new to me.
COVID taught me this early lesson. I knock on the door. The first thing I do is step eight feet back. Six to eight feet back.
People would just naturally come outside. And what I realized is the people who wouldn’t come outside, if I back up a little bit further, they would just follow me. They would just come outside.
Also, I stand at a 45 degree angle.
That way when they come out, let’s say it’s a single female or a woman and her husband’s not home, they don’t feel trapped.
They can still see their front lawn. They don’t feel like they’re backed into a corner. They feel safe.
So I step six to eight feet back, 45 degree angle. I’m looking down at my iPad, typically staying busy there. Looking at the house. I hear them coming out. They say something to me.
Once they say something to me, that’s when I look up and greet them back.
Why You Don't Stand Square at the Door
If you go knocking on the door and you’re standing straight at the door, it’s very confrontational.
If you’re looking right at the door, the homeowner is always going to look out first to make sure who it is. There are cameras everywhere these days.
If you’re over there screwing off, looking inside their windows, or maybe the door was kind of open and it slides open, there’s a bunch of weird scenarios that could happen. I’ve been through a lot of them.
Just knock on the door, take those few steps back, never square up. Even if a guy comes out and you’re squared up, it’s confrontational. It’s a standoff.
Stand off to the side, 45 degree angle, do your icebreaker, and then just move on from there.
Step Two: Introduction
Now we’re past the icebreaker stage. What’s the next stage?
Step two is introduction. Okay, now I get to tell them who I am.
I would say first name, last name, and the role of the company and the company name.
The reason I want to do first name and last name is because there’s zero ambiguity. They know exactly who you are.
Let’s say your name is Bob Smith. There’s a million Bob Smiths out there. If you just say, “My name’s Bob,” it’s very like, I don’t know. Why is this guy not telling me his full name? Why wouldn’t he be truthful?
But you say, “Hey, my name is Bob Smith. I’m the marketing manager with XYZ Pest Control.”
Now there’s zero ambiguity. He sees your shirt, knows your name. Maybe you’re wearing a name tag with your name on it. He sees all this stuff. It’s like, “Okay, this guy is not lying to me. I know exactly what he is and exactly what his role is at the company. And I know which company he’s with.”
Maybe they’ve seen those trucks before.
Psychologically, you’re building trust too. The openness of saying, “My name is Jake Sheldon with XYZ Pest Control.”
Step Three: Justification
What’s stage number three after that intro?
It’s justification. Why you belong in the area. Why you’re there to begin with.
Let’s make this simple. Maybe you’re just servicing a customer’s house. Let’s go with Betty Jones. You just got done servicing her property. These are the issues she was having. This is how you got rid of her issues.
Now you’re going to walk to the neighbor.
Let’s say you’re cold calling there. You’re new at this. But you have a little bit more time and you don’t have money. You’ve got to try to fill up a route, so you do it by yourself.
What I would do first is I would ask my current customer if she knows any of the neighbors.
Depending on how long you’ve been doing her service, she’ll probably tell you. You probably know these customers by name at this point.
Say, “Hey, do you have any neighbors that you think would use my service?”
And they go, “Yeah, this person, this person.” I’ve literally had customers walk me to the neighbor’s house and help me sell them. Just don’t be afraid to ask.
Get the customer’s name. Let’s say it’s Mark next door.
You say, “Hey, are you Mark? I’m just coming from Betty Smith’s house next door. This is the issues she was having. This is how I got rid of them. My truck’s in the area.”
This is a true story. It does save you time. It does save you gas. It does save you overhead.
And that’s just for that one time service. If you’re doing monthly or bimonthly or quarterly, it saves you drive time at every single service.
That’s where we make our money in this industry. Window time. The more dense our routes are, the better.
Telling Them Why It Matters
Are you telling them that?
Yeah. I’m just going to tell them that. “This is what I’m doing for her. This is how I solved her problem. Because I’m right here, I can just do your service while I’m here.”
