Welcome to the seventh episode of the Heroes Huddle Podcast, where we feature Travis Chappell, a sales expert who built his career through door knocking.
Travis got his start selling solar installations and security systems door-to-door. Working in these top competitive door knocking niches showed him the tricks and skills he needed to cross the threshold into people’s houses when he door-knocked – effectively transforming from a stranger on the porch to a trusted advisor on the couch.
1. The Heroes Huddle Podcast
with Glen Shelton
DoorKnockingTips
ForInsuranceAgents
Featuring:
TravisChappell
2. Travis Chappell
• Founder and Host of “Build Your Network,”
a podcast for aspiring professionals
• Helps people build their networks and their
businesses by asking successful people
about their best practices
• CEO of Revive Water, a residential water-
treatment service
• Door knocking expert who built a career
with door-to-door (D2D) cold prospecting
techniques
4. Door Knocking for Solar Sales
•Promoted to Team Manager in 3 months
after exceptional sales performance
•Oversaw top-producing team in the top-
producing market of the country for the
2nd largest solar company
5. Door Knocking for Alarm Systems
•Where he learned “killer” D2D techniques
•Was nervous getting into such a
competitive niche
Be sure to check out Lead Heroes Cold Door Knocking
Guide for Insurance Agents!
www.leadheroes.com/the-complete-guide-to-door-to-door-cold-knocking
6. CAVEAT: The effectiveness of these tips
will vary depending on industry….
• Window installation
• Alarm systems
• Solar systems
• Water treatment products
• Insurance
There will always be a learning curve where you must
understand the nuances of the niche to be successful
7. Cold Door Knocking Tips
1. Seek experts/mentors/managers who
have not just been successful in the
past, but are currently successful within
the industry
2. Understand the difference between
corporate training and field training
3. Don’t be too chipper or overly smiley –
it turns off prospects
8. Cold Door Knocking Tips
4. Lower your voice and speak softly. People
naturally lean in toward softer voices but
back away from louder ones.
5. Ask if you should take your shoes off…
“I just need 2 seconds to show you how this
works. Do you want me to take my shoes off?”
…And then step toward the door
9. Cold Door Knocking Tips
6. Don’t ask ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ questions at the
door
7. Believe in your product/solution… and
watch the Netflix special, “The Push”
8. Be the expert – remember, you don’t
have to know EVERYTHING there is to
know in your niche, you just have to be
more knowledgeable than the prospect
10. Cold Door Knocking Tips
9. Use the couch to build a collaborative
environment. If you have to sit at the
kitchen table, sit next to them – not
across from them
10. Offer some educational stats/facts to
cement the industrial professional
image you’re trying to project
“If they know you, like you, and trust you –
then they will buy from you.”
11. Cold Door Knocking Tips
11. Door knock in the field for 4-5 hours
each day (double that for summer
prospecting programs)
12. Work when everybody else isn’t to catch
them at home between 3:30-8:30 in the
summer and 12:30-5:30 in the winter
12. Cold Door Knocking Tips
13. Track your stats to understand your sales
metrics
• Hours worked
• Doors knocked
• Doors entered
• People talked to
• Presentations completed
• Presentations closed
• Average premium of plans sold
You can only improve your numbers
if you track your numbers!
13. Cold Door Knocking Tips
14. Find a good area to prospect by looking for:
• Areas where people prefer to make payments rather than
paying all cash
• Lower to middle-income neighborhoods around
metropolitan areas – but not IN them
• Newer windows and security signs from companies like
Vivint, Alder, Skyline – signs a prospect has responded to
door-knocking before
• Newer non-luxury car models in the driveway
But don’t let the fear of finding the perfect area
paralyze you – just start knocking on doors!
15. Psych yourself up with caffeine or a pep talk,
because sales begin with the right mindset
