Going door to door

[daniel@procarpet]

Here is my philosophy on going door to door or passing out flyers. They both work if implemented correctly. In fact you can get awesome results, but we all know that the end result really depends on the content of your marketing pieces and how good a salesman you are. One person might knock on a hundred doors and book 5 jobs and someone else might knock on a thousand and never book one job. However I would never pass out flyers or go door to door for the simple fact that you are not making money when doing these activities. In economics there is a term known as "opportunity cost." What does it cost you to pass out flyers or do door to door sales or what is the cost benefit. I can find people all day long that will pass out flyers for 7 dollars an hour. So in reallity if you pass out flyers then you are a seven dollar an hour employee. I would rather pay someone to pass out my flyers that way I could focus on using my time to make money. Again what is the opportunity cost for you to pass out flyers? Walk or drive around for 8 hours and make no money, or pay someone 60 dollars and clean 3 houses and make 600 dollars.

How many homes are you actually going to be able to visit in a day or hourly? Not that many. If you take into account that most people are not going to be home, their kids are going to answer the door, or you may just be standing arround wasting time, you are likely only going to have one productive conversation for every 10 doors you knock on. Most people are just going to shut the door in your face.

I think door to door should only be used for surrounding homes if you are already working in an area. If you can find someone that is well spoken and doesn't mind the grind of doing all that leg work then go for it. I just really can't see them doing it for a small commission on a one time residential cleaning. Now if it is commercial and they are getting a percentage of a monthly account then I can see them putting in the leg work for the potential future earnings.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

I will be done working across the lake from Ben about 1pm.

Hey Brent,
I'm not trying to discourage you. Just telling you what I'd consider.
I really think it could bring in work. And we all know for a starting business any work is good work as it will bring in many more jobs in referrals.

No worries Don. I am still learning and think advice is priceless. I still have things to learn but never afraid to ask. I am going to check into all the rules and regulation of the towns I want to work in, thanks for finding out I need a permit. I have a job at 11:30 five rooms.

 

[GeneMiller]

Gene out of 100 houses what was your success rate?

Brent I would say that about 15 to 20 people would end up using my service. It works best when you do it around the house you just cleaned and use your customers name. I would forget about numbers for now. 100 houses sounds like a lot to me. Remember you are after jobs and that takes time. I can stand at the door answering questions and making small talk for 15min. before getting in. If you are in a rush because of numbers women will pickup on it.

Knocking on doors is out of most peoples comfort zone.
After you do it for a while it's easy. Just getting a tech to talk to the neighbor who is outside seems tough. I know all the neighbors on my street and even behind me but my wife only knows a few. I talk to everybody who walks past my house when I'm outside. It's just my nature. Everybody has a comfort zone even when it comes to making money. Sometimes it's hard to overcome that. When companies hire salesmen they like them with families and lots of debt. Outside motivation.

My wife sings on the praise team at church. At every service in the begining they ask you to turn and greet somebody new. They ask you to use the 5 row rule. In other words move outside of your comfort zone and meet someone new.
We always have a prayer before going onto the stage. This time the worship leader asked the singers to go out into the congregation and shake hands if they were comfortable. She said it seemed a little odd that they were asking the congregation to do it and they were just turning to each other and hugging. Nobody on stage did it. If you watch the congregation most don't either. I tell you this story for two reasons. One, even in an environment like church people have a hard time going up to strangers but more importantly you want to hire the guy who is actually going around to the five rows introducing himself.

Gene

 

[Brian R]

I would think Saturdays would be the best day to do it.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

I would think Saturdays would be the best day to do it.

Good idea.........I take back some of the metrosexual remarks about you.

 

[Ron Werner]

I went door to door when I first started. Knew nothing about marketing, had no offer other than "if you need something cleaned, give me a call". I never got a call from any houses I called on, but I did get work. I didn't know enough then to track my sources either.
It scared me, but I enjoyed meeting new people.
Got some good ideas, esp the five around door to door, I think would be much better results.

 

[Brian R]

I would think Saturdays would be the best day to do it.

Good idea.........I take back some of the metrosexual remarks about you.

Hey thanks :roll:

 

[bob vawter]

when they open the door...
throw some dirt in.....

i learned that i I love Lucy....!

 

[steve g]

the problem with hiring an attractive female to sell door to door is if they are any good you likely will not be able to afford them, I have some family members that own a summer sales company that sells security systems, the guys that are good can pull upwards of 100k yeah I said 100k in 3 mos during the summer. if you are good at sales you can be successful selling other things and making more money, good salesmen are hard to find and are paid very well.

 

[GeneMiller]

Brent,

Today on the first job after I got my tech cleaning I asked the customer if I could go and introduce myself to her neighbors. She said fine and that I could use her name. I knocked on 5 doors all were home. I gave two estimates and cleaned one room of carpet for one of the estimates. This neighborhood is 55 and over only so most are retired. This result is very typical for this neighborhood. I have my company on their internal website as a preferred vender. Most if not all of the communities locally have their own sites. I am a preferred vender on most. Only a homeowner can put you on. Total time spent not including the cleaning was 42 minutes.

Gene