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Is Door To Door Selling An Effective Way To Get Business?

By Carl Davidson

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Published: 31May2009
Word count: 632
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It may come as a surprise to some but lowly, low tech door to door selling is one of the most efficient ways to generate leads and make sales in today's market.

Over the last few years, the effectiveness of telemarketing has been seriously hurt by the do-not-call legislation as well as by caller ID and by people giving up their land lines and going all cellular at home.

Emailing or for business has long been difficult but newer spam filters and watchdog groups are making email marketing also much less effective.

In addition, newspapers around the county are declaring bankruptcy as their readership and advertising revenue is eaten away by online sources. Even yellow page directories are far less effective than they were even 5 years ago.

The answer for inexpensive and effective ways to get prospects and sales may well be selling door to door. There are a few things to consider before trying this approach.

Pay Plan

Our first suggestion is that you consider a pay plan with dignity plus security that you can afford. Straight commission generally attracts employees who were rejected for every other job and who will be working with you temporarily until something better comes along. Consider paying a small salary, based on the number of demonstrations performed (backed by a signed form from the customers) or even a very small amount per contact. This, combined with a smaller commission is more saleable to better sales applicants that giant straight commission plans but is still very affordable. Remember, if they get the leads and they get only commission, why work for you? They could sell themselves and make more.

Identification And Image

We suggest that you hire only people whose appearance and demeanor matches your customers' expectations. Have them dress business casual and if possible, wear clothes that display your corporate logo. You can get picture ID tags made up on your computer or using a company like Fedex-Kinkos. Wearing picture ID is essential today in creating enough trust to get the door opened. Many companies also have a vehicle with full graphics to help identify the salesperson as actually coming from your company. This may seem expensive but it is actually a traveling billboard that many clients tell us generates sales wherever it is seen.

Reason For Visit

You need to train your canvassers on having a good reason why they are in the neighborhood and knocking on doors. A good reason is an important step today. The reason could be that you were in the neighborhood at a home down the street, it could be that you noticed something like a failing roof or a broken window as you drove by. What ever you do, you need good believable reasons for being there and knocking in order to be well received.

Invest In Specific Door To Door Sales Training

Finally, because of the level of rejection in door to door selling, training and support are more critical than in other areas of selling. Train your staff on how to get in the door, how to present in door-to-door sales situations, how to get the sale, as well as common objections they will face. Also, be sure to cheer them everyday by celebrating some victory they achieved. Don't make all their status depend on sales. You might recognize a salesperson for more contacts than any team member or more days without a sick day etc. We also suggest that you go over realistic numbers they can achieve. Don't depress your staff by telling them numbers for getting in and for closing sales they are unlikely to ever accomplish.

With proper training and a good team coach, you can have a very successful door to door sales team that delivers sales and leads inexpensively and efficiently.

This article discusses the benefits of door to door selling and offers tips for selling door to door in your business to sell more. If you want more sales and leads, learning how to sell door to door may be of benefit to you. For more information on how to sell door to door, visit Sell Door To Door . We have lots of sales training tips on our blog at sales training blog.

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