Door Knocking 101 - Page 2 - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

vinylguy · 01-22-2009, 05:16 PM

publisher1 ,
you are way off base with your phil rea comments. i tend to think that the way you do things in your post are intrusive. let me ask you are you currently operating your own home improvement co?
or are you just trying to sell articles.? phil rea would smoke you any time with his material and to boot he wouldn't come on a site like this and start putting down your work. he has entirely to much class for that.
in my area using some of phils techniqes we have lots of success and i think it was you that said on here about 2 years ago that it would run its course and make people mad. well it don't oh sure theres always the 1 or 2 boneheads but most people actually are happy we found them because they didn't know who to call.
your other ideas for lead sources are good one however they are staples to running and staying in business and nothing new to the way most on this site are already doing.
i guess what i'm saying is like anything else for some its great for some not but who are you to judge with your opinion not being fair?

Publisher1 · 01-22-2009, 07:54 PM

Vinylguy, you make a good point. Am I speaking too harshly of someone I know only a little? Trouble is, while I acknowledge canvassing is often effective (and sought to see first-hand the process), it is against my values. Phil Rea is undoubtedly effective in teaching people how to sell. Maybe this type of in-your-face selling is right for you and your business, but I'd rather develop relationships based on respect and lasting trust.

However, while I may have the right to my opinion that sales techniques where you don't leave cards so people won't know who to call to cancel appointments, or where you push people to canvas door-to-door to win barbeques, or you wear large name badges to build 'trust', are downright destructive in the long term, I don't have the right to slag Rea without knowing him and his approaches better.

His training programs undoubtedly offer good value for those who wish to go this way. Here is a link to his website.

Mr. Mike · 01-22-2009, 09:00 PM

Its Ok publisher, sounds like excuses to not use Phils ways. Please put up a comment on how to knock a door.

Winchester · 01-22-2009, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Mike

Please explain because I am thinking that me at your door is going to make an appointment quicker than a card or postcard.

Really? Try it at my house see how quick it sells....

I think the one or two people who don't mind, and give you the sale wouldn't be worth pissing off the other 29 people that have just put you on their black list.

MCerminaro · 01-22-2009, 09:40 PM

Maybe door knocking can work for some particular niches. But I don't think your gonna sell someone a basement job, or an addition job just because you came to the door. There are some things you just can't "SELL" Sure there are those people who just can't say no, and are too timid too slam the door in your face. Some people just don;t wanna be mean. To me its just not my cup of tea. I have been pretty succesful without trying to pressure anyone into anything and have never went door to door.

My wife is a "nice" person. We constantly have contactors minions out trolling are nieghborhood looking for a new sucker, I mean client. I had a guy at my door trying to "SELL" my wife a siding. Granit my siding iwas 3 years old and in desperate need of replacement

. She politley told him she was not interested.......3 times......... as she tried to close the door, this jackass put his foot in the door to try and continue to "SELL" her. At that point I felt the need to introduce myself. In an extremely unpleasent mannor, I guess I'm 1 of the 2 boneheads.

Needless to say this asshole did not finish canvasing our street. I was suprised to learn he was actually working for a very reputable contractor in my area. I lost all respect for that contractor and did call to complain about his "SALES" techniques.

Now when these door to door idiots come around trying to "SELL" me something, I answer the door with my 2 pitbulls and they usually get the hint!!!

Publisher1 · 01-22-2009, 10:12 PM

Canvassing is a valid approach primarily for services where you can see problems externally, and is especially relevant if you are doing things like insurance-covered storm repairs.

Interior work is another story, and I think you will have an uphill battle winning the kind of trust to truly get in the house with a canvassing approach. Inducing and encouraging word of mouth referrals is obviously the best way; and engaging community service (especially with opinion leaders in the community) will certainly build your connections effectively.

Hard rock selling works, in some cases, but many people prefer to buy because of their free will not because someone bugs them at their door.

HomeGuard · 01-22-2009, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaros bros.

I don't think the survey questions are a good idea. First of all, you're disguising the real reason why you are there. Call it what you will, but it's not being honest. And if you aren't honest from the beginning, how do you expect your clients to be able to trust you in the future.
This is the same thing that I tell clients when they ask if I "take cash." In fact, this a selling point for me. Honesty from start to finish is extremely important. I think there are more ethical ways to approach door to door.

Josh Jaros

Its a technique that helps to lower that sales barrier. We live in a world of white lies. As long as I plan/will to do a great job for that customer, then I and most likely the person, wont care exactly how we met/started our relationship.

