When you’re doing door to door, you’re going to get objections. That’s just the reality.
The question is: how do you handle those objections? And what are they?
After training teams of door knockers and personally knocking thousands of doors to build Pest Badger into a $10 million company, I’ve learned that objections aren’t really objections. They’re smoke screens.
Let me show you the top five objections you’ll hear and exactly how to overcome them.
Everything the Customer Says Is 100% Bullshit
When I tell my guys this, especially rookies, they’re shocked. But it’s true.
Everything the customer says at first is 100% bullshit.
Again, go back to the RDRs (Reactionary Defense Responses). They just don’t want you at the door. They don’t want to talk to you. They just want to get rid of you.
The best way to get rid of you is to think of some smoke screen. Not an objection. Because an objection is real. A smoke screen is just something they think will make you go away.
And there are the same smoke screens over and over and over again. You’re not going to hear anything new.
One new one I heard when I was knocking in Florida was she was going to pray the bugs away. That one caught me off guard. But other than that, they’re all the same.
When I teach guys, we’ll go over this training for a couple weeks. And literally within the first 10, 20, 30 doors, they’re calling me like, “You weren’t kidding. It’s the same ones over and over again.”
So let’s pick the top few that we hear on the doors and how to easily overcome them.
The Golden Rule: Don't Repeat What They Said
If they say, “I gotta talk to my spouse,” don’t say, “Oh, talk to your spouse.”
Don’t make it a real thing. At this point, it’s just a smoke screen.
Objection #1: "I'm Not Interested"
Of course they’re not interested. They don’t even know why you’re there yet.
If you just knock on the door and expect someone to open it and say, “Sign me up today,” it’s not going to happen.
We expect them to say no. We want to get their first no out of the way as fast as possible. Then we got to take away all the reasons to say no.
How to Overcome “Not Interested”
Of course they can’t be interested because they don’t even know what you’re doing yet.
My best overcome for this: “Totally understand. You weren’t expecting the bug guy to stop by today. Let me show you what I was doing for Ms. Jones next door. If it works for you, cool. If not, that’s cool too.”
They’re like, “Oh, well, there’s no pressure here.” I took away their reason to say no. It drops all the pressure. There’s no reason not to listen to you for a little bit further.
Then you need to explain how you were able to take care of Ms. Jones next door. That’s the easiest one.
And that’s usually the first one people will say.
Like I said, we don’t expect them to be interested because they don’t even know what we’re doing.
Some guys will say, “Yeah, of course you’re not interested because you don’t even know what we’re doing yet.”
I like to phrase it: “I totally understand. I didn’t expect you to be interested today. You didn’t expect the bug guy to stop by. But let me show you what I did for Mrs. Jones. If it works for you, cool. If not, that’s cool too. No pressure.”
Nine times, nine and a half times out of 10, that works. You get to the next part of your pitch.
Objection #2: "I Need to Talk to My Spouse"
We call these one leggers.
It does happen where you’ll sell the husband or wife and then the spouse comes home and they’re mad and they cancel. But most often they don’t.
How to Overcome the Spouse Objection
Spouses are pretty easy. You can just literally ask them, “Hey, are they here?”
You’ll see their face. The shock in their face that they weren’t expecting it. They’re like, “Well, uh, yeah.” And they’ll kind of smile. “Let me go grab him for me.”
If you’re talking to a husband, ask, “Do you think your wife likes bugs?”
Nine times out of 10, they’re not going to like bugs. The lady wants the bugs gone. She’s probably the one who makes the decision anyway.
In our world, most females call us. Same thing on the doors. They’re going to make the decision.
The more affluent neighborhoods you’re in, the woman’s going to make the decision. And if you’re in a very affluent area, anyone can make the decision, husband or wife. It’s a couple hundred dollar service. It’s not like you’re spending $200,000 on a car. It’s just pest control. It’s easy.
What to Do If They’re Not Home
If the spouse isn’t there: “Is he at work? Cool. Let’s give him a call.”
It literally happens at the door. She wants to do it. She’s like, “Okay, let’s call my husband real quick.” We’ll pitch him at the door. He’ll be like, “Yeah, I don’t care. Whatever.”
Use Humor
Another thing you can do is bring humor into it.
“Hey, I’m not divorced attorney out here. I don’t want you sleeping on the couch over pest control.”
Get them to let their walls down.
“What do you think he’d say no to? Is it the price? Is it the product? Is it me?”
Let them tell you why.
That’s the real objection. You’re trying to get the real objection now.
Is it the price? Is it the product? Is it me? What do you think he’d say no to?
