There are few things in life that I despise more than some stranger coming to my home uninvited to try and sell me something. Canvassing is worse than spamming. Canvassers have a special place in hell somewhere below the lawyers and just above the Mussolini Suite.
Is Canvassing like Spamming?
It seems everywhere I look, you have various types of companies who are canvassing these days. Yes I agree it works. But just how many times a week does someone want a stranger knocking on their door trying to solicit or create a conversation with the homeowner. Even though we are working harder to gain opportunity. Is canvassing along with every other company who is knocking on doors going to seem like we are spamming the neighborhood?
1 - 20 of 32 Posts
:laughing:I promise not to droop anything on your porch.
You could be mising out on some nice pizza deals, Jack.I never ever read ANYTHING that gets hung on my doorknob
Trust me.A guy like me never,EVER misses out on pizza deals.:laughing:You could be mising out on some nice pizza deals, Jack.
Goodys Pizza right around the corner from my house.4.99 for a large one topping.Very very good.Great sauce.Cosco Pizza tastes better than Pizza Hut.. bigger size, better tastes... somehow, I wish Cosco starts giving out coupons reducing their $9.99 (all time) to just 7 or 8 buck$ per pizza only.. Now, that's would be great!!! .. Ummm... :whistling:thumbsup:
Whenever I answer the door I'm overcome with pity. Look at that poor soul who has lost all respect for theirself. What kind of desperation must a person be facing to have to stoop so low as to knock on my door and ask me for money? How sad, how utterly pathetic. Then I snap to my senses, "Not interested", SLAM.There's one thing worse than a stranger knockin on your door to sell you something. That is being the one who is knocking on the door trying to sell you something. It does work, but truly it SUCKS to do it.
I'd put canvassing and telemarkting in a different place than spamming. In both, a live,human person has to make the "intrusion" in your life. It is costly, painful and induces burn-out, except for a small group of thick-skinned (and I would argue often morally insensitive) individduals. With spam, "you" don't need to interact with your victims, and you can multiply many times over.
Like everthing, there are degrees of (de)gredation in all three of these marketing methods. On a warm, sunny afternoon, when the canvasser sees a real need (perhaps representing a contractor doing work immediately near your place, the canvassing isn't so bad; and an unsolicited phone call to a business (during business hours) promoting a service that the company can actually use is probably okay, especially if it routes to a well trained receptionist/screener..
I don't doubt that the canvassing/telemarketing and even spamming techniques work -- you can read other postings on this forum which advocate, and I've spent some time and money investigating first-hand how to canvass effectively -- and I occasionally send out "mass" emails (but not to complete strangers.
But I still think you are way ahead of the game if you can create an environment where your marketing makes you welcome in people's homes and places of business, where your call, if it is made, is answered with excitement rather than dread.
Can this be done? Community involvement and contribution, article writing, speaches, great websites with effective (not tricky)search engine optimization, they all work.
I hate canvassing, still, but I accept that i some cases, especially if you need to generate cash quickly, it can be effective, so I won't diss it as a marketing method. Just don't knock on my door if you are a canvasser. I'll slam it in your face. (And I'm not proud of my bad manners here.)
Like everthing, there are degrees of (de)gredation in all three of these marketing methods. On a warm, sunny afternoon, when the canvasser sees a real need (perhaps representing a contractor doing work immediately near your place, the canvassing isn't so bad; and an unsolicited phone call to a business (during business hours) promoting a service that the company can actually use is probably okay, especially if it routes to a well trained receptionist/screener..
I don't doubt that the canvassing/telemarketing and even spamming techniques work -- you can read other postings on this forum which advocate, and I've spent some time and money investigating first-hand how to canvass effectively -- and I occasionally send out "mass" emails (but not to complete strangers.
But I still think you are way ahead of the game if you can create an environment where your marketing makes you welcome in people's homes and places of business, where your call, if it is made, is answered with excitement rather than dread.
Can this be done? Community involvement and contribution, article writing, speaches, great websites with effective (not tricky)search engine optimization, they all work.
I hate canvassing, still, but I accept that i some cases, especially if you need to generate cash quickly, it can be effective, so I won't diss it as a marketing method. Just don't knock on my door if you are a canvasser. I'll slam it in your face. (And I'm not proud of my bad manners here.)
I suppose, it comes down to what you want.
Canvassing is not immoral, illegal, nor unethical. From my 36 years of experience, it has been the least expensive, easiest, and fastest way to get leads.
For myself, I am afraid to knock on a door and get rejected, so I hire people to do the canvassing.
The first and most important reason for working and making the maximum amount of money is for my family. Making good money allows me to provide my family with the best tools and schools starting with day care to college. By using the marketing ideas for my business my children, two ex-wives, and current wife will never have to work one day for the rest of their lives. This gives us the opportunity to enjoy life as we are only on this planet for a short time.
It depends on what you want in life or what type of lifestyle you want. It also depends on how hard you want to work to get what you want, but it is much more simple to make millions of dollars than most people think.