I appreciate that you are honest in every way with your customers. That is a trait that will enhance the image of contractors everywhere. I imagine that you are the same in your relationship with your significant other, if she asks "if this dress makes her look fat "---what do you say? Probably a small lie occasionally, but nobody got hurt. I feel this is the same as my survey.

BTW: the survey also helps me create specialized marketing for neighborhoods, so it is one reason that we go to the door.

RidgeWalker · 01-22-2009, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Publisher1

Vinylguy, you make a good point. Am I speaking too harshly of someone I know only a little? Trouble is, while I acknowledge canvassing is often effective (and sought to see first-hand the process), it is against my values. Phil Rea is undoubtedly effective in teaching people how to sell. Maybe this type of in-your-face selling is right for you and your business, but I'd rather develop relationships based on respect and lasting trust.

However, while I may have the right to my opinion that sales techniques where you don't leave cards so people won't know who to call to cancel appointments, or where you push people to canvas door-to-door to win barbeques, or you wear large name badges to build 'trust', are downright destructive in the long term, I don't have the right to slag Rea without knowing him and his approaches better.

His training programs undoubtedly offer good value for those who wish to go this way. Here is a link to his website.

Every one has their own style and opinion. What we need to remember is that we are dealing with are business owners here and we have to respect that we might have differing opinions on how to operate a business.

Personally I never left a card with any one especially if they turned me down and then asked for a card. I'm only interested in buidling relationships with people who want to do business my way, not thier way.

Once I get a job I would knock the horn and tell the home owner i was doing the neighbors job and if we got any garbage in their yard to call me and I'll make sure it gets cleaned up. Of course this is the intro into getting an inspection which leads to the sale. It's just how I do it.

Mr. Mike · 01-22-2009, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Once I get a job I would knock the horn and tell the home owner i was doing the neighbors job and if we got any garbage in their yard to call me and I'll make sure it gets cleaned up. Of course this is the intro into getting an inspection which leads to the sale. It's just how I do it.

You da man! I like this and will use it.

pcplumber · 01-23-2009, 01:18 AM

I hope it works. I can use one more good weapon.

Mr. Mike · 01-23-2009, 12:42 PM

Quote:

I hope it works. I can use one more good weapon.

Always looking to get a little better.

outlaw · 01-23-2009, 01:23 PM

I'd rather eat nails than knock doors. That being said, I'd rather knock doors than try to feed my family nails.

There are some hi-pressure contractors (really just marketing companies that don't have a clue how to really do any of the work) that work in my area. They give a bad name to the real contractors who knock doors.

Publisher1 · 01-23-2009, 06:38 PM

Someone just showed up at our door. One look, a glare of anger, and "slam", door closed.

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but our home is our space, and solicitors are not welcome, and I don't feel I should have to post a sign to say that.

Ditto for telemarketers.

Business to business (during business hours), I don't have a problem -- my receptionist can be courteous and fend off the intrusion.

My home is my castle. Weekend family time is for the family. If I want to read an ad, I will. If an "ad" knocks at my door or phones me, I will slam the door shut, or tell the person who calls to take a hike. (Fortunately, I won't even give them a chance to identify themselves, or their brand would be totally mud to me.)

I am not the only one with this attitude. Why does the government introduce "do not call" legislation; and why do many communities try local anti-solicting ordinances (I know soliciting is a constitutional right in the US, so is slamming the door on solicitors!)

For anyone who thinks this form of marketing is okay in normal circumstances, look carefully at these attitudes. If you want to door-knock, find the exceptions that justify the call.

Yes, if you are working next door and wish to tell the homeowner that you will clean up the mess, the knock is okay. Yes, if you are showing up right after a storm and know there could be serious insurance-covered roof damage, that is okay (but best to let me know ahead of time you will be calling, and explain the reason.)

But please don't show up at my door after dark at dinner with some name tag and clipboard. I will slam the door on you. If you do this, you will have trouble finding good employee canvassers. You will end up with people with brain-dead minds or insensitive personalities making these door-knocks, and that will make things worse for your brand. Find another way.

pcplumber · 01-23-2009, 06:55 PM

I better rephrase this. Actually, we do very well and always look for more and better ways.

