Door knocking: the most expensive touch, and where it pays

A knock costs more than any other touch, so it pays on saturated lists like auctions and probates. See where it fits and how to route the doors.

• Door knocking is by far the most expensive touch you can make, and people build entire businesses on it. A friend in the Midwest runs a team of three doing about $1.8 million a year just off door knocking probates and foreclosures.
• Where it sits in the order: the fifth channel, bolted on after SMS, calling, direct mail and deep prospecting have been run on the list. Or the opposite: if you are just starting out and super bootstrapped, you can start here.
• Why it works where other channels do not: a knock cuts straight through saturation, however crowded the list is. Auctions are the example, because a saturated list needs a much higher quality touch.
• The bootstrapped path: knock the best auction list in your county, 50 to 100 doors a month, leave something at every door. Expect few deals, maybe 5 to 10 a year, which is a real start for one person.
• The tool: DataSift with eCanvasser. The route comes off the same list the ranking picked; you could knock the whole list if you wanted to.
• Foreclosure timing from the ladder: start knocking at auction minus 45 days, stop dialing at auction minus 3 days, and send your strongest closer, because the touch only pays with your best person on it.
• [PLACEHOLDER: confirm in vault/NLM: the eCanvasser setup and export steps, what to leave at the door, the script at the door, and pay for a hired knocker]