Modern Day Door-To-Door Selling

The door-to-door salesman...something that was portrayed as a viable and legit occupation in the 50's and prior ... at least on the tv shows of past that I watched...whether or not it ever was a legit or viable occupation is probably debatable...but now-a-days the door-to-door salesman, to me, seems like a tough way to make a living, but a person can easily put together the formula for most door-to-door sales techniques used today...

I first want to start out with a story of a guy I knew when I was in my late-teens. He dropped out of high school when he was 16 and became a vacuum cleaner salesman...yes, a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman. I had known him prior to this decision and then reacquainted with him a year or two after this decision and he was loving every minute of it and making decent money. I then began to drill him with questions because I could not believe a person could sell vacuum cleaners and not only love doing it, but make decent money. Then he unveiled the process in how he can sell vacuum cleaners... He has a friend that he pays a certain amount of money per 'successful booking', which means he tries to find a person they can easily persuade into buying a vacuum cleaner with nothing more than a phone book - this is in the 1980's, no internet at this time. So how do you even start there? Simple he says, you first go to small towns...living in the barren wasteland that we do finding a small town is like shooting fish in a barrel. Then you offer a cheap free gift to be delivered to them at a scheduled time, in exchange for the gift they would like to give a simple presentation - not telling them specifically what that presentation is if possible. You know what the free gift was that they were offering? Steak knives...when I heard that, I said who in their right mind would sit through a sales presentation for some free steak knives and he replied...lots! Their next step was to 'rig' their demonstration...no matter what kind of vacuum cleaner you had, the one they were selling could outperform it in every test...because the tests were rigged...they, the salesperson, was always sure to work the equipment, both your vacuum cleaner and theirs...and although by overall appearance it looked as if their actions were similar but they would have subtleties that would insure their vacuum cleaner would easily outperform anything you had to offer. To close the deal, they would sit down with the potential customer with a pencil and a piece of paper to illustrate how much money they would save by purchasing their $850 vacuum cleaner...in fact, they could work the numbers in such a manner that in 1 year that $850 investment in a vacuum cleaner had already paid for itself...it is all common sense and right there on paper, I recall him telling me...as he laughed hysterically! All-in-all it amounted to a fairly good job for him...for being a high school dropout...

Of course the above technique is focused and works the best on the elderly...most younger people today, I do believe, don't give a shit how good or bad their $150 vacuum cleaner works but I am certainly not going to pay $500 for a vacuum cleaner regardless of how good it sucks (I just had to say that...). Just last week, twice in one day, I had 2 door-to-door encounters and with my other more recent encounters with their ilk, I have begun to put together many of their newer, more modern 'techniques' now... I have never gotten close to purchasing anything from these guys lately, but I imagine the pencil and paper to 'calculate' your savings would still be a part of the formula for some of these guys out hawking their crap today...

A door-to-door salesperson that hits our house at least once every 18 months is the magazine seller that needs your 'vote' to win some contest. I had my first encounter with their type when I lived in Phoenix. Their approach is fairly sly... they first 'become your friend' and then move in for the sell. They will start talking with you about anything and everything and really want you to open up to them...start a friendly dialogue. Then after a sufficient amount of time, they reveal that they are in college and in some contest collecting votes and really would love it if you would help them by voting for them. Why sure you say (they hope) because we are now 'friendly' with each other, how can I vote for you...here's how, by buying a magazine or 5. Magazines? You've just bs'd with me for 15 minutes and want me to buy magazines? You knew something wasn't right and now you know exactly why. I've always been a 'tough sell' mainly because it seems that I am always low on funds and to spend money on magazines...no thanks. The last 2 or 3 times these guys have approached the conversation has been quick... they will begin their 'friendly talk' and I will let them get maybe 2 comments to me before I tell them that if they are selling anything that I am not interested. The last guy, just a month ago, actually replied "Oh, no I'm not selling anything." then hesitated a second or two and then said "Yeah, I am." Just leave now.

There is the variation of the vacuum cleaner give-away scheme that I detailed above that is in full swing today that I recently encountered...that is the totally free giveaway... BUT (fine print) to get the free stuff it will need installation or onsite service. This deal may seem irresistable to some but to the savvy, it is fairly transparent. The encounter I had was for a home security system in which the salesman was going to GIVE me $2,000 worth of home security equipment free for merely putting a sign on my lawn. They of course have the 'Don't you want to keep your family safe?' line locked and loaded when needed...but I didn't give them a chance to pull it out on me. You see this scheme is just a ploy to get whatever company they represent a way into your house and to continually hound you into buying something. You see, before they can come in and professionally install the free $2,000 home security system they will need to come in and do a house survey to make sure everything is properly installed. After the survey is complete it is unfortunate to reveal that the free $2,000 home security package isn't going to be enough to properly insure your security and to really be secure it would be best if another $3,000 of equipment is installed...but I know, your thinking $3,000, that's a lot of money...but I'll tell you what we can do for you...since you've agreed to post our sign in your front lawn, we've already done the site survey and we have all the equipment on hand and we are ready to go...how about if we still give you the $2,000 free home security system and we throw in the needed $3,000 additional equipment for the total $5,000 package and let you have it (let you have it...key phrases...you won't be buying it, they will LET YOU HAVE IT...that alone sounds irresistible to some!) for the low price of $1,500 ... all to keep your family safe... if you continue to whimper they will not take no for an answer will lower it to $1,000, then to $500 ... it is unbelievable how the prices fall when you continue to say no until they leave ... but that is the sale.

The final salesperson I've encountered really isn't a door-to-door salesperson per se, but could just as well be. These folks are the 'unbeliavable deal' guys. They typically prey on younger folks selling stereo equipment - and speakers seem to be top choice. Their approach can be talking to you as your driving or coming out of the mall, but their 'style' is somewhat similar. They are ecstatic and excited but they need to get going...for you see they are suppose to be delivering this high-end, top dollar speakers somewhere but the place that they picked them up from gave them 2 extra ones...so now he has 2 extra, high end, top dollar speakers that he needs to get rid of before he takes his van back to work. He would just stash them at his place but doesn't have enough time...he tells you already. He may even have an "invoice" for the speakers that claim they are worth like $500 a piece...but he needs to get these other 2 speakers delivered and get back to work or else he will get fired...so I'll tell you what he'll do for you... if you give him $400 right now, you can have both of them...no questions asked, just don't tell anyone where you got them from... you need to get some cash? Sure, no problem, I'll wait for you...that's how big of a rush they are in.

So there you go... maybe this blog entry will help someone avoid getting stung by one of these guys, but I also think that I may have just given out some great notes to the "up and coming" door-to-door salesperson because being accountable and reputable are two traits these people will certainly not possess.