They kind of laugh at you. “Do I stink?” They laugh. “No, but it could be this.”
Okay, this is the real thing you’re worried about. Now you can go solve for that. Whether it’s price or budget or whatever.
That’s just an easy way to overcome it by saying those few things. Again, you’re going to run into this five out of 10 doors. Easily.
Objection #3: "Do You Have a Business Card or Brochure?"
This is why I don’t let my guys walk around with door hangers. It’s so easy for the customer to say, “No, I’m not interested, but I’ll take one of those.”
Then they’re like, “Oh crap, I have nothing to really fall back on.”
If you’re going to have door hangers, keep them in your backpack. Don’t have them in front of you.
How to Overcome the Business Card Stall
This is a stall objection. How do you overcome a stall objection?
A couple things you can say. Back in COVID, we used to say, “Since COVID, we actually haven’t been able to give out business cards. I’m like a walking billboard out here. What questions do you have?”
But what I like to use the most is: “Have I given you enough information to make a decision today?”
Obviously there’s a reason they want more information. They want a card for some reason. You’re trying to get that out. You’re mining for gold. Trying to figure out what the real reason is.
Business card is a stall objection. I got to keep that momentum wheel moving.
“Yeah, I’ll totally give you a business card. But have I given you enough information to make a decision today?”
They’re going to be like, “Well, yes, but…” or “No, but…”
If they say, “No, but what did you say the price was?” Cool. Now I got a buy in question.
Explain how many times we come out, what the frequency is, what the pay structure is, whatever that may be. Any buy in question means I can move them to close and start signing the agreement.
Or they could be like, “No, but…” and then have a concern. “Is it safe? Will it take care of this bug?”
It doesn’t matter. More buying questions.
If they say, “No, but I still have to talk to my husband” after like three times of them saying they have to talk to their husband, it’s probably a legit objection.
That’s how I solve the business card one. Pretty simple.
These are not new. But for people who aren’t in sales or haven’t done door to door, these are some easy ways to break into the market.
Objection #4: "I Need to Think About It"
This is kind of a stall objection. Same thing as the business card.
“Totally understand. You’re not buying a car out here. It’s just pest control. It’s super easy. Have I given you enough information to make a decision today?”
It’s a stall objection. They’re stalling it out. You got to get the momentum wheel going again.
They’re programmed to do that. It’s going back to the business card. It’s just a stall objection. It’s not really an objection at this point. It’s still a smoke screen.
“I need to think about it.” “Sure, I totally understand. I like to think about a lot of my decisions too. But this is just pest control. It’s pretty cheap. You’re not buying a car here. But have I given you enough information to make a decision today?”
They’ll be like, “Yes,” and they’ll start asking questions.
Or “No, I’m just not interested.”
Mine for gold. Figure out what’s really going on in their head.
The Importance of Positivity
One thing to mention: you’re talking about positivity right away.
When they’re coming to you with an objection, you say, “Yeah, sure. Totally understand.”
It’s a positive response instead of going, “Oh.”
You agree with them, but you just don’t repeat what they said.
“Yeah, I totally agree. I totally understand where you’re coming from. Totally get it. Yeah, for sure.”
Just a positive feedback loop. Absolutely.
Make sure you’re smiling, making good eye contact. Not staring them down. Staring through their eyes. Have some plain look aways. When you look at your neighbors, show them palm up. Don’t ever point. Palm up.
Show them where you’re coming from. They’ll naturally follow and just begin a conversation.
Objection #5: "I Do It Myself" (DIY)
This is especially common in Midwest markets. A lot of DIYers. Maybe you’re in low income areas. They want to do it themselves to save money. Or they just don’t trust people.
You have to figure out which one it is.
Two Types of DIYers
If someone says, “Yeah, I just do it myself,” do they really like doing it? No, they don’t.
But somewhere along the line, they decided they had to do it themselves.
There are actually some people who love doing it themselves. You’re going to find those people.
They’ll be like, “Oh yeah, I do it myself.” “Cool. You got something out here, right?” Kind of laugh.
“I have one question for you. Where do you get your products from? Is it Lowe’s, Home Depot, big box store? Or are you getting it from the home and garden store down the street?”
They usually tell you the truth. These guys aren’t out there to lie. They’ll tell you. Or they’ll buy it off Amazon. They’ll know the product.
So those are two different profiles of people.
Profile #1: The Expert DIYer
The people who are buying it from the home and garden place or your local supplier, they know the product. Same thing on Amazon. They can tell you, “Hey, I bought Taurus or Demand or whatever.”
The odds of you selling that guy are slim to none. Could you? Yes. But would you? You’d spend your time with more qualified people.
