With literally thousands of door to door alarm sales people walking around neighborhoods, distinguishing yourself, your brand, your offering(s) and how you present all of this at the door is essential to your success. The more consumers become educated about home security alarms and their choices, the more difficult it will be to actually sell them on anything.
This is why having a pitch that instantly begins to develop a relationship of trust as soon as the resident opens their door is so important.
Are you ready to Amp Up Your Door to Door Alarm Sales Pitch to Boost Sales Goals?
The quicker you are able to establish a relationship with the person at the door, instead of putting on a hard sell, the more success you will achieve. Oh and speaking of more educated consumers…there are also negative articles flying around the Internet saying alarm salespeople lie, are sleazy and just plain unethical which furthers consumers’ perspectives about door to door alarm salespeople. It just takes one bad apple to spoil the whole barrel!
So, with these two major things to consider — more educated consumers and negative perspectives of door to door alarm sales people — you must rely on your face to face pitch to win the customer over at their door.
Amp Up Your Door to Door Alarm Sales Pitch Through a Conversation
In general, any sales pitch should be simple… simple for the rep/canvasser to learn, simple for the team manager to train it, simple for the person at the door to comprehend it; but, it should also be effective. When you think “pitch,” the words “simple and effective” should immediately pop into your mind.
To make a pitch effective think of it as a conversation. An effective conversation doesn’t mean that it has to be full of industry-specific jargon that only people within that field know and understand. Instead of making you look like you know what you’re talking about, this could have a negative effect of making the person at the door feel inferior to you because they don’t understand the words coming out of your mouth.
It doesn’t have to have scary statistics or scare tactics either. An effective conversation is all about developing a mutual relationship of trust and respect while each person involved in the conversation has a fair chance to express him or herself.
Put yourself in the mind of the resident.
How would you like to be treated by a door to door salesperson?
Do you want a hard sell or a simple conversation that engages you with an open-ended question and someone who listens to what you have to say and offers you a solution?
Dare I say that most people prefer a simple conversation. People are constantly being sold something. There’s commercial after commercial on primetime television; pop-up ads on websites we visit; ads on our favorite podcasts and even ads on social media platforms that learn your habits and what you search for most online and then put ads in front of you that reflect your behaviors. The last thing someone wants at their own home is to open their front door and be sold.
So, what do you do? You’ve got sales goals to meet and you need to make money to pay your bills. Relax and have a genuine conversation at the door. Start by introducing yourself and your company, and then asking an open-ended question about one of the customer’s pain points that your security alarm can solve. For example:
“Hi, I’m Bob with Safer Than Safe security alarms. I was in your neighborhood checking in on Mr. and Mrs. Smith, two houses down, about the alarm system we just installed. Speaking of alarms, I don’t know how you feel about home security, but to me, an alarm system is the way to accurately monitor your surroundings for safety. What do you think?”
Let’s dissect this opening blurb. This statement:
1. Introduces the salesperson by name and identifies the company he represents, which helps establish credibility.
2. Mentions a neighbor by name, which tells the person at the door, if Mr. and Mrs. Smith trusts the person standing in front of me, then I should, too.
3. Sets the tone for the question by mentioning keywords—“home security,” “alarm system,” “monitor,” and “safety”—leading the person at the door to respond by telling the salesperson what he or she thinks.
At this point, Bob needs to listen to what the person at the door says and respond by sharing knowledge about his alarm system and home security. As Bob listens, this shows the person at the door he genuinely cares and respects what the person has to say, and by taking the time to properly educate the person at the door, this helps to gain the trust of the resident.
Just a Bit of Science For Your Door to Door Alarm Sales Pitch
I truly believe historical knowledge applied in today’s door to door alarm selling arena would prove to be very successful. Let’s look at the Nobel Prize winning Prospect Theory, developed in 1979 by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. This theory explains how people make trade-offs that involve risk, and this is exactly what you are selling as a door to door alarm salesperson.
