6 INSANE Door to Door Sales Recruiting Hacks
Ah door-to-door sales. It really is a beautiful thing. Where else can an average 18 year old kid, go out in the world and not only develop some life-changing skills but also come home a heck of a lot richer than he was before?
The biggest problem with door to door sales is that you probably don’t want to do it for the rest of your life and only making sales yourself isn’t scalable. You have to physically be there to make the sale.
The solution to this problem is recruiting a team and becoming a leader. In door-to-door sales, when you become a manager, you earn a portion of the sales made from anyone you recruit and train, allowing you to scale your earnings and make money with needing to be physically present. Passive income baby!
This is where the serious money can be made.
So how do you do it? How do you recruit enough reps to where you don’t need to rely on your personal sales to earn a living?
Let’s start with the traditional recruiting method.
Traditional Recruiting Method
If you walk into any door-to-door leadership meeting about recruiting, you’re likely to hear some version of the same process.
Step 1: Have a killer summer to qualify for manager status
Step 2: Make a list of 100 friends and family members who you think could be a good fit to do sales. High school friends, work colleagues, mission companions, cousins, etc.
Step 3: Start reaching out through text, DM, phone calls, carrier pigeon, literally whatever it takes to get your message in front of them and set up a meeting
Step 4: If/when they sign, offer them rewards and incentives to recruit their friends and family
Step 5: Rinse and repeat
Now don’t get me wrong, this is a solid method for recruiting. There are lots of regional managers and presidents of sales who built their empires and have earned millions by doing nothing but this. It works. It especially works if you have a large network and a strong social status among your network IE popularity.
But what if you don’t have a particularly large network? What if you don’t have much status and influence over the network you do have? Or what if you’ve tried that and you’ve run out of people to reach out?
Are you just out of luck - doomed to be a simple door-to-door peddler until you retire into the world of software sales?
You could do that, OR you can get creative and start working smarter instead of just harder by trying your hand at the 6 door to door sales recruiting hacks that I’m about the share with you.
NOTE - Most of these hacks do require some investment so it’s important to consider how much each new rep is worth you as you start to invest and get serious about recruiting.
If you aren’t serious, stick with the traditional method described above, but for you killers ready to take the next step… let’s go build your region.
Hack # 1 - Social Media Recruiting Ads
Where do your future sales reps spend most of their time? You already know, on social media. By run recruiting ads on the most popular platforms for this age demographic - TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Youtube, and Podcast ads you grab their attention and spread your message at scale to generate interest.
You’re already a great sales person or else you wouldn’t be here, so apply your sales principles to your ads!
Create compelling videos that showcase the perks of door-to-door sales—flexibility, high earning potential, and being in control as your own boss.
Tailor each ad to grab attention fast—use bold visuals and direct language that speaks to motivations like competitive advantages and resilience. Highlight success stories of individuals who have thrived on your team.
During my third summer in Austin, Texas - my co-manager and I used Facebook and Tik Tok ads to help us recruit our team. We booked 5-10 meetings with potential reps each week!
Not every rep worked out of course and we had guys bail last minute - but our 2 top reps came from our social media ads.
The key to this strategy (and all of the strategies I’m about to share with you) is being a great leader. Engage these potential reps often. Schedule weekly or even bi-weekly training calls to create trust and build their confidence in you, the company, and themselves.
Meeting with these reps in person will be well worth the investment and can help to ensure that they actually come out for the summer. Fly them out to meet with you and your team for training and activities. Help them build friendships with the other guys and get them excited about their summer adventure!
The best case scenario is you help them to recruit one of their friends so they feel even more comfortable taking the leap! It all but guarantees that they won’t bail on you and now you have an extra recruit!
Hack #2 - Campus Blitzes and Job Fairs
Set up a booth at campus events and job fairs to recruit door to door sales reps. You'll meet many young, eager students looking for their first big break in sales. Offer them a chance to kickstart their career with your team.
Show off the success of your summer programs and share stories from top sellers. Bring along some of your top reps to share their experience. They’ll be stoked to have the opportunity to travel and help make an impact for the team.
Take it to the next level by offering a raffle with exciting prizes that draws people over to your table. Back in my time we used to auction off Apple Watches and students would enroll by booking a 15 minute meeting with us.
Be willing to travel to different colleges to widen your reach.
Collect resumes on the spot and schedule interviews quickly after meeting promising candidates. Ideally, you meet with them right then and there. Strike while the iron is hot!
Organize dinners and activities while you’re on campus there to drum up as much interest as possible and have something to invite potential candidates to.
