Have you ever wanted to go door to door but didn’t know where to start or what to say?
I absolutely love door knockin’ and pretty much built my business from it in the beginning.
I call it Instant Gratification Sales. It gets you jobs right then and there, when you need them most.
I’ve been getting a lot of interest about it and I’ve been kicking around the idea of writing a
"Door to Door How to Guide".
My questions is:
How many of you are having trouble with door to door?
Would you like a system to help you start making it happen in you business?
In this area, door-to-door soliciting in residential areas requires a permit and even with the permit is prohibited by ordinance in all neighborhoods that have a “No Soliciting” sign posted at the entrance to the subdivision…more than 60% of them do (and all of these are the nicer areas).
your “guide” would just consist of knocking on a door and asking to do an estimate…in variations.
telling the homeowner you were in the area wanted to ask the neighbors if they would like an estimate.
not to down your idea on making some money by putting together a PDF book, but most people can figure that out.
In alot of areas soliciting is prohibited, or at least the areas your really want to be in…so mailers are your best for those.
Maybe because you live in HI, but most people will get annoyed by knocking on doors.
nearly all the upscale neighborhoods around here won’t even allow you to hand out or hang fliers, let alone knock on doors. I have customers in two neighborhoods where they can’t have their garage doors open longer than 10 minutes without being in violation of some covenant. Many neighborhoods here won’t even allow you to park a “signed” commercial vehicle in the driveway overnight. I own a condo in Daytona Beach that I’ve had for 20 years and they won’t allow me to park my motorcycle in the parking lot when I am there for Bike Week. Gotta love HOA’s in Florida! That’s why I live out in the woods on a dirt road
I say buy a sales book written by Zig Ziglar or Dale Carnagy and go to work. They’re books are simple and don’t over complicate things. Window cleaning sales is simple.
I’m glad you asked this question, Chris, I was just about to. I’m starting to go door to door tomorrow. My plan is to hit up these condo/townhome communities that are all clustered together EVERYWHERE around these parts. As far as no soliciting signs go, well, I ignore them. Haven’t had an issue yet. If someone DOES per chance decide to call the cops, I’ll claim ignorance… “oops, sorry”, and head on into the next town.
If you want to brainstorm, give me a call anytime. I’m sure we can help each other out a bit with this.
I use to install peek holes door to door when I was in collage. I did this successfully for years, making more money putting in peek holes than I was suppose to make when I got o of collage. Here are the things I learned that made me successful, I think these apply no matter what your selling.
[B]Most importan[/B]t. When you knock on a door stand back about about 6-10 foot especially for women. If your to close they feel like your in their space and their comfort level with you is way down.
Give them a reason to do the work on the spot. I would tell them that it was $25 dollars to put the peek hole in. If they told me that they wanted to think about it and come back latter I would tell them I would give it to them for $20 if it would save me the trip back. I knew that my odds of getting the job if I came back was at best 10% even if by chance I was lucky enough to get them at home again. When ever you drop your price you have to justify why you dropped the price or you are saying is “I thought you were and idiot so I was trying to overcharge you but now I’m dropping my price for no apparent reason because I’m desperate”. They will never buy from you.
Once I got one in the neighborhood, they would write me a check it would have their name on it and then when I knocked on the next door I would tell them "That Bob (point to the house) had us out to put a peek hole in his door and we usually stop around the area to see who else would like one while were here. This probably worked the best, this tells them that we are a real business- someone in their neighborhood checked us out already and liked our work.
It’s hard but talk slow, almost to slow, put in pauses it makes them hang on your words and they listen better. Your first reaction is to talk fast in hopes of getting their attention before they slam the door but talking fast makes you look desperate making them want to slam the door.
Don’t hand them any literature or biz card when they first answer the door. Two reasons, one you have just given them a excuse to blow you off and call you latter. Two they will be reading the card or flier and not listening to you. In fact if their was something hanging on the door I would take it off and put it upside down on the ground or even under the doormat so it would not be a distraction.
Door to door is hard work, people can be real rude don’t take it personal and don’t take it to the next door. Remember their are only seven A**holes n the whole world, they just move around a lot.
Anyway, that is the sum knowledge of my experience in door to door. Hope it helps you build your business.
Well i’m glad you’re doing well, but some of us smaller / newer guys need to get creative during the summer slump. I’d rather be out building business on an off day than waiting and expecting it to come to me.
It works, I did it 20 years ago. I found the best time is between 5:30 and 7:30ish. People are home… or should I say the Husband is home. I found that one out of every 23 calls I made I got a sale and I easily filled up my schedule.
But I still remember this one time when a lady looked very scared and was shooing me away through her door window. And now a days with home invasions etc. I just don’t know. Commercial is another story.
There is a marketing strategy called five around. You place a door hanger on the neighbors doors of people you have worked for. Of course you try to speak to the home owner when you drop off the door hanger or business card. If I was looking for work I would market the neighbors of every happy customer I have.
The five around method makes you less of a threat. The happy customer has given you permission to make the sales call, an endorsement. It’s called a warm lead in sales. The home owners are far more willing to listen if someone they know likes you.
Five Around is the three houses across the street and the two on either side of your happy satisfied customer.
PS
This works well on storefront sales as well. I never give up on a neighboring store. I stop in every few months or at least wave hello and smile as I walk by. Eventually some of them will give in and sign on as customers. Keep it light and friendly and don’t forget to smile.
Hey Chris,
I’d like to know more about how to market storefront customers by using your email marketing system I saw on your web site. I have only used the face to face, belly to belly method so far.
Awesome, five around is great! It’s amazing how taking just a little extra time before breaking out the squeegee can really make you some money. Keeping it to five also is good because it’s a manageable number that doesn’t sound overwhelming.
