Door-to-Door Sales
11/01/2023
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Door-to-Door Sales vs. Cold Calling: 6 Differences
In this article, we talk about the differences between door-to-door sales and cold-calling customers on the phone.
Table of Contents
1. Commission
Door-to-door Sales yield higher commissions than cold calling sales.
Commissions can make up a large portion of a salesperson’s wages.
Because of this, it is arguably the most critical piece to look at when comparing cold calling to door-to-door sales.
Ultimately, the commission comes down to the company that the sales representative is working at.
But we can use averages in this case to compare the two.
According to “Indeed”:
The Door-to-door sales average wage in the US is $82,244.
The cold calling sales average wage in the US is $14,922.
Again, these numbers are averages.
However, we can see that the average sales rep who does door-to-door makes about $55,000 more than the sales rep who does cold-calling sales.
2. Sales Exposure
Door-to-door sales reps get more sales exposure than cold calling sales reps.
Door-to-Door Sales:
Benefits:
- High number of Sales attempts
- Face-to-face interactions
- Body language of the customer
Doing door-to-door sales will get you very seasoned in talking face-to-face with random people.
Being face-to-face with a customer is one of the advantages that doing door-to-door sales will give you.
You can “diagnose” what will make your customer buy your product.
It will be much easier to do this when watching body language, seeing living circumstances, and interacting with your customers, neighbors, and even family members.
Cold Calling Sales:
Benefits:
- A high number of sales attempts
- Don’t have to worry about non-verbal
- Easier physically
Like door-to-door sales, cold calling will get you a lot of sales exposure and put you in many situations to help your customers buy your product.
Some may even say that you get more interactions to do this.
Because you don’t have to run from house to house and tire yourself out, it is much easier to make more calls than knock on doors in a single day.
This “barrier” of not being face-to-face with your customer can also be an advantage because the salesman does not need to focus on body language and non-verbal communication.
If a sales rep needs to be better trained in their body language and non-verbal communication, Cold Calling might be the way for that salesperson.
3. Environment
Door-to-Door Sales
Benefits:
- Predictable environment
- Competitive
- Can see if the customer has a competitor product
The door-to-door environment is very predictable and very similar in any neighborhood that you knock.
Yes, you may find neighborhoods with more excellent customers and others with meaner customers.
But, most times, you always know what you’ll get.
(A little of both)
However, the door-to-door sales environment can be highly competitive.
With many companies selling different products, you tend to find over-saturation of door-to-door sales reps in larger cities.
This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the sales rep.
Some sales reps like a lot of competition due to the amount of “take-overs” in the area.
Others like a fresh geographical area, one they can dominate with a new product that homeowners have yet to see.
Cold Calling Sales
Benefits:
- In a stationary office
- Can work remotely (at home).
- Environment can be very different and unpredictable.
Depending on the company that you work with, you may be calling from your home (remote).
Or, you may be in a business office cubicle surrounded by others doing the same.
Unlike door-to-door sales, you really never know what you’re going to get in terms of your physical environment.
However, one thing is sure concerning your cold calling environment: you will be at a stationary office, where you don’t have to sweat while out on the streets knocking on doors.
4. Success Rates
Door-to-door sales have a higher success rate on average than that of cold calling sales.
There are success rates in any sales job that you ever do.
Ultimately, the success rate for a specific job will come down to the sales representative.
However, what the sales representative is selling and how they are selling is a significant factor in their success.
Let’s look at the success rates for door-to-door sales vs. cold calling.
The average door-to-door rep will knock on 70 doors a day.
Of those 70 doors daily, they will talk to about 40 homeowners.
Of those 40 homeowners, 15 would be qualified buyers.
Of the qualified buyers, 5 would listen to the sales rep.
And of those 5, the sales rep may be able to sell 1-2 of them a day.
This would equal a total success rate of about 1-2/70 = 1.4 – 2.8%
The average cold-calling sales rep will call 90 prospects a day.
Of those 90 prospects, 60 will answer the call.
Of those 60, 20 prospects will listen past the sales pitch.
Of those 20 prospects that listened, 5 will think about buying or setting a subsequent appointment.
And of that 5, the sales rep may be able to sell 1-2 of them a day.
This would equal a total success rate of 1-2/90 = 1.11 – 2.22%
In both door-to-door selling and cold-call selling, the success rates are meager.
However, door-to-door selling, on average, is just a bit above that of cold calling.
This could be due to several different reasons, the top of which would be “Being face-to-face with your customers.”
5. Sustainability
Cold Calling is a more sustainable sales career than door-to-door sales.
How long could you actually hold a position working door-to-door?
How long could you hold cold calling?
Like many other categories, this comes down to the individual sales representative.
However, here are a couple of things to consider and questions to ask yourself when comparing the two on a matter of sustainability:
Physically sustainable: Can you continue to knock on doors day after day, month after month, and year after year?
Variety:
Can you keep calling prospects hundreds a week, even thousands a year?
Mentally sustainable:
Can you continue to have a good attitude after the 60th door slammed in your face in one day?
Can you continue to call prospects and smile after the 80th hang-up on the day?
Because everyone is different, everyone has different personalities. There will always be those who can sustain either door-to-door sales or cold calling, and there are those who cannot.
Could you sustain either one?
6. Flexiblity
Cold calling is a more flexible sales career than door-to-door sales.
When considering the differences in flexibility within these two different sales industries.
Both are relatively flexible, with cold calling taking the “cake.”
With cold calling, you can honestly do this wherever you are and any time of year.
The same is not valid with door-to-door sales.
Door-to-door sales reps have to physically go out and knock on doors, be in the correct location and even do it at the right time of year.
Because of this, cold calling is an all-around more flexible career.
Conclusion
In conclusion, whether you are looking for your next sales career or want to understand the differences between door-to-door and cold-calling sales.
They both have their ups and downs, advantages and disadvantages.
We suggest looking at what you value most in your next sales career: Commission?, Flexibility?, Sustainability?, Environment?, or even Success rate?
Whichever characteristic you find most personally valuable to you, you will find the better choice in that field in this article.
We hope this has helped you in whatever search you are on and would love to hear your feedback.
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Content is created by our professional blog creation team.
Note: Content is intended to help guide decision making and sale education but not ultimately decide for individuals.
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