If that’s the case, just say, “Hey, if I could do it for XYZ price, would you be interested at all?”
If they’re like, “Nah, we’re good,” save some time. They love it. Honestly.
Profile #2: The Big Box Store DIYer
The other guy though is getting it from the big box store. He’s spraying mostly water. He’s chasing these things around because there’s zero shelf life. Very, very, very little residual. Literally just contact spraying everything.
He’s got to do this every weekend. It’s costing him $50 a jug or something like that. He’s got to go buy a jug every weekend.
It happens all the time. We’ll knock on the door. You see them in the front yard, inside the garage. They’re using it, chasing the stuff around.
This is the person you’re going to spend a little more time with.
This is how you figure out why this customer chose to do it themselves. Is it a price thing? Have they been burned in the past? Or do they just not trust you or your company?
How to Overcome DIY
“Yeah, man, totally understand. In my experience, I’ve been doing this for a long time. One of two things would happen. One, you’re just trying to save a bunch of money. Or two, you’ve been burned in the past. But which one is it for you?”
“Oh, just trying to save money.”
Then you talk about time. Take his time and his product, how much time he’s spending.
Let’s say he’s not retired. Let’s say he’s a doctor. This is a true story. Doctors make like $250,000 a year.
He’s going to spend $100 at Home Depot chasing his bugs around.
“You’re worth $250,000. You can break this down to hours. You’re making a couple hundred dollars an hour. You’re going out spraying every weekend. It’s costing you an hour. You’re pretty smart, dude. You’re making $200 to $400 an hour. It’s costing you $400 every time you go spray this thing.”
And they’re like, “Oh, I never really looked at it that way.”
Then from there, make the offer so good that they can’t say no.
“You’re spending all this time over the weekend. You’re going to buy this product. The majority of it’s water, just to be honest and fair. It does work, I’m not saying it doesn’t, but you just have to do it a lot. And again, and again, and again.”
If They’ve Been Burned in the Past
Let’s say they’ve been burned in the past. Or maybe they just want to communicate with someone. They had a company in the past that just went to a call center. Couldn’t get any information.
How do you solve those things?
One, they just don’t trust you. They heard something about your company or brand. You solve that with five star reviews.
Pull out your phone. “Hey, we have 500 or 1,000 five star reviews.” Show them. If you’re using software that shows you all the pins of all the customers in the area that gave you five stars, pull that up.
“Yeah, all these customers. Do you know this person? This person?”
“Oh yeah. Yeah.” And they’re like, “Oh yeah, I know that person.”
The Communication Issue
If it’s the other guy who’s dealt with companies in the past with big call centers where you can never get ahold of anyone, how do you solve that one?
“You know what? I’ll go the extra step for you. I’ll give you my personal cell phone number. Here it is. Shoot me a text message. If you ever need anything, you can just contact me directly and I’ll make sure you get taken care of.”
It’s that simple. They don’t really want to do it themselves. This side of the profile doesn’t.
Spend more time with qualified candidates, which is the DIYer that’s going to Lowe’s, Home Depot, big box, or buying cheap product.
The Switch Over Pitch: Traditional vs Non-Traditional Markets
This is tough. It circles back to the very beginning of the regular pitch.
Depending on what market you’re in, whether you’re a traditional or non traditional market, you have to tailor your approach.
Traditional markets: Florida, California, Texas. Seven out of 10 people have pest control.
Non traditional markets: Chicago, Green Bay, more Midwest. Three out of 10 people have pest control.
There are a gazillion pest control companies in traditional markets. More bugs, more bug pressure.
You kind of have to tailor your pitch to which market you’re in.
Traditional Markets: Switching Over Customers
If you’re in a more traditional market, it’s going to be more of a switch over market.
The good thing is more people have pest control. They know the service. They know what a service order is. You don’t have to sell them on the service. You just have to sell them on how you’re different from another company.
You don’t have to sell them on the service. You got to sell them on you.
There are so many people that have companies doing a really good job that they don’t want to switch. You got to qualify fast.
How do you qualify fast?
Do they have an issue? Do they know they have an issue? And do they have a company?
Cool. Can you see an issue too? Like, is there an issue that you’ve noticed?
Those are all qualifiers right there.
When you go through the first four steps of the pitch, instead of closing, this is where you transition.
“Who do you have coming out for you?”
Or you say, “You know, when you go through neighborhoods, you’ll have the same companies in there. Let’s go with Orkin, Terminix, and all the neighbors went with them too. So yeah, who did you go with? I just got done talking with Sally and Joe on the street. They went with Orkin. This person went with Aptive. But who did you guys choose?”**
They’re the experts now. You have to do a lot of homework here too. Lots and lots of homework.
