Brent Bird Picture this: a homeowner sits on their couch scrolling past ad after ad, each one promising the best deal on roofing. They’re distracted, half-reading, half-skipping. Now imagine the same homeowner answering their door and meeting a contractor who points out some overlooked damage on their roof.
One interaction is easily ignored. The other is hard to forget.
That contrast captures the discussion around why door-to-door sales continue to evolve and work for many industries in the modern age. Digital ads, once the quick fix for lead flow, are eating deeper into budgets with every click. Door-to-door sales, meanwhile, continues to prove that face-to-face conversations carry a kind of weight no screen can match.
Quick Jump Links
The Climbing Price of Online Visibility
Talk to almost any business owner and they’ll tell you: ads are more expensive than ever. The numbers back them up.
In 2025, home service companies are paying nearly $91 per lead on search ads. Roofing and gutter businesses are seeing more than $228 per lead, and windows and doors aren’t far behind at over $200. Solar sits on a wide spectrum—anywhere from $25 to $300 depending on the market and exclusivity of the lead. Even pest control, which tends to be lower, averages around $45. And that’s just the cost to get somebody to have a conversation with you.
Here’s a quick snapshot:
- Home services (search ads): ~$91 CPL (LocaliQ)
- Roofing & gutters: $228+ CPL (LocaliQ)
- Doors & windows: $200+ CPL (LocaliQ)
- San Diego solar: ~$300 CPL (SolarReviews)
- Pest control: ~$45 CPL (Lira Agency)
These aren’t just line items. They’re reminders that while ads can still get you in front of potential customers, you’re paying a premium for the chance, and fighting for attention in a noisy space.
Door-to-door can be inexpensive by comparison.
What Modern Door-to-Door Really Looks Like
Door-to-door today isn’t the image of someone wandering aimlessly with a clipboard. It’s more intentional and guided by data. Companies using it well see it as a system, not a gamble.
Consider the following examples from these case studies:
- Take Moss Roofing. After decades of relying on referrals and advertising, they wanted growth they could control. By leaning into door-to-door after storms, their team was able to have meaningful conversations at the exact moment homeowners were thinking about their roofs. Within a year, their revenue jumped from $7M to $10M.
- In Colorado, Soco Solar had a clear target: 40 new accounts every month. Before they had solid tracking, that goal felt like guesswork. Once they added performance visibility through modern D2D tools—tracking every knock, every conversation, every appointment—they not only hit their target, they surpassed it month after month.
- Escalade Roofing focused on tightening the gap between first contact and a signed deal. By streamlining their process and tracking every step, their reps could move from knock to close in minutes, not days. That speed kept homeowners engaged while interest was fresh, cut down on wasted follow-ups, and gave their team a reputation for efficiency.
- And then there’s Mayer Solar. Entering new markets is tricky, but they didn’t leave it to chance. They used territory data to zero in on high-value homes and skipped the wasted knocks. For them, professionalism meant precision, and that made door-to-door a deliberate part of their expansion playbook.
Why People Still Answer the Knock
At the heart of door-to-door is something technology can’t easily replace: trust.
When someone opens their door and sees a real person, they get a chance to ask questions, express concerns, and get immediate answers. That interaction is powerful, especially in industries where the stakes are high: A roof replacement, solar installation, or telco contract isn’t the same as buying a gadget online. These are decisions where trust truly matters.
Think about it this way:
- After a hailstorm, a homeowner may click on dozens of ads, or they may answer a knock and talk to someone pointing out real damage on their roof. (What converts better?)
- A family considering home improvement might ignore another sponsored post, but they’ll often listen to a rep who can explain savings while addressing their actual property
That personal interaction often feels more real than another digital promise.
Where It Works, and Where It Doesn’t
Door-to-door isn’t perfect. It comes with payroll costs, training, and turnover. Not every community welcomes a knock. And not every product benefits from it.
Door-to-door shines in industries like roofing, solar, and telco, where deals are high-value, complex, and trust-driven. For quick, transactional products, digital ads can be the better fit.
The truth is, most businesses end up blending the two:
- Ads build awareness
- Reps on the ground turn that awareness into real conversations
- Together, they create a pipeline that’s both broad and deep
Finding Balance in 2025 and Beyond
The rising cost of digital ads is forcing businesses to rethink how they grow. And the resilience of door-to-door shows that human connection is still a competitive advantage.
Key Takeaways
- Digital ad costs have surged: roofing, windows, and doors often exceed $200 per lead
- Digital ads remain valuable for awareness and quick reach but come at rising costs
- D2D is most useful in high-value, trust-driven industries like roofing, solar, and telco
- Face-to-face conversations build trust that’s hard to replicate online
- You can start small with a couple of canvassers and scale from there
Want to Learn More?
Striking the right balance between digital reach and in-person trust is the smartest play of all. To see how other companies are approaching this, explore more case studies.