Point! If you want to make $millions listen to the people who are making them. You are welcome to drop by my office in Los Angeles any time and we will show you how simple and effective canvassing is.
I edited this post and removed the paragraph telling how much money we make, but it is a lot.
Canvassing is not immoral, illegal, nor unethical. From my 36 years of experience, it has been the least expensive, easiest, and fastest way to get leads.
For myself, I am afraid to knock on a door and get rejected, so I hire people to do the canvassing.
The first and most important reason for working and making the maximum amount of money is for my family. Making good money allows me to provide my family with the best tools and schools starting with day care to college. By using the marketing ideas for my business my children, two ex-wives, and current wife will never have to work one day for the rest of their lives. This gives us the opportunity to enjoy life as we are only on this planet for a short time.
It depends on what you want in life or what type of lifestyle you want. It also depends on how hard you want to work to get what you want, but it is much more simple to make millions of dollars than most people think.
Point! If you want to make $millions listen to the people who are making them. You are welcome to drop by my office in Los Angeles any time and we will show you how simple and effective canvassing is.
I edited this post and removed the paragraph telling how much money we make, but it is a lot.
PcPlumber, I certainly respect your perspective and appreciate that canvassing is effective, but I continue to resent the intrusion of canvassing (and telemarketing) at my home, and am sure a very large percentage of the population does at their homes, as well. (I also sense I may have had a small part in your decision to start your canvassing program!)
Marketing that "requires" the recipient to receive your "message" unvoluntarily, to me, is wrong. However, I don't doubt it is effective and (subject to some obvious restrictions, imposed in part because of consumer anger about these forms of intrusive marketing) is totally legal.
Nevertheless, I'm sure you appreciate that while I hold my nose with anger and rejection at the canvassing approach, in my space of observing which forms of marketing successful, I don't dispute that canvassing can be highly effective.
Just don't send your canvassers to my door (obviously you won't.)
Marketing that "requires" the recipient to receive your "message" unvoluntarily, to me, is wrong. However, I don't doubt it is effective and (subject to some obvious restrictions, imposed in part because of consumer anger about these forms of intrusive marketing) is totally legal.
Nevertheless, I'm sure you appreciate that while I hold my nose with anger and rejection at the canvassing approach, in my space of observing which forms of marketing successful, I don't dispute that canvassing can be highly effective.
Just don't send your canvassers to my door (obviously you won't.)
Canvassing is wrong becasue you require consumers to "pay" (with their time, inconvenience and loss of privacy) for YOUR marketing message. So is telemarketing, and so is spam.
Marketers can justify it because it is effective and legal, but why do legislatures impose "do not call" list rules, and why do many municipaliities have "no canvassing" rules (admittedly unconstitutional)? Because a very large, probably the majority, of the population hate these intrusions.
We can rationalize it all the way to the bank -- and it can make your business plenty of money (and maybe even allow it to survive in hard times) -- so the principals of moral relativity apply here. If you want to canvass, go ahead, but don't go near my home when you do. I reserve the right to be very rude!
Marketers can justify it because it is effective and legal, but why do legislatures impose "do not call" list rules, and why do many municipaliities have "no canvassing" rules (admittedly unconstitutional)? Because a very large, probably the majority, of the population hate these intrusions.
We can rationalize it all the way to the bank -- and it can make your business plenty of money (and maybe even allow it to survive in hard times) -- so the principals of moral relativity apply here. If you want to canvass, go ahead, but don't go near my home when you do. I reserve the right to be very rude!
Merbs, I agree with you 100 per cent. Canvassing may in some cases be your route to survival -- you may also discover unmet needs and opportunities.
The issue is whether it is right to build your business on canvassing and here I think the arguments are more debatable. Sure, canvassing works, but I really think marketers should receive permission rather than intrude in the space of the many people who don't want anything to do with them, in the search for the few who do. (And for those who advocate canvassing, please be aware that I understand the arguments in favor of the practice, and the ways you can mitigate some of the negative qualities of the activity. I still believe in the majority of cases it is wrong and I would support a local ordinance restricting it near my home.)
(And, yes, I slammed the door on a canvasser this evening, with a curt "no" as soon as I saw that clipboard and nametag.)
The issue is whether it is right to build your business on canvassing and here I think the arguments are more debatable. Sure, canvassing works, but I really think marketers should receive permission rather than intrude in the space of the many people who don't want anything to do with them, in the search for the few who do. (And for those who advocate canvassing, please be aware that I understand the arguments in favor of the practice, and the ways you can mitigate some of the negative qualities of the activity. I still believe in the majority of cases it is wrong and I would support a local ordinance restricting it near my home.)
(And, yes, I slammed the door on a canvasser this evening, with a curt "no" as soon as I saw that clipboard and nametag.)
1 - 20 of 32 Posts
- This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum
A forum community dedicated to professional construction and remodeling contractors. Come join the discussion about the industry, trades, safety, projects, finishing, tools, machinery, styles, scales, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Recommended Communities
Join now to ask and comment!