And I just soft pitch them a price.
It goes back to the pillars of the offer we were talking about before. Same thing. Same structure.
Before we were talking about ads and marketing online. Now this is offline marketing. Print marketing. Same concept.
Your opener is your headline. You got three seconds to come up with a headline to get to the next part. Building that trust. Bringing down their guard. Telling them why you’re there.
The social proof just like we talked about in marketing. You’re building social proof from the neighbor.
The Offer and Pricing
What’s the next step after that?
I’m just going to say, “I just came from their house. I saw this issue. And then I’m just going to give them a price.”
The offer.
Let’s say your normal quarterly price is $200. You want to do their first service for $150. Discount that service a little bit.
You guys would be like, “Well, I thought you don’t like discounted services.”
Well, my customer acquisition cost at this point is not going to be the same as it is in online marketing. It’s going to be a lot lower at this point if you do it by yourself on the doors.
So for $50, I can make $800 real quick when I do that. Of course.
Or you can say, “Hey, I’ll do your first service for a dollar as long as you give me your five star review.”
Whatever that may look like depending on where you’re at in business.
Just give them a price. If they like it, that’s cool. If not, that’s cool.
That’s the way I say it. “Hey, don’t worry. I’m not trying to sell anything. I’m not a sales guy because I’m just doing technician work. Let me show you what I’m doing for Sally Smith. If it works for you, that’s cool. If not, that’s cool too. There’s no pressure.”
And they’re like, “Okay, cool.” And they’re just willing to listen to you.
Using Visuals
While you’re showing them the offer and the price, are you using any visuals?
Of course. I’m a huge fan of having iPads. I usually have my phone in my pocket and I’ll show them visuals.
I’ll say, “Here, come check this out real quick.” And I’ll just start walking around their house and start pointing things out.
Not that you want to make them feel bad, but this is what everyone else has issues with. Of course you do too.
“We take care of hundreds of homes, or let’s say 10 homes in this area. They all have the same issue. This is what they’re dealing with. Let me come show you what issues you might have and how I can treat them and see what works for you.”
That’s literally what I say. “Come check this out. We’ll just do a walk around.” The whole time we’re going to show them visuals of different things.
It could be the price sheet. As long as they see something, they believe it more.
If you show them those price sheets, think about it. Let’s say you walked into McDonald’s. You ordered a number six, but there’s no price tag. You’d be like, “What the hell? What’s going on?”
So having a price sheet, a menu, a guide for them to follow. “Okay, so your house is this many square feet. Your lot is this many square feet. Your lawn is going to be this for pest control. For fertilization and weed control or mosquito control, your house is going to be this for mosquito or bait boxes.”
Having that price sheet in front of them, showing them, and then showing them not only the type of service you do, but walking them through the process. Whether you’re treating with granular or liquid, or weed control. Walk them through the process of what it looks like in visuals. What it feels like when you show up.
Maybe you’re going over some reviews that all the other people in the neighborhood have been leaving five star reviews. That’s why everyone’s switching over to you.
All these things will help them gain your trust and hopefully sign up with you.
The Close: Don't Overthink It
You can’t just go straight to punching their info in. What does that closing look like? Are you saying, “Oh, can I please have your business?”
That’s a great question. I like to keep it simple. I’m not hard closing anyone. That’s just not how I operate.
One of my favorite closes is just “Give us a shot.”
I mean, it works every single time. “Just give us a shot. We’re just a small company. Just give us a shot.”
“You know what? I will give you guys a shot.”
Or it’s a simple option close. “Would you like to use ACH or debit?”
But if you choose debit, I’ll tell them they’ll get charged an extra $7 because we get really hit hard with that interest. They’re like, “Yeah, I’ll do ACH. That’s what everyone else does too.”
I give them an option, but I push them towards the option I want.
Same thing. Another one could be, “Would you like my lawn care technician to start in the back of the yard or the front of the yard?”
