Door Knocking Scripts That Actually Work in 2026

The door knocking scripts that worked in 2018 do not work anymore. After a significant hail event, the average homeowner in a target zip code is answering the door to their tenth canvasser in a week. By the time your rep walks up the driveway, the homeowner has already built a mental template for how this conversation goes, and they are ready to shut it down before your opener finishes.

The teams that are still closing at 2026 rates have figured out that the script is not the script. The opener is 80 percent of the conversation. If you sound like every other canvasser, you lose the door in under four seconds. What follows is a set of real scripts we have watched top reps run successfully, broken down by situation.

The Post-Hail Cold Approach

The worst opener in roofing is "Hi, I am with ABC Roofing and we were in the area." Every homeowner has heard it. Here is what works better: name the storm, name the street, and give the homeowner a reason to think you know something they do not.

Try this. Rep knocks, steps back two feet so the homeowner does not feel crowded, and says: "Hey, sorry to bother you. There was a storm that moved through here on the twenty second, and three houses on this block already had hail damage flagged on their shingles. I was not sure if anyone had checked yours yet. I can walk your roof for free and tell you in five minutes whether you have anything worth filing a claim on."

What this does: it removes the sales frame. The rep is not there to sell a roof, they are there to tell the homeowner if they have a problem. The homeowner does not have to commit to anything. The ask is five minutes and a ladder. Every word after "free" should be delivered slowly, because that is the moment the homeowner decides whether to let you past the door.

The Referral-Based Follow-Up

Referral knocks are the highest-converting door you will ever run, and most reps still blow them. The mistake is leading with the company name. The homeowner does not care about your company, they care about the person who sent you. Lead with the name.

"Hi, are you Mrs. Callahan? Okay, good. Your neighbor across the street, Mike Brennan, just had us replace his roof last week. He mentioned you guys had the same storm damage and asked me to stop by and take a look at yours while I was out here. Has anyone been out to check it yet?"

That opener lands because the first name out of the rep's mouth is someone the homeowner knows. It positions the rep as a favor being done, not a sale being pushed. Never use this script unless the referral is real. Homeowners talk to each other, and the second a rep gets caught lying about a referral, the whole block becomes a dead zone.

The "My Neighbor Already Signed" Objection

This one usually means the homeowner is interested but wants to feel like they are not the first domino. The wrong response is to argue that your company is better. The right response is to validate and redirect.

"Yeah, a lot of people on this block have already gone with someone. What I can tell you is this: even if you have already decided to use another contractor, it is worth getting a second set of eyes on your estimate before you sign anything. Half the estimates I see from the other guys are missing code-required items that your insurance will cover. If you want, I can take five minutes and check your roof just to confirm the other guy found everything. Worst case, you know your estimate is solid."

That reframes your rep as a second opinion, not a competitor. Once they are on the roof, the conversation is yours to lose.

The "Not Interested" Recovery

When a homeowner says "not interested" before you finish your first sentence, the worst move is to argue. The best move is to agree and give them an out. "Totally fair, I get it, you are busy. Before I go, can I just ask - did anyone tell you that the storm on the twenty second had one and a half inch hail in this zip code? Because most insurance carriers cover that automatically, and if you do not file a claim within a year, you lose the right to. I am not asking you to sign anything, I am just letting you know the clock is running."

That is the one line that gets doors reopened. It is not a pitch, it is a warning delivered as a courtesy. The homeowner who was about to close the door now has a reason to pause, and the rep has earned three more seconds to make the real case.

Tone and Body Language Beat the Script

None of these scripts work if the rep delivers them with their shoulders squared at the door, a clipboard held across their chest, and a polo with a logo bigger than the company van. Step back. Relax your posture. Speak slower than feels natural. Make eye contact but not stare contact. The best canvasser we have ever tracked at RoofKnockers had a 41 percent contact-to-inspection conversion rate, and his entire secret was that he sounded like he did not care whether the homeowner said yes. Because he did not. He had forty more doors to knock.