Perhaps, the last post implies desperation. This may be because I spent $260 for the training disc and several hundred dollars for employment ads.
I am excited about door-to-door because I think it may be a terrific way to generate business. It may turn out to be the least expensive advertising media. We have areas where I know almost every furnace has holes in the draft hoods and where almost every house has at least one or two leaks in their drain pipes.

All the negative members can say whatever they want, but this is a huge gold field waiting to be tapped. I do not agree the perception that all door knocking is tacky. With the right approach I expect to get a warm welcome from most people. I think I came up with some new ideas to kick around. Before we canvas a street, I will send every home a personalized letter telling them that we will be knocking on their door to drop off our gift packets. I will include, in the letter, a picture of our salesman actually knocking on a door, a picture of our company's identification card, and perhaps an explanation that we will be dropping of toilet tank test tablets, and tell the customer we will show them how to use the dye test tablets. I may send a letter one week in advance and even drop off another notice, on their door, the day before we canvas.

All I need is the employees with the marbles to actually do the canvassing. I'm afraid of rejection. When the first customer slams their door, on me, my day will be over.

Bill Z · 01-23-2009, 07:10 PM

In the spring of 1970 I was hired by a home improvement company to knock on doors. Being a senior in high school I barely knew what aluminum siding was, let alone how to canvass. They gave me a clip board and told me to say I was taking a survey, "What's the next home improvement you folks are planning on your home?". It was lame.

Eventually I had some training from what you might call tin men. Sure, they had a lot of stories, but some of them were terrific canvassers. Although when I started working on my own I found the truth worked a lot better than BS.

Over the years I learned a few techniques that really seemed to work. There are some people who would never pick up the phone and call for an appointment, but will buy from someone who knocks on their door and asks them to buy. I could tell lots of stories about canvassing, they're mostly too long to type out.

People were a lot more friendly in the 70-80s. Most women stayed home and raised the kids. You could make an appointment with her to come back that evening to see her and her husband. Times have changed, now most couples both work to support all their silly ass habits, toys, and SUV's. It's hard to find anyone at home during the day, unless you know where to look.

Thirty two years ago (@23 yrs old) I started my own company in a town I had only visited a few times in my life. I just went door-to-door and told people what I was doing. After a year or so everyone knew I was the guy in the tan Chevy Blazer who worked on houses, the phone started ringing and I've put canvassing on the back burner except for tough times when we get low on work. Business has done pretty well overall, sometimes it's just better than others.

Canvassing is art AND science. There are common sense rules to get you in the right neighborhoods during the daytime hours and increase the odds someone will answer the door. As the seasons change, so do the best targets for canvassing. Rural areas are ten times easier than cities, and
canvassing works best if you sell a lot of different products.

As my company now specializes in room additions, the odds are pretty slim that we'll hit a house where they want to build on. It can be done, small houses on big lots, growing families, and all sorts of other logic..but the odds are slim. Some specialty products work much better.

Take roofing for example. If a shingle roof lasts an average of 20 years, that means 5% of all houses will need a roof every given year. In a market containing 200,000 houses, that means there are 10,000 roofing jobs to be had every year! Check out the permits for any given year. In that same market area you might have room 1200 permits. I'd rather canvass for roofing than rooms any day.

As this thread progresses, I'll wait and see if anyone reveals the same techniques I developed for my own canvassing, and I'll back them up. If I spill them now, you'll think I'm crazy, they seem wild, impossible to work, and wacky. That's what it takes to be a good canvasser. If it were easy, you'd already be doing it.

I look forward to reading the techniques that are working for others. Just to get you started, answer this question:

What is the first thing on the mind of the customer when s/he sees you at the door?

pcplumber · 01-23-2009, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Z

In the spring of 1970 I was hired by a home improvement company to knock on doors. Being a senior in high school I barely knew what aluminum siding was, let alone how to canvass. They gave me a clip board and told me to say I was taking a survey, "What's the next home improvement you folks are planning on your home?". It was lame.

Eventually I had some training from what you might call tin men. Sure, they had a lot of stories, but some of them were terrific canvassers. Although when I started working on my own I found the truth worked a lot better than BS.

Over the years I learned a few techniques that really seemed to work. There are some people who would never pick up the phone and call for an appointment, but will buy from someone who knocks on their door and asks them to buy. I could tell lots of stories about canvassing, they're mostly too long to type out.

People were a lot more friendly in the 70-80s. Most women stayed home and raised the kids. You could make an appointment with her to come back that evening to see her and her husband. Times have changed, now most couples both work to support all their silly ass habits, toys, and SUV's. It's hard to find anyone at home during the day, unless you know where to look.

