I just wrapped up a podcast with Dylan Deal, who has been my business partner since 2020. We started at one branch and now we are at 17. Dylan runs four of our locations, and he still sells more than almost anyone on our team.
We talked for almost an hour, and here are the lessons that stuck with me after.
People think we blew up out of nowhere, but we didn't, and Dylan said it best when we talked about why he keeps winning.
"Staying committed and just showing up when you say you're going to show up. And that's just the hardest part is just showing up every single day," he told me. There is no real trick to it, he just keeps coming back consistently when almost everyone else quits.
Here is the proof. In his whole sales career, Dylan has never had a single zero day. "I never bailed once which is I don't think anyone in the industry can say that," he said. I have been doing this a long time, and I have met just one other person who can make that claim.
Work the mornings
Most door knockers start late and head out around 11 or noon, but Dylan does the opposite because his best hours are early.
"I'd always have a couple deals before noon usually every day," he said. People are home in the morning before they leave for work, so you reach them before the day gets complicated and busy.
This is also how he set our team record. One Saturday he started at 9 a.m. and did not stop until late. "I think I ended with like 24 in the day. Had like 19 pest and five lawn," he told me. I serviced his accounts that night so he could keep selling, and he broke the record. The early start is what made it work.
Sell by connecting, not pitching
Dylan did not come from sales. He spent six years in the Marines and then worked at a state prison, and that life gave him something most young reps don't have. He can talk to a sweet old lady, and he can talk to a tired dad carrying in groceries at 10 at night. He connects with people first.
Here is how he thinks about it. "People buy off emotion and they like you. Once they listen to you, they believe in you. Once they believe in you, they'll buy from you." So he makes the door about them instead of him. He asks genuine questions about their life and breaks the ice naturally, and the sale comes afterward.
You have to lead from the front
When Dylan moved up to run a team, his own numbers dropped, which is normal because he was busy helping his guys close. He even gave away deals so his rookies could get a quick win early.
But he never stopped knocking himself. "I'm still out there knocking today. Do I technically need to? No. But I want to," he said.
This matters more than people think. I have watched folks try to knock doors, quit because they are bad at it, then try to hire someone else to do it for them. It rarely works out. If you can't close a deal and show a rookie a quick win, you will struggle to keep anyone around.
Don't hire your friends or your family
We both learned this one the hard way. Dylan brought in a friend who was great at the work, and the first year was good, but the second year fell apart. He also had to let his own brother go.
Family and friends make everything personal, so a hard call gets ten times harder. Every case is a little different, but more often than not it ends bad. We tell new owners the same thing now.
Grow only as fast as your leadership
We could have opened locations faster, but we chose not to. When you grow too quick you run out of strong leaders, and then your new spots have no one to hold them down.
Dylan is at four locations now, and his plan is two more in three years and then two more after that. Slow and deliberate wins here. Each new location gets an experienced leader who is genuinely prepared for the responsibility.
Invest in yourself
This year Dylan spent his own money on a personal growth course that a lot of our reps and owners have gone through. He said it helped him at work and at home.
That part really stuck with me afterward. The guy already outsells almost everyone, and yet he is still actively investing in improving himself. That continual mindset is exactly what got him here originally.
The bottom line
Dylan did not get a head start. He grew up poor, cutting wood with his dad on spring break, and he found his first vacuum sales job on Indeed. At his very first door, the guy opened up and told him to get lost.
Five years later he is a partner with four locations. The difference was not luck or talent. It was showing up every single day.
