Most of us have been taught an opening for door-to-door sales that is guaranteed to fail. I don’t know who came up with this method, but it doesn’t work and closes a lot of doors that might be hot and open.
The classic opening to avoid goes something like this: “Good morning. I’m Carl Davidson from Acme Inc., the world’s largest fountain pen distributor. I’d like to show you some of our products. Can I come in?”
This common opening contains several important errors. Let’s take a closer look at each.
Mistake #1 It’s about you and not the customer. I agree that we should identify ourselves, but it should only be our name and company name. Then immediately switch to what’s there for the customer. In our example, the customer probably doesn’t care that we’re the world’s largest distributor of anything, and the customer probably wasn’t in the house waiting for a fountain pen salesman to come by. They are not interested and when they are not interested, the door is closed.
Mistake #2 is continuing to focus on ourselves with the phrase, “I’d like to show you some of our products.” It’s about us and not the customer. I feel like the door is closing right now with this approach.
Mistake #3 Asking a question, “Can I come in?” This is a giant bug because there is no way to recover when the client says “no”. Never ask a question that they can say “No” to.
Now, let’s look at alternative ways to reframe your opening to focus on the customer and create enough interest for them to be let in the door.
If you’re selling something that can be seen from outside the house, try to find something you can point to to create interest and happiness about what happened. For example, “Hello, this is Carl from Acme Roofing. I’m sorry to bother you, but I was driving and noticed one of his chimney flashings is loose and may cause a leak. Get out there and take a look.”
I think you’ll agree that this opening generates interest. Once they come out with you to look at the problem, they are glad you came and have their attention. Note that this is a statement and not a question and that it is not trying to sell anything directly.
For those selling something that cannot be seen from the street, there are several other openings that are effective. Let’s take a look at a few:
the intriguing question
Try to create an intriguing question that will generate interest without trying to sell. If you’re selling burial services in advance, you might ask something like, “If death affected your family today, how many of the 48 decisions you would have to make right away would you be willing to make?” If you’re selling a freezer plan, you might ask something like, “If our company gave you 50 pounds of steak every year for free, would that help you with your food budget?” This is a way of explaining how much they will save, but keep in mind that there is no direct sale yet. You always walk in the door with interest and then start selling.
The neighbor
Another way to generate interest is to explain that you were just at a neighbor’s house and that you have a few minutes before your next appointment to try out their equipment for free.
Not only does this put you in the door, but while you’re inspecting, you can usually sell add-ons, upgrades, or new gear. If they say they don’t have equipment, it’s a good time to explain that most of their neighbors do and why.
the unusual
Don’t be afraid to try unusual things and see if they work. One of our clients was assigned a visit to dissatisfied customers who had left the cable company due to poor service.
The opening we resolved was, “I’m Carl from Acme Cable. I was sent by the company to offer you a bribe.” Pause while you try to figure out what he means. Then explain to them that they left your company and that you have been sent to snatch them back. It’s just a different way of saying you have a special offer.
I hope you will try some of these approaches. Don’t stick to the classic ego-centric methods taught by most companies. Try new approaches. Keep what works and discard what doesn’t.
The change will also keep your interest.
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