7 Reasons to Try D2D Sales
by: Skyler Holman
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
- Aristotle
7 Tips from 7 Years
I’ve been in the door-to-door sales industry for seven years. When I was first approached about the opportunity, some things sounded too good to be true. I personally decided to take a chance at “making $20,000” my first summer. If it was possible, I didn’t want to miss out on this kind of an opportunity. I was determined to give it my all, and I did!
After a summer of hard work, I walked away with more than $30,000 and I could barely believe it. I suddenly realized that there was more potential here than I previously realized.
In honor of seven years of hard work in this industry, I want to give you seven reasons why I believe door-to-door sales is worth a try.
Related Article: How Door to Door Sales Made Me a Better Person!
1) You NEED the money.
College is a tough time if you don’t come from money. Upon returning home from my LDS mission, I found a job doing technical support at a call center. Between the endless amounts of homework and class and my extremely boring call center job, I had zero time for anything I wanted to do for myself! Aside from that, I was barely making rent for the incredibly low amount my tech support job was paying me. I literally had almost nothing to eat in my fridge or kitchen cupboard. Sometimes I would walk over and open it just to stare into pure empty space and wish I had something good to eat. “So this is college life….” I would tell myself. SO MISERABLE.
One day I saw an advertisement that looked too good to be true. It said that I could make on average around $25 an hour by working for a company chosen by a placement agency if I was a returned missionary. So I instantly applied and was lined up with a pest control company in California. I was told that I could make as much as $20,000 in the summer. It sounded crazy. But when I walked away from that experience I was a firm believer. Better than that, upon coming home I realized I now had money to not only pay for the things I HAD to, but also to buy the things I WANTED. I had money to buy some good food for a change. I paid for my rent a year in advance! I had time to go on dates, go to church activities, go on trips! All this and I was able to maintain good grades, graduate debt free, and even get an early start to maxing out my ROTH IRA.
Do you really NEED the money? I guess it depends. If you want to have an enjoyable college experience, then I say absolutely YES. But if you are okay working at a minimum wage job every spare moment you have aside from school and sleep… You do you my friend. But that was not the life for me.
2) You NEED the skills.
Okay, so this is one I’m not gonna back down from. Everyone needs sales skills. It doesn’t matter what you plan on doing professionally. Talking to people and knowing how to do so persuasively is CRITICAL to your future success regardless of the industry you choose to work in.
This world is packed with people who don’t know how to communicate effectively. By learning some basic skills about how to convince someone to do something one way over another will be one of the biggest things you learn when it comes to working door to door.
This skill is something that is not taught in school and is only gained through practice. If you want to completely set yourself apart from all others in your future, getting the skills that come with door to door sales is a MUST!
3) Gain confidence
Working in sales, in general, can be extremely tough, mostly because there is a lot of rejection. And I mean, A LOT! That being said, you learn to work through each rejection and really not care. For reps who really want to succeed, they will quickly learn that being rejected is part of the game. In fact, the more no’s you go through, the more likely you are to get to a yes!
I’ve noticed that a lot of reps who work this job, come back to school and normal life feeling like they can take on the world. Their dating game is elevated because they aren’t afraid to hear no. They ask for things with full confidence. If they get rejected, it doesn’t bother them and they don’t care. Every no means you are closer to another YES!
Related Article: 5 Mind-Blowing Reasons You Need "No" to Increase Your Sales
4) Get away from home
For anyone who has ever left home, you know there is something about getting out of the place you are used to and going someplace new. You meet new types of people, have new experiences, try new food, make new friends, and really experience a different culture, (Yes, even in the United States). By traveling to new places, you become a more diverse, experienced and relatable person. This will help you quickly make friends and gain trust from important people you meet.
5) Make new friends
Some of my BEST friends are the people that I have worked challenging jobs with. There is something about the comradery of doing something incredibly difficult that brings you closer together with those around you. You wish the best for them and they wish the best for you. You understand perfectly how one another feels with each success and failure. This brings you closer together and forms bonds and friendships unlike any other.
6) Become a leader
Working in the field forces you to become a leader. You are prepared with one of the most important skills in door to door sales: Learning how to work hard. As you work hard, you start to succeed. As you start to succeed, others look up to you and praise you. They might even start asking for your advice and counsel. If you work hard to follow a proven plan set forth by your company and give it all you have, you will notice that you can go from a nobody to the leader of the pack in a short period of time.
Success gets a lot of attention. And you can do a lot of good when you start succeeding. You can bless the lives of others by teaching them what you have learned through the difficulties and failures you have experienced. Most of all, you will lead with perspective. Others will look up to you because they have a feeling you know some things that they don’t and this gives you a powerful opportunity to impact others lives for good.
7) Become a better person
I overall believe that my 7 years in sales has taught me nothing but good, strong, life principles. It has shaped my character and work ethic. It has pushed me to not only care about my own success, but others as well. It has made me more prepared for the future and better equipped with a skill that is usable in any industry.
It has forced me to learn how to read people. I’ve learned how to discern and read in between the lines, to understand body language. This has helped me to help others when they don’t quite know what to say, or how to say it.
I’ve learned how to responsibly handle money and invest. You can’t be smart with money if you never have any to work with. I’ve been able to bless my family with financial security and intelligence. I’ve been able to learn about how to capitalize on investment opportunities and learn a ton about taxes.
Related Article: 5 Sales Tips You Can Learn From a Door-to-Door Salesman
All of these things and more
But most importantly, I’ve learned how to push through difficulty, trial, and discomfort. And every time I’ve pushed through, I’ve succeeded. I’ve learned how to not give up, something that most individuals are doing at an unbelievable rate.
Door-to-door sales is an incredible industry filled with massive opportunity. The answers to a lot of questions concerning personal growth are found in this rare opportunity. But the question is... Are you going to take advantage?