Thirty two years ago (@23 yrs old) I started my own company in a town I had only visited a few times in my life. I just went door-to-door and told people what I was doing. After a year or so everyone knew I was the guy in the tan Chevy Blazer who worked on houses, the phone started ringing and I've put canvassing on the back burner except for tough times when we get low on work. Business has done pretty well overall, sometimes it's just better than others.

Canvassing is art AND science. There are common sense rules to get you in the right neighborhoods during the daytime hours and increase the odds someone will answer the door. As the seasons change, so do the best targets for canvassing. Rural areas are ten times easier than cities, and
canvassing works best if you sell a lot of different products.

As my company now specializes in room additions, the odds are pretty slim that we'll hit a house where they want to build on. It can be done, small houses on big lots, growing families, and all sorts of other logic..but the odds are slim. Some specialty products work much better.

Take roofing for example. If a shingle roof lasts an average of 20 years, that means 5% of all houses will need a roof every given year. In a market containing 200,000 houses, that means there are 10,000 roofing jobs to be had every year! Check out the permits for any given year. In that same market area you might have room 1200 permits. I'd rather canvass for roofing than rooms any day.

As this thread progresses, I'll wait and see if anyone reveals the same techniques I developed for my own canvassing, and I'll back them up. If I spill them now, you'll think I'm crazy, they seem wild, impossible to work, and wacky. That's what it takes to be a good canvasser. If it were easy, you'd already be doing it.

I look forward to reading the techniques that are working for others. Just to get you started, answer this question:

What is the first thing on the mind of the customer when s/he sees you at the door?

You got me excited. I can't wait for your answer.

I think your answer would be fear of something.The first thing I think when someone knocks on my door is someone is going to waste my time with a sales pitch for something I am not actively seeking. I don't worry about getting robbed or raped. Have you seen my picture?

I do not like the idea of giving the customer a questionnaire. I think this is intrusive, rude, and I should not be harassed with something that benefits someone I don't know, and for a product I am not actively seeking. I always look at the questionnaire as a sly and dishonest way to probe a customer so the sales person can use the information in the questionnaire for an argument to close a sale.

rbsremodeling · 01-23-2009, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcplumber

You got me excited. I can't wait for your answer.

I think your answer would be fear of something.The first thing I think when someone knocks on my door is someone is going to waste my time with a sales pitch for something I am not actively seeking. I don't worry about getting robbed or raped. Have you seen my picture?

I do not like the idea of giving the customer a questionnaire. I think this is intrusive, rude, and I should not be harassed with something that benefits someone I don't know, and for a product I am not actively seeking. I always look at the questionnaire as a sly and dishonest way to probe a customer so the sales person can use the information in the questionnaire for an argument to close a sale.

Are you ugly?

Publisher1 · 01-23-2009, 07:32 PM

Readers here should know that I separate my personal experiences from research into what works and what doesn't -- after all I flew to Ohio to observe canvassing training first hand, at my expense. Equally, however, I look at my own attitudes and experiences, and correlate these with millions of others, to know there is something seriously wrong with most intrusive marketing. "Intrusive" is the key word -- if you are going to do stuff that steps into my face and space, you had better have a very good reason, or you will pay the price with damage to your business and brand.
Certainly, a stranger showing up at my home door after dark at dinner time on a cold winter day has picked the wrong time to build trust and rapport. Slam!
Can you warm up the process, study demographics, learn the circumstances where canvassing works and is effective? Sure. Done properly, this approach is undoubtedly effective in certain circumstances, and if you need to put food on your table in tough times, surely you can learn from others, here on this forum and through the specialist consultants who provide training and support for this kind of work. Certainly a strategic canvassing campaign may be much wiser than throwing money into advertising in some untried publication, because some smooth-talking salesperson played to your emotions and you thought the ads might work. (Wiser way to buy advertising: Poll your current and former clients, and learn what they like, read, listen to, and respect. Then call the publication or media outlet!)
But you must be careful, and thoughtful, and realize that bad canvassing or telemarketing can do far more damage to your business than any sales you might actually make.
Remember, however, much canvassing and telemarketing travels down the slippery slope of offensive, irritating, and scammy stuff. Be very careful before you start down this path. Plan your strategies and learn to avoid the sloppy and insensitive stuff that angers consumers -- like the unfortunate person whose boss told him to knock on my door tonight.