Know your competition. You have to know your competition just as well as you know yourself. You got to know their brand, their technician’s names if you can, their office. Get really, really good at this.
Never Talk Bad About Another Company
I will start out with this too. Never, ever talk bad about another company.
One, we’re all in this together. There’s plenty of work to go around. Never talk bad because if you say that the customer made a bad decision, now they don’t trust themselves. They’re not going to believe in themselves making another decision to go with you.
Just because they have a service doesn’t mean they’re happy.
I’ve had customers that Orkin was literally there the day before or eight hours ago. I’m not just saying Orkin because there’s a lot of good Orkin technicians out there. I’m just using them as an example.
Another company had serviced that morning or the day before. We switched them over that fast because they weren’t happy at some point.
The Discovery Phase
The next part of the pitch is the discovery phase. Who do they have coming out for them?
There are multiple ways you can do it.
“Awesome, you got something out here. But who do you have coming out for you?”
Or “Cool, most everyone went with Massey or Orkin, but who did you guys go with?”
They’re definitely going to tell you. That would be step number five.
By the way, if they don’t know, that’s a really good tell sign that they’re not super loyal or that company’s not doing a good job keeping them engaged with their brand.
A lot of times they know the company’s name, but they don’t know how much they’re getting billed. They have no idea.
This is where you have to be the expert. You need to know exactly what that service looks like, what their service looks like, how much they’re charging, what they do on that service. You have to know them very, very well.
The 8 Mile Strategy
The next part of the pitch is 8 Mile.
If you’ve ever watched the movie 8 Mile, you know what Rabbit does at the very last mic session. He takes away everything from Papa Doc.
He’s like, “I live in a trailer, my mom’s white trash,” saying all these things. All of a sudden, Papa Doc had nothing to say. Mic drop at the end. Because he said everything already.
It’s the same thing in door knocking.
“Hey, Mr. Customer, what you’re doing out here is the same thing I’m doing. They’re a really cool company. They’re doing the mulch beds. They’ll come inside when you need to.”
Tell them everything that that company is doing for them.
“But the reason people are switching over to me is there’s two things.” That’s your competitive advantage. That’s the 8 Mile.
Then you say, “Have you seen them do anything outside of that? Have you seen them do anything outside of treatment?”
They’re like, “Oh no.”
“So like I said, they will spray the foundation. They will spray the mulch beds. They’re really cool. But outside of that, is there anything that they do for you on a consistent basis?”
And they’re like, “No, that’s about it.”
Okay, cool. So now we know their prices. We know what the service offering is. Now you get to compare apples to apples.
The Differentiation
Now you’re comparing apples to apples.
“So pretty much exactly what they’re doing, I’m doing. But this is why most people are switching to us.”
They’ve already told you what their company does and that they don’t do anything outside of that. So now here’s where a USP comes in. How you’re different.
There are multiple things you can use here. Whether it’s the type of service, the frequency of service, any add on additional services you can throw in for the customer.
Let’s keep it very basic. Let’s say their company just does like a home wash. I’ve seen it all. They spray the whole house. They’re there for five minutes. They spray the foundation. They leave.
What can we do that differentiates us?
Let’s say we have a duster brush that we can go around and dust around the windows, doors, eaves, whatever. Make sure we’re going to knock all the cobwebs down. They see that as an upgrade.
Or they come out this often, we come out this often. Or they’re doing granular there. We do liquid because of this. Or they do liquid and we do granular because of this. It doesn’t matter. Just give examples.
Going back to the offer, that USP could be, “Oh hey, I’d actually offer you a free mosquito control treatment.”
It goes into the differentiation stuff. What makes us different?
You already told me, Mr. Customer, that they don’t do this. So they can’t say, “Oh no, they do that.” No, because you just told me they don’t do anything outside of that.
“Okay, well, we do this thing. We’re going to go with the duster at this point. So we wipe everything down.”
Then go through the service exactly what it looks like. Why everyone switched. Why the current customers down the road switched over to you too.
The main reason is because you guys use this 30 foot web pole, wipe down all doors and windows and things like that.
The Critical Question
And then I ask them every single time: “You see this as an upgrade, right?”
In my first switch over pitch, I nailed it. I still remember the house. I still remember the issue. And I messed up.
Their son was allergic to wasps. They had an Orkin service. It’s a monster house. There’s a huge wasp nest. I even got her off the porch, everything.
The one key question that I missed was: “You see this as an upgrade, right?”
She would have just said, “Yeah,” and then I could just push her to the close.
