Just because somebody doesn’t answer the door doesn’t mean you should just shrug and move on. Sure, you’re not going to get immediate results from your door to door solicitation, but you can collect other valuable information that will help you in the future.
Think of yourself more like a private eye than a salesperson. No, I’m not suggesting you climb through their window or rifle through the garbage. I’m saying to take a general survey of the property and look for clues about the owner.
Look at the roof. Is it new or missing a few shingles? Is the house freshly painted? Is there a beautiful lawn or just weeds? Of course, if you are a painter, roofer, or landscaper this is especially valuable, but these details can help almost any door-to-door rep get more from the visit than just silence.
You can tell a lot about a person by the look of their home. Obviously, if everything is beautiful and well maintained this may mean they care about their property and have a good income. Again, if you are a painter or roofer and the home is pristine, you can save yourself time and money by making a note and not wasting postage sending further materials.
If the house is in disrepair, it could mean the homeowner doesn’t have a lot of money or it could mean they need the work but haven’t found the right contractor. Either way, you may have more of a chance with your offer.
Of course, this isn’t an exact science – it’s just about being aware. If you go down a block with 10 homes and are able to only speak to 3 people, you should still have data on every home visited, using the simple guidelines outlined above.
The “survey” type approach for info gathering:
Solar Sales Companies: how is the tree covered? If it is wide open, then you need to talk to them.
Landscaping Companies: pretty obvious here but how about taking some notes on not only how it looks but also what they have. Would a new tree really fit well up front by the entry?
Roofing Companies: if the roof is old, granules are falling off and maybe some missing shingles, then you guest it, its time for them to meet you.
Painting Companies: is the paint faded, chipped, oxidized, peeling off? How about mentioning some new colors that are popular and more modern compared to their 1982 avocado green?
That way, when it comes time to do follow-ups through the mail, you (or your boss) can go through these notes and target more effectively. Instead of sending to 10,000 people this data will help eliminate (or include) certain homes, whittling it down to 2,000 who may be more receptive to the message.
And the best way to keep track of all this “Sherlock Holmes” data is by having your own personal “Watson” – aka SPOTIO. Typing a few quick notes in the app even if nobody’s home will end up being quite valuable to your business in the long run.
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