Think about it. You are essentially asking people at the door to hand over their hard earned money in exchange for a risk that could or could not even occur. It’s almost like buying insurance—you are required by law to have insurance to operate a motor vehicle, but if you never have a wreck then you really don’t reap any benefit from it. As an alarm salesperson, it is of the utmost importance—because you selling a trade-off—that you know exactly what to say at the door, based on proven scientific study.
The Prospect Theory is full of weird mathematical symbols, letters and numbers—it’s literally like watching Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory explain quantum physics or something! But, all it really says is…
A buyer must:
Be convinced that the product works;
Understand the threats against him; and
Know about the risk involved.
Buyers, in general, however, would rather take the chance that nothing bad will happen to them or their family than just purchasing your security product for increased peace of mind.
Deep down as an alarm sales rep, you know this, even if you don’t understand why. It’s an objection that you must overcome on a daily basis at the door.
Combining Science with Genuine Conversation For Your Door to Door Alarm Sales Pitch
To position your alarm sales pitch based on the Prospect Theory and the power of relationship-building conversation you need to fulfill each buyer’s needs by:
- Building a relationship at the door to foster trust so they believe that your product works;
- Educating the buyer at the door so he/she understands exactly why he/she needs your product; and
- Communicating clearly to identify risk in a non-threatening way.
Here are a few tips to help incorporate the Prospect Theory and simple, effective conversation into your door to door alarm sales pitch:
Clearly communicate all contract requirements, any monthly monitoring fees, equipment installation costs and disclose if the monitoring station is UL approved and offers fire and carbon monoxide detection.
This helps communicate risk—monitoring fees indicate risk of burglary; fire detection indicates risk of fire; carbon monoxide detection indicates risk of carbon monoxide poisoning—without actually throwing out scary statistics or using scare tactics to force the sale.
1. Qualify your alarm system. Be sure you understand ALL the benefits of the system you are selling and how to present it to the customer to educate exactly why he or she needs your alarm system.
2. Qualify the customer by identifying the ability of the customer to pay for the installation, ongoing service agreement and other fees. This further builds trust at the door because you are showing that you are genuinely interested in their financial well being.
3. Increase RMR (recurring monthly revenue) by selling fire alarm contracts and service contracts that protect all security equipment. Offer interactive video monitoring, if possible, to increase lifetime value to your customers. The goal is to be their security guy or gal for the next 15+ years!
4. Demonstrate how your offering is different and/or better than what the person at the door has heard from the previous 7 alarm salespeople who have knocked his/her door this week.
If the person at the door told all 7 of those salespeople “no,” then find out why so you can modify your pitch at the door to show unique value.
Offer value for FREE. Here are some examples:
A free handout with a hot topic in security such as “How to Future Proof Your Home for Security.” Also, check out Reader’s Digest article “13 Things a Burglar Won’t Tell You” by Michelle Crouch who got a look inside the minds of convicted burglars. VERY interesting read!
Bonus Tip 1 for your Door to Door Sales Alarm Pitch: Any information you reproduce, be sure to indicate where the information came from and make sure the source is reputable.
Do a free 32-point security audit of the home and surrounding area. Identify existing security measures and identify areas of weakness. Compile the information into a free report with a customized security suggestion that includes your products and services, and how they can solve all the security issues identified in the report.
Offer 1 free hour of work during installation. Consider bringing along testimonial forms for the customer to complete or ask for reviews online. Don’t forget to send a thank you card to the customer.
Bonus Tip 2 for your Door to Door Sales Alarm Pitch : SPOTIO users can automate sending thank you cards by creating a Zapier “zap” with Thankster.
Give the person at the door a free security sign to hang on their door or window, or steak into their yard. Explain how some studies have shown something as simple as a sign to be a deterrent for burglars.
Bonus Tip 3 for your Door to Door Alarm Sales Pitch: My Security Sign offers FREE PDF printables of security signage, so print and distribute at the door.
What are you going to add or take away from your door to door alarm sales pitch to amp it up and boost your sales goals?
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