Or for pest control, “Do you want us to pop that garage and let us shoot the inside of the garage first? Or just do the exterior?”
Either way doesn’t matter. Whichever they choose, we’re still coming to do the service.
Those are just some simple things you can do to close. It’s not hard.
It's 90% Mental, 10% What You Say
A lot of newer guys or people who haven’t ever done door to door, it’s not so much the pitch. It’s the mentality going into it.
It’s 90% mental. And 10% what you actually say.
If you’re confident and you’re standing confident and you look like you’ve done this before, everyone wants to buy from the best sales guy.
They don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy.
As long as you give them reasons to not say no, you’re all right.
How to Stand Out from Other Door Knockers
What are you doing to separate yourself from all the other door knockers?
Literally, we hire everyone local. We hire all local guys. We don’t bring in teams. We train them all here. They’re born and raised here.
We start a new branch. We find people that live there. We don’t relocate anyone. We find partners. We usually move into areas where the partners have lived previously.
We just opened up in Minnesota. That’s why. Same thing with Grand Rapids. They’re originally from there.
It makes it a lot easier to hire and train technicians and sales guys. And they can just say, “Yeah, I actually grew up right here in Grand Rapids. I went to Franklin High School.”
It’s way different than talking to guys who don’t know the area. Don’t know anything about being there. They flew in for the summer.
Not that those guys are bad or anything. By any means, they’re great at what they do. But that’s how we stand out.
And of course, we’re pink. Who’s intimidated by a guy walking up in pink?
There’s different things we do. And there’s so much more to unpack because we’re doing a lot of things like online marketing and print marketing. We’re following up with sales guys.
There’s just a lot of things that customers have seen multiple times before we’ve actually gotten there.
Priming Your Audience Before You Knock
You’re priming your door knocking audience before you even get to the door. You’re hitting them with so many pieces of marketing before your guys are even out there knocking.
Then we’re just solving their problem. We’re going to show them how.
You should have a problem. Then we have a feature. And then there’s a benefit.
People usually buy based on what’s in it for them.
Let’s say they’re having a problem with dandelions. They bought some stuff. They’re spot treating. It’s taking them a week to do this thing.
Or let’s say they have clover that they can’t get rid of. They tried everything under the sun.
Well, the feature is this is how we’re going to take care of it. These are the products we use. It’s going to take us a couple applications, but after two or three applications, it’ll all be under control.
The benefit to that customer now is they don’t have to spend every weekend chasing these weeds around. They don’t have to have a crappy lawn.
In two to three applications, you get your time back. You spent all this money on product. You’re a pretty smart guy. You see the value here. In two, three applications, we got it all cleared up.
Now the benefit to them is they don’t have to worry about it. It’s all taken care of. They don’t have to spend their time going to the home and garden store on the weekends trying to buy more product and spending more money on stuff that’s just not working.
You always got to tie it back to the benefit of the customer and why they should buy.
Making Yourself Stand Out Even More
One thing I’ll add to making yourself stick out: local is huge.
We started to have our door knockers dress up in technician outfits. We even gave them little flashlights on their belts. Some guys who were wearing glasses called themselves “the bug guy” and played up the nerdy angle. I’ve seen it all. It works really good.
You see solar guys in construction outfits. It works.
We’ve had guys bring even coffee mugs to make it look like they’re just hanging out, chilling in the neighborhood. Just something to differentiate yourself from all the other guys.
I’ve actually had guys go get those carriers of coffee from Starbucks and pour coffee for people at the door.
What I will say though is if you’re out there and you’re not going to be intentional, if you’re just walking around holding that coffee cup, you’re going to look weird. You’re going to be out of place. You’re going to get the cops called on you.
If you’re just standing around doing nothing, that’s usually when the cops get called.
But if you’re intentional and you stay busy and you move from house to house to house trying to network, it’s way different.
