What Is Door-To-Door Sales?
Door-to-door sales (D2D) is a classic B2C direct sales method where a salesperson walks from house to house in a selected neighborhood, attempting to sell residents merchandise or services. This tactic generally involves knocking on a prospect’s door, quickly engaging them in conversation, demonstrating or explaining their offering, and hopefully closing a sale on the spot.
D2D selling has been an American institution for a long time. While the age of online selling may make D2D sales seem outdated, it’s still a viable form of person-to-person selling. Modern products and services like cable, solar panels, smart home devices, and security systems still leverage D2D sales quite effectively.
Door-to-Door Sales Tips: How To Leverage Software
When practically every prospect has the world at their fingertips, D2D sales reps need to up their game to stay competitive. Some benefits of using sales apps and software include:
- Better time management
- Know the best times to visit prospects
- Plan your routes more efficiently
- Track the doors you’ve already knocked on
Spotio is a field sales software for sales reps and managers that offers pipelines, autoplays, prospecting, and an activity tracking and reporting dashboard. D2D sales reps can manage territories more efficiently and automate manual tasks.
Spotio services clients in industries such as:
- Home Improvement
- Solar
- Telecom
- Alarm/Security
- Pest Control
- Storm Restoration
What Is Field Sales?
Field sales, or outside sales, is selling a business’s products or services outside the office (or “in the field”). By comparison, inside sales involves selling to customers remotely via phone or email. Outside sales reps usually travel to offices (and occasionally events like conferences and trade shows) to engage with and pitch potential customers.
Typically, a field salesperson is assigned a specific sales territory, which is defined and assigned by the sales manager. Territories are usually broken out by geography, but they may also be defined in other ways, like industry or account type. The rep is responsible for generating new business and managing existing client relationships within his or her assigned territory.
The Best Software for B2B Outside Sales
Technology plays a key role in the day-to-day of an outside sales rep. Map My Customers is a mobile-first, purpose-built tool that can cover all of your automation, visualization, tracking, sales data organization, reporting, and mapping needs in one place. It features a powerful mapping engine that helps visualize opportunities across your territory and create optimized routes, even on the go.
Map My Customers also has features that allow sales leaders to easily oversee their team. Managers can track sales communications, visits, and other activities without constantly checking in or micromanaging.
Door-To-Door Versus Outside Sales: The Pros and Cons
Door-to-Door/B2C Sales: Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Great for getting your foot in the door if you don’t have prior sales experience
- Sales process is often less complicated
- Doesn’t require a lot of admin work like sending emails, making phone calls, planning, and doing follow-up
- Requires quickly reading and connecting with people, which can build character and teach vital interpersonal skills
Cons:
- Physically demanding work requiring hours of walking daily, often in uncomfortable weather conditions
- You may have to hear “no” many times before making a sale
- Customers are not expecting you and may have a negative knee-jerk reaction to a stranger at their door
- Some states have “no solicitation” laws that require obtaining a permit before visiting any house
- Changing consumer behavior makes cold-knocking more challenging, because many customers are researching and buying online
- Can be both mentally and physically draining and quickly lead to burnout
Field/B2B Sales: Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Freedom to set your own schedule by contacting prospects directly and scheduling your own appointments
- Frequent travel means every day is different (58% of outside sales report being in the field for 5 days or more per week)
- Less client visits overall per day
- Most visits will be return visits to places you already have relationships
- More independence and autonomy
- More likely to work with high-ticket products at larger companies
Cons:
- Must have a deep understanding of the products and services you’re selling
- Requires strong verbal and written communication skills for email and phone follow-ups
- May require a little more experience and/or education
- Sales cycle is longer and more complex, so losing a sale could mean weeks or months of lost time
- Requires a lot of driving (reps report spending an average of 22 hours a week behind the wheel)
Field Sales Career Path: Tips for Transitioning to Outside Sales
Being in outside sales is similar to owning your own business because, for the most part, you call the shots. You supervise yourself, own your accounts, set your own schedule, and develop your own strategy.
Focus On Relationship-Building
Field sales is about more than just prospecting; relationship-building and customer retention is equally important. Your daily interactions will be devoted to nurturing current customer relationships as well as finding new ones. This requires establishing trust, demonstrating strong communication skills, and just generally showing clients they matter.
Pursue Meaningful Credentials And Certifications
Earning sales-related credentials sends a loud and clear message to a hiring manager: you’re committed to learning and to your profession. If you’re neck-and-neck with another candidate with similar experience, certification from a reputable association or training program gives you an edge.
Get Tech-Savvy
According to a PayScale survey, having technical sales knowledge can increase a field sales rep’s salary by 24%. Sales technology helps reps automate routine tasks, increase productivity, improve time management, and boost performance.
Brush Up On Time-Management Skills
The top sales professionals are masters of time management. A typical day in the life involves a variety of sales activities like visits, emails, and phone calls, not to mention route-planning and prospecting. A rep who can discipline themselves to plan regularly and stay on task will always outperform someone flying by the seat of their pants.
Seek Out A Mentor
Find a rockstar outside sales professional and offer to buy them a coffee, or shadow them on the job if possible. You’ll find one who is more than willing to share their experience and teach you the ropes.
The Best Industries For An Outside Sales Career
Outside sales skills are pretty universal, but if you’re planning for the long haul, what you’re selling and who you’re working for matters. A few industry options stand out as strong paths into a successful career in outside sales.
Pharmaceutical Sales
Global sales of pharma products are projected to reach $1.4 trillion by 2026. Pharma sales reps sell new prescription medications and pharmaceutical products to doctors, pharmacists, and healthcare facility managers. They may also attend conferences or conduct educational sessions for healthcare professionals.
Medical Device Sales
The medical device market is expected to reach $603.5 billion in 2023, and according to research by MedReps, the average total compensation for medical sales reps is $149,544. Medical device sales reps act as a liaison between medical device companies and hospitals. They inform health care professionals of their options for medical devices and help them choose the right ones for their patients.
Software Sales
Online computer software is a $564 billion market. Software sales reps explain and sell software to businesses. Prospects may range from tech novices to highly tech-savvy professionals. Reps give product demonstrations, answer questions, and explain how the technology can help improve business operations.
Building Materials Sales
The global building materials market is expected to exceed $222 billion by 2026. Reps in this industry sell commercial building materials to customers for construction projects. The most successful reps are knowledgeable about the industry challenges their prospects face, including labor, insurance costs, OSHA, and the local market.
Achieve Career Growth in Field Sales
If you’ve mastered the art of door-to-door sales and are ready to take your career to the next level, a transition into B2B outside sales is a logical next step. From pharma to tech to construction, there are a number of exciting and lucrative industries to explore. While it may take time and persistence to land the position of your dreams, the benefits and opportunities are worth the effort.
