Door to Door
Ludicrous as it was, Mr. Stafford had chosen Jerry Sandler to be the sales manager. That’s right, Jerry “The Sandman” Sandler. The guy who was so boring, he literally put everyone to sleep. Sales would surely go straight to the toilet. The odds were high that one of us would commit suicide or murder over the next three months if we have to listen to Jerry give even more than one motivational speech.
In some ways, it’s not his fault. Honestly, it’s like asking a rock to tap dance. As much as he may think his feet are moving, um…they’re not.
Thankfully the management part of this job is really just a few questions. How many people did you speak to today? How many contracts did you get signed? By the time most of us finish our evening sales visits it was creeping up on 8 p.m. and the meetup was mostly a perfunctory exchange of paperwork and physical confirmation that you were still alive after venturing onto strangers’ door steps and into their houses with no warning or arrangement.
The art of door knocking was brutal, either way. Some people do in fact want to hear more about their dirty water pipes and how it’s affecting their health and appearance, but quite a few people actually pretend not to be home. Even worse, they chase you down their driveway threatening to call the cops or inflict on you a variety of physical harms. The fact that we wear ties only increases the odds that people assume we are Mormons or Bible salesman, which I guess could be worse. “City water or well water?” You can see the fear in some of their eyes. Oh my God, he’s going to baptize me right here and now.
For me, if I can get to second base, I’d say I have a 60% chance of closing them. Second base is being invited into the living room (not bad) or kitchen table (the best) to hear more.
I view the kitchen table like the set of well-rehearsed play. I’m very comfortable in that arena because I’ve closed so many deals speaking in the kitchen. One of the tricks I learned early on was to say yes when you are offered anything….coffee, water, pie, chips…you name it. It starts to embed the habit of them giving you things and making you happy.
It also shows them that you have the manners enough to understand that it makes them feel special to be able to give a stranger comfort. It makes them feel better about themselves, which is exactly the frame of mind you want them in as you start to explain how the 1032 Deluxe can change their life for the better.
People who mistrust you and are looking for reasons to say no are not in a place where they can relax enough to enjoy themselves around strangers. Sharing a cup of coffee or complimenting them on their lemon cake can be a complete icebreaker, and allow me a soft entrance into my pitch, which I had jones to perfection.