If you’re ready to take things to the next level, and become a true recruiting professional, collect emails from the candidates you don’t close and input them into a free email marketing tool like Mailerlite. Now can set up automated email sequences to stay in touch and continuing recruiting them without having to think about it! It’s passive recruiting!
Hack #3 - Cold DM College Students who follow universities
Here is a sweet hack that you can try if you don’t have much money to invest in your recruiting efforts and are willing to grind!
A lot of college students will follow their universities on Instagram to stay up to date with different events. Choose a university you want to target and start sending direct messages (DMs) to those students who follow the university pages. Your message should be short, friendly, and clear.
In your message, highlight why a job as a sales rep is perfect for them. Talk about managing their own time and earning money while studying. Let them know they can gain real-world sales experience which will help after graduation.
Don’t be too audacious with how much they can earn, even if it’s true. If the number is too high, they’ll think it’s a scam.
Keep it simple – no need for big words or long explanations! Just focus on trying to get them on the phone where you can close the deal.
The key to this one is volume and follow up! Be efficient and send out as many messages as you can. Make sure to follow up at least 2 times to the people who don’t respond and 3 or 4 times to the people who do.
If money isn’t an issue for you but having enough time to execute this strategy is, then try a tool like Stim Social where you can automate the messages and start recruiting reps while you sleep!
Hack #4 - Host a Seminar or Webinar
Grab the attention of college students by hosting a fun and educational seminar or webinar. Pick a hot topic they care about, like mastering sales techniques, ramping up their social game, or crafting an unbeatable resume.
Make it more enticing with the promise of free lunch for attendees—nothing grabs interest like good food.
Start off by delivering solid value for the first chunk of your event. Spend 20-40 minutes sharing skills and knowledge that can transform their everyday life. Keep them glued to their seats with engaging stories and useful tips.
Then, as they are starting to see you as the expert and authority figure, pivot smoothly into your pitch. Present the job opportunity as the next step to applying what they've learned.
Show them how becoming a door-to-door sales rep is not just a job—it's a chance to grow personally while making money. Remember, you're not just offering employment; you're providing an entry ticket into a career path that has lasting value.
Just like with campus blitz, make the most of your event by collecting their emails and phone numbers of your attendees and entering them into your email marketing tool like Mailerlite so the ones you don’t close right there will continue to receive your recruiting emails to maximize your chances of closing them in the future.
Hack #5 - Collaborate with Influencers
I used to own an e-commerce business called CrepePro where we sold French crepe pans. Our most effective marketing strategy BY FAR was working with influencers on Instagram to have them promote our product.
Now there is a big different between selling pans and recruiting reps, but the same strategy can be used to promote door-to-door sales and start recruiting reps.
Find influencers who talk to young entrepreneurs and people interested in sales. Make sure these influencers have fans that fit the kind of team member you need, like go-getters aged 18-30. The platforms I would focus on are Instagram, Youtube, and Tik Tok.
Finding the right influencer will be key and will likely take some trial and error. You don’t need to work with the biggest name in the game, but just someone who has the right audience. Look through their followers and the comments they get to help you get an idea on if they would be the right target.
Once you’ve identified influencers you want to work with, reach out to partner with them so they can spread the word about how great it is to work for your company. They could share stories or make videos highlighting the incredible opportunity that door to door sales is. Make sure to help them craft the message you want them to share.
You will need to offer to pay the influencers but if you find the right influencers and share the right message, this could be your most effective recruiting strategy.
Hack #6 - Host an Event or Tournament
After tapping into the influencer network, consider taking a more engaging approach. Host a local 3-on-3 basketball tournament or organize a Call of Duty competition to gather people who love sports or gaming.
These events are not only fun but also give you the chance to meet potential door-to-door sales reps in a relaxed environment.
Start your event with a shoutout to your company for sponsoring and seize the opportunity to pitch the benefits of door-to-door sales. Make sure to collect emails from all participants for future marketing efforts.
Bring your loyal reps to the event so they can talk up the candidates and share their experiences.
This direct interaction could spark an interest in sales among attendees and expand your recruiting pool with energetic candidates eager for success.
More than anything the potential reps will be enticed by creating solid friendships and wanting to be around a fun group of people.
Conclusion
Finding great door-to-door sales reps can be a game-changer for your business. Remember, creativity wins the race when it comes to recruitment. Try out these innovative ways—whether it's connecting on social media or meeting up at job fairs and events.
Embrace new methods like reaching out directly to college students or hosting engaging seminars. By trying different strategies, you'll likely find those top-performing salespeople ready to knock doors and close deals!
If you’re looking for a “done-for-you” recruiting system to get more meetings booked on your calendar than you can handle by yourself, email me at Nathan@d2dwealth.com or fill out the form below.
