In this episode of Pest Control Legends, Danny Leibrandt sits down with Josh Schiffman, the owner of Sage Pest Control, an eight-figure company built on culture, strategy, and world-class leadership. From “Most Creative Salesman” and “Top Manager of the Year” to his self-proclaimed “Best Dad Award” and even “Closest to Beating the State Champions,” Josh’s life is a string of stories that all point to the same theme: resilience, grit, and choosing to keep going when most people would quit.

Josh walks through his journey from selling alarms door to door with $200 in the bank and a skeptical father-in-law, to making $35,000 his first summer, $100,000 the next, and eventually transitioning into pest control where he sold over 400 accounts in just a couple of months. He breaks down how he rewrote the “proven script” to sound like himself, why rejection tolerance beats talent in door-to-door, and how tiny tweaks in approach, follow-ups, and long-term thinking turned struggling reps into top performers. His stories about training over 3,000 salespeople, building confidence through small wins, and treating contact info like “the new oil” are a masterclass in how to build a real sales machine.

From there, the episode zooms out into leadership, culture, and what it truly means to build people first. Josh unpacks the “Sage Shield” values behind Sage Pest Control—build, serve, character, courage—and explains how achievement journals, book incentives, service-focused stories, and President’s Club trips have created a culture where technicians aren’t just killing bugs, they’re saving dogs, helping neighbors, and becoming better humans. He closes with a powerful message to owners, reps, and even his own kids: stay off the comparison trap of social media, compete only against who you were yesterday, commit to finishing what you start, and remember you’re probably only a couple of steps away from the breakthrough you can’t yet see.

Josh Schiffman, Owner of Sage Pest Control:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-schiffman-3486a89/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshua.a.schiffman

Email: [email protected]

Danny Leibrandt, Founder of Pest Control SEO:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/DannyLeibrandt  

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/dannyleibrandt/   

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DannyLeibrandt   

Website: https://dannyleibrandt.com 

Pest Control SEO: https://pestcontrolseo.com/ 

Pest Control Legends Platforms:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PestControlLegends 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/46XRaco5nPWcqHWIoQ2eZ5

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pest-control-legends/id1768175212

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b060991d-e5d5-4683-b83f-8db469714ba7/pest-control-legends 

Audible: https://www.audible.com/podcast/Pest-Control-Legends/B0DGWL3119?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp

Podcast Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Josh Schiffman 

01:59 Josh's Journey into Pest Control

13:03 Transitioning to Sage Pest Control

17:57 Insights on Door-to-Door Sales

28:51 Resilience in Sales and Life

39:15 Growth of Sage Pest Control

41:12 Building a Sales Team and Company Culture

48:37 Learning from Mistakes and Celebrating Milestones

54:50 Creating a Strong Company Culture

01:01:05 Community Engagement and Service

01:08:27 The Importance of Personal Growth and Development

01:17:12 Final Thoughts and Advice for Business Owners

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