Canvassing: You Be The Judge!

Roofman20033

Well i just got the approval for a $16,400 roof today. It is the Certainteed slate shingle. I was in a neighborhood canvassing when i saw this homeowners roof was bad. He was out mowing his lawn when i stopped. I introduced myself and my company, and set and appt. Really nice guy with very rich tastes, so he wanted the best! Did some research and leg work for him and now i have the job! So my question to you is does canvassing work?
Oh and by the way he lives just 8 miles from my house!!

Vinny

I would say clearly it worked for you anyway. And I think from previous threads on this subject, it works overall if you know what to do.

Congrats

BTW, curious, is that a good price??? Low, high, regular??? Did you get a deposit???

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JonM

I hope he was smart enough to ask the right questions...like licence...your insurance agents name, references. If not he's a fool. But congrats to you...

Roofman20033

I will be honest guys, canvassing is not something i love. I ran an advertisement in a local direct mailer that went to 18,000 homes. Not one call. On a Saturday afternoon i drive into a neighborhood and start knocking doors or talking to people in their yards. Everyone for the most part is very pleasant and willing to talk. I like the fact that i get to initiate the process and i am in charge. Typically when the homeowner calls you, they feel more in charge.
2 hours a day during the week and about 4 hours on a Saturday will produce about 8-12 leads on average. Sometimes more sometimes less. But for the investment, well worth it! Think of the total cost per lead!! Pretty darn cheap compared to other marketing!

MattCoops

I'm too chicken to go knock on their door.
I usually do doorhangers. And I usually stuff them in the newspaper slot under their mailbox from my car.

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Vinny

I hear you there Matt. Thats why as a capitalist pig I intend to do the only thing I can do: Hire someone with thicker skin than me that can do it

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The Right Way Driveway Company
If you say you cant, your a loser. If you say you wont, your a quiter. Which one do you want to be?

Chris G

That takes balls of steel to drive onto someones porch and do that. Of course they would need a new porch then.....hmmm great idea!

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MattCoops

If the mailbox is on their porch then I fold the doorhanger up into a paper plane and throw it through the air.

Or if they have a dog in the yard I tape it to their tail.

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Matt with Cupan Custom Tile & Paint of Lowell, Massachusetts
Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
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Cole

x10!

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nap

part of the problem with going door to door is those gypsy type folks that rip folks off and then disappear. Most people in my area are a bit wary due to such scams..

If you can get past that reservation, I would think the face to face would work well. Nothing better than them seeing me drive away from signing a contract in my MB SLR

MattCoops

I wish we had "gypsy folk" around here.

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Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
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Roofman20033

I don't give the homeowner the impression that i am walking the entire neighborhood and knocking every door. I tell the homeowner that i was inspecting a neighbors roof and i happen to notice their roof is in need of attention.
The same thing can be used for windows, siding, gutters, etc. After i get my first appt. i then use that homeowners name when talking to neighbors.

Example:
Hi my name is_________ with ABC remodeling and i was talking to your neighbor John Smith on Oak street about a roof and i happen to notice your roof is in need of some attention. I dont know if you know john, but we are going to be doing some work with him for the next week or two. what i do is i come out and inspect your roof and give you a free, estimate on your roof. I am going to be in the neighborhood tomorrow or the next and i have a 5 or 7 o'clock appt. open which is better for you?
Dont ask do you want a free estimate, as most will say no, or give me a card and i will call.
If they start to say well we dont know if we are going to do this project this year or not, then you respond. I can certainly understand that, but it makes sense to at least get an estimate to see what your looking at correct?
There can be some sales at the door guys, but we are a service industry. Most homeowners do not go into a showroom for most roofs, siding or even windows. Put yourself in their shoes.
If you had a major home improvement project, and you dont know who to call and go to your phone book. You finally pick some contractors and call. Maybe one doesnt show up. Maybe one comes in a hard sells you trying to get you to sign. It can be a rough experience for many inexperienced homeowners. Now you come to the door knock and introduce yourself, blah, blah, blah. Pretty convienent for the homeowner wouldn't you say?
Yes you will piss off a few, very few howmeowners, but so what! 90% of the people are very pleasant even if they are not interested.
It all boils down to a mind set. Believe it can work and it will!!
I honestly hate when a homeowner calls me because know they feel like they hold all the cards and they are usually shopping and have called at least 2 other people. Most of your canvass leads will never get any other estimates!

vinylguy

roofman,
great advice to be giving. and so you all know canvassing is still going strong here for us fact is its our biggest lead source and we are spending less money out and getting better results.
some on here have called and spoke with me already and they know the success were having and they are doing the same thing also.
we kind of started a little support group with each other that really helps alot.

Carport King

I do the marketing for our company and if I did an 18,000 piece mailer and recieved know calls I would be worried.

Have you tested your marketing piece before you mailed?
Look guys I know that when you spend that kind of money you need a return. It upsets me to here that you recieved no phone calls.

I am willing to help anyone and look at there mailing piece to give you my marketing skills.Sometimes the smallest changes can make the difference.

Please do not take this as a slam because $$ are tight for every one now with the market and sometimes we just need a little help from all of us. I have sent my magazine and postcards to several on this post hoping it can give you Ideals to help market your product or service.

Ed the Roofer

I was one of the recipients. CarPort King projects a very good image and his marketing materials are Top Notch.

Ed

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Dale S.

Warning: long post ahead.....

I have been watching the threads on canvassing and wondering if it was something I should try out....then...

I was meeting with our marketing pro and she relayed this story to me without my asking.

She does work for a local dry cleaning company. Helping them with marketing, growing a business, etc. The dry cleaner targeted a 400 home area that is upper end in our area. Almost all of the homes are above $500-$600K and basically surrounding a golf course. The dry cleaner started with a flyer to the homes offering a pickup and delivery service. No response. Then the dry cleaner and the marketing gal started going door to door. Bottom line: the dry cleaner now has 36 clients in that specific area. About a 10% close rate! Whenever anyone talks about a 10% close rate, I am all ears!

I asked her if people were rude and she NO. Their were a fair number of people who simply said, not interested. She would thank them and move on. I would have swore that people would become very upset with a door to door person, but this was not the case at all. This gal is middle aged and presented herself as a friendly, neighborly person with an offer. Her opening line was something like, "Hi, I'm with (dry cleaning company) and you might remember a flyer that we sent to you recently. We are starting a pickup and delivery service in this area. Are you interested in having this service or currently use a dry cleaner?" Nothing very complicated in her approach. Oh yeah, they had a flyer with the pricing on it that they handed out if the person was interested and got the customers name and phone number. Then the dry cleaner followed up with a call in the next couple of days for those interested.

She and the dry cleaner owner would spend 2 hours (from 4-6pm) on the days that they went out.

I am not a huge fan of a door to door approach because of personal reasons, but if I could get a 10% close rate, I am sure thinking VERY hard about doing this.

Just a note from the field in Southern Oregon...
dale