Just be very intentional out there. If you’re going to be out there anyway, use your time wisely. Don’t just stand around and do nothing and then wonder why you didn’t get any sales that day.
The hardest door is opening your own car door. Once you get that first one, it gets easier from there.
It Can Transform Your Life
I’m telling you from experience, I’ve done this a lot. I wasn’t the greatest. I didn’t have anyone training me. It was YouTube university. So I get it.
But if you have a big enough reason why, it’s super cliche, but my back was against the wall. I had to go do something. I had to make this work. That’s when you get good at it.
If you go all in on this one thing, whether you’re a rep or a technician, it doesn’t matter. Go all in. You’re out there anyway. Make the most of your time. Make the most money you can. Get really good at your craft.
A lot of people will get really good at being a technician. They’ll learn everything there is to know about pest control. But they’re not treating everything else in their business as important as they did as a technician.
I come from the sales world, so sales always comes first here. This is going to be a debate. Sales or service? But we’re not growing without a sales team.
You might say, “Well, we’re not going to get these jobs done without technicians.” And I get that. But we’re literally not going to have anything to do without a sales team.
A Real Story: The Technician Who Learned to Sell
I have a really cool story. I partnered with a guy in Iowa. Super awesome dude. 100% technician. Nothing to do with sales. Everything he was told growing up, like sales is the devil.
He’s been around us long enough and then it started to click. All of a sudden he got one account. And he’s like, “Oh, I can do this.”
Then it’s two accounts. Then it’s four accounts. Now he’s got a guy working with him. He owns his own company. It’s really cool to see.
He had zero sales skills. But he had the courage to learn.
Another thing with that: once you learn it, you can teach someone else.
Let’s say you learn how to sell one a day. If you learned how to sell one a day and you taught three other people how to do that, now you have three guys going out there.
Three sales a day is 1,000 sales a year. If you just work the summer months, 100 days, that’s 300 sales.
That’s life changing for a lot of people. And you can scale that.
Don't Discount Door Knocking
I’ve met thousands of pest control owners. A lot of them just don’t even consider door knocking as an option.
You can do door knocking without being salesy or without growing a bad reputation. You can do it the right way.
A lot of people in the groups refuse to do door knocking because they’ve heard all the horror stories of customers getting door knocked. I get it. It can give you a bad reputation if you do it wrong.
But as long as you do it right and teach your guys the right way and how to sell an actual good service, it’s way different.
How to Execute Door Knocking for Your Pest Control Company
If I were building a door knocking strategy from scratch today, here’s exactly what I’d do:
- Hire local people – Born and raised in the area, know the neighborhoods
- Train on the mental game first – It’s 90% mental, 10% what you say
- Use the three step approach – Icebreaker, introduction, justification
- Stand 6-8 feet back at 45 degree angle – Never square up to the door
- Find something relatable about each house – Before you knock, look for connections
- Use visuals – iPad with price sheets, before/after photos, reviews
- Soft close – “Give us a shot” or option closes
- Dress like a technician – Look the part, not like a salesperson
- Prime the area with marketing first – Hit them with ads before you knock
- Tie everything to benefits – Problem, feature, benefit
Believe in yourself that you can do this. It can literally transform not only your business but the rest of your life.
We talk about door knocking strategies like this all the time in our free Facebook group, Pest Control Millionaires. Over 2,000 active pest control owners sharing what works, asking questions, and helping each other build sales skills that actually close deals.
And if you want the complete guide to building a pest control company that dominates your local market, check out Zip Code Kings. Danny, Jake, and I break down everything from door knocking scripts to hiring local teams to building routes that print money. It’s the pest control marketing bible.
The bottom line? Door knocking isn’t dead. It’s one of the most powerful tools you have to grow your pest control company. Learn the script, master the mental game, and watch your business explode.
Read the Ultimate Guide: Traditional Marketing for Pest Control: The Complete Guide to Building Dense Routes and Crushing Sales (Even When Everyone Says It’s Dead) – Jonas Olson