But I didn’t ask that question. Then I had to ask, “Well, why?”
Then I’d make her sell me. “Well, because you’re doing this, this, this, this thing that my current company wouldn’t do.”
“So you can see why we charge a little bit more for that, right?”
And she’d be like, “Yeah.”
So you’re selling on value. You’re telling them you already know they’re paying $200. You got to charge them $250 for these upgrades.
You got them a better service than what they’re already paying. I don’t like to discount services. I don’t want to get caught up in undercutting anyone’s prices. I want them to pay more to switch to us because they see a better value service.
They’re emotionally invested in your company early on.
Those two questions are super important. You’re not undercutting anyone’s service. You’re selling off value when you’re in the switch over.
The Exception: Just Serviced Yesterday
There are a few instances where, let’s say they were just out there the day before.
They just serviced the day before. They did the foundation, but they didn’t wipe down the house.
I know that I have to make $150 per hour in this example. So I’ll charge them $150 just to wipe down the house. And then I’ll come back in 90 days and do their first quarterly visit.
That’s what a switch over pitch can look like. I’m not discounting the services. I’m not talking bad. I’m just showing them, “Hey, we’re basically the same, but this is how we’re different. And this is how I’m going to upgrade you to our plan.”
Which Objection Do You Get Most?
Out of all those objections we just covered, which one do you probably get the absolute most of?
Right out of the gate, it’s “Not interested.” That’s like 90% of the doors. If not all of them.
And then it’s probably the spouse.
Then it’s probably DIY.
But “Not interested” is caught in all of them. These are the top five.
And then obviously the switch over pitch.
If you’re just using the first base pitch, it’s going to get you one to two sales every single day. That adds up.
The DIY one is going to get you another additional two to three sales a day.
The switch over pitch, once you get good at it, is going to get you an additional three to five sales.
If you want to hit those double digit numbers, you gotta get good at all three of these. Really master each one.
Don’t expect to go out there on day one and think you’re going to put on this master class. It’s just not going to happen.
Although I have seen it happen. I’ve had rookies throw down some big numbers and haven’t stopped since they started. But they had lots of practice too.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Put in the work. Learn these smoke screens. Practice with your friends, practice with your technicians, practice with the people in the office.
Really get good at this.
We would even play games. We’d walk by each other and I’d be like, “Not interested.” And then they’d have to hurry up and overcome that smoke screen. It was competitive for a long time.
Although we still pitch practice every single day in the office with the sales team and the door to door team every single morning. Over and over and over.
Even if you take off a day or two, then you go back to work Monday, you’re rusty.
You can’t even take a day off. You’ll be rusty. Make sure you practice every single day to master your craft.
Objection Handling Isn't Just for Doors
One last thing: objection handling isn’t just for the doors. This is for everything when it comes to business. Especially being on the phone.
If you have this in your arsenal, you know how to have the competitive advantage over everyone else in town when you know how to properly sell.
If you’re getting a lot of referrals, a lot of leads coming through, and you close at 50%, but you’re not very good at sales, you don’t need more leads. You need more closes.
Let’s say you have a bunch of sales leads come in and you’re not closing a lot. Don’t move the leads. Get better at sales.
Let’s say you’re getting five sales out of 10. Now get to six or seven out of those 10. Just close at 70%. Just a little bit of that skill can get you a long way.
There’s the whole inside script and how to answer phones. Totally different than the script out on the doors. But for now, this is just door to door.
How to Master Objection Handling for Pest Control Sales
If I were training a door knocking team from scratch today, here’s exactly what I’d do:
- Teach them the five main objections – Not interested, spouse, business card, need to think, DIY
- Make them understand smoke screens vs real objections – Everything is bullshit at first
- Practice positive responses – “Totally understand” not “Oh”
- Never repeat what they said – Don’t make it real
- Mine for gold – Find the real objection underneath
- Know your competition – For switch overs, be an expert on other companies
- Never talk bad about competitors – Sell on value, not by tearing others down
- Use the 8 Mile strategy – Say what they’re going to say first
- Ask “You see this as an upgrade?” – Critical for switch overs
- Practice every single day – Role play, games, constant drilling
This isn’t something you’re going to learn instantaneously. It’s going to take a lot of practice. But if you master these, you can truly put on a lot of sales with door to door.
We talk about objection handling 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 close more 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 objection handling to switch over pitches to training teams that actually produce. It’s the pest control marketing bible.
The bottom line? You’re going to get objections. Everyone does. The difference between average door knockers and the ones doing double digit sales days is knowing how to overcome these smoke screens and get to the real conversation. Master this skill and watch your close rate skyrocket.
