Door to door sales require special daily preparation to be
successful. Door to door sales allows less time for a good
impression. Door to door sales require ways to dull the
pain of rejection. This article discusses several ways to
do these important steps in door to door success.
The First Door Is The Car Door - The hardest thing about
door to door sales is getting started. They say the first
door is the car door and what it means is that it's tough
to get out and start knocking. You need to convince
yourself every day that you are helping people by telling
them about your product or service. You need to sell
yourself until you feel sorry for anyone who does not have
your products or services. This is critical to give you the
courage to sell door to door.
Dress For Success - People are more concerned about opening
the door than ever before. What impression do you give? You
have only seconds to make an impression that will allow you
to make contact. First, be spotlessly clean. Be very well
groomed. Greasy hair or dirty hands are enough to prevent a
contact. Dress like a person they would want to talk to.
Depending on the neighborhood, it could be a person in a
suit, it could be a person in a golf shirt and kaki pants.
I suggest you try different attires and see what works. For
example, I would be much more likely to open the door to a
person in a suit. Are they the FBI? My pastor? Tax
collectors? Try different attire and see what gets good
results. Men should beware of beards. I have one and I can
tell you it makes door to door sales much harder. Also
leather jackets, cut away t-shirts, and tattoos are all
handicaps in door to door sales.
Be sure to have visible ID. People expect it. Wear your id
openly and turned so the prospect can see it before they
open the door. Picture ID is best. If possible have signs
and graphics on your vehicle that identifies you and your
company
Be sure to back away from the door after knocking so they
know you will not rush the door to push in if they open it.
If there is a porch, you might consider walking down the
steps and waiting off the porch. This also means the
prospect has to open the door to ask who you are. Don't
look in the windows after you knock, don't touch their
stuff. Don't pick up their paper or mail - even to hand it
to them.
Opening Lines That Work - In door to door sales, you have
only a few seconds to make an impression. You need to have
your opening prepared. You need to practice, keep track of
results and keep improving your opening. Do not start with
telling them about your product. If they wanted it, they
would have called you. Here are some suggestions to try.
If you can see something on the outside of the home, try
talking about that. For example, if you are a roofer, you
might open with "Good morning. I am Carl from Acme Roofing.
I stopped by because as I drove by I noticed the flashing
has pulled away from your chimney. Has it started to leak
onto your ceilings yet? I stopped to tell you a few things
you could do to fix that problem before it becomes a really
costly one."
Notice that this approach is all about the customer. It
starts a conversation they want to join. Work on a similar
idea for your product or service. Do not start with "I am
from Acme Roofing. Are you interested in a new roof?" That
just isn't going to work in today's market.
Notice that the opener offered a solution for free. Later
you can convince them it's better to hire you for help but
starting a conversation for free assistance is a lot easier
than selling a stranger.
Setting Reasonable Contact Goals - Many door to door
salespeople are out there with no idea what to expect in
terms of numbers. What is success? You need to have a
reasonable expectation of contacts and sales. While these
numbers differ in different industries, here are some rough
ideas to start with.
If you sell door to door for 4 hours per day set a goal to
start of 10 contacts per hour or 40 for the day. That is an
average of 6 minutes per door. Set that goal and stick to
it. Make a commitment rain or shine. Try different hours,
different attire and different openings to see what works
well for you. You have not failed if it doesn't work at
first unless you don't change anything! Don't worry about
selling to start. Just work on your mind and confidence
until you know you can have a good conversation with 40
people per day. Since your goal is based on four hours of
selling, if you missed you goal, ad an hour until you reach
it.
The next goal you need to set is for meaningful contacts.
What percentage of the doors you knock do you enter into a
meaningful conversation? I will suggest you start with a
goal of just one in ten or ten percent. That means if you
contact 40 people per day, you will make a meaningful
presentation to four.
Content and presentation numbers and goals are very
important to success. There is no rejection involved. So
far your success is based on hours worked and doors
knocked. Now let's look at sales.
Setting & Achieving Reasonable Sales Goals - You need to
set a reasonable goal for sales so you can celebrate
victories every day. I suggest you start with a goal of one
sale in 4 presentations or a closing rate of 25%. Based on
our goal for contacts of 40, and 4 presentations, that
would give you a goal of one sale per day. If you don't
meet that goal, look into training, and trying new ways to
close. Analyze why they say "no" and try to solve the
problem. Having a goal and meeting it gives you a much
better feeling each day than just hoping and not keeping
track.
There a few tips for door to door sales that we know will
help you stay up and motivated. In door to door sales often
rookies make sales and performance fades with time. Working
on the techniques in this article will help you keep that
"rookie edge" and sell more every day.
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This article is free door to door sales training. It helps
with door to door success including opening lines that
work. For more information on door to door sales training
visit http://www.door-to-door-sales.info or call
800-941-0068
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