Calling all Super-Canvassers,
where are you?
Last month I talked about how Clark Kent truly could be your super canvasser, not just a mild manner employee. This month we’ll cover a little of what you want to consider when looking for the ideal canvasser… and for most, the attributes will be different.
Let’s begin by understanding that recruiting is easy! Yes, you read that right; recruiting is easy! It’s easy when you have a clear picture of what you’re looking for in a canvasser. Without it you might as well continue running that classified ad in the local paper and fielding calls from every person desperate for a job. You don’t want just anybody on your canvassing team… you want motivated people with the energy and determination that will elevate the results of your lead generating efforts.
Ben Franklin defined insanity as “continuing to do things the same way and expecting different results”. If you’re still running the same traditional advertising for canvassers and you’re not happy with the results then guess what… you are, by Ben’s definition, insane. So rather than commit yourself, consider the following when building a canvassing team.
There are 3 steps I’ll cover here for recruiting top canvassers
- What do you want to do with canvassing in your business?
- Recruiting is marketing
- Recruiting on autopilot
What do you want to do with canvassing in your business?
It’s easy to say, “we need a quality lead generation method… let’s canvass”, but that would be premature without asking some questions. Here’s a few questions I ask my clients.
Canvassing will play what role for you?
- Will it be a primary or supplemental source of your leads?
- Will it be part of your sales person development process?
- Will you target only specific demographic markets with canvassing?
Defining these first will make most of the decision making during the development and implementation process easy. If you’re going to rely on canvassing as your primary source of leads then you’re likely to put more time, effort and investment into finding quality people; and their development. Canvassing, unlike traditional mass media advertising, puts people into a firefight where they can develop quickly; saving you time and money. And, if you follow the process I’ve created for interviewing potential recruits you can quickly disqualify the “job-seekers” and single out the best fit for the position.
Recruiting is marketing!!!
There’s a difference between marketing and lead generation. Marketing is everything you do in advance of the function of finding business. Lead generation is the act or function of generating your leads. It’s the TV and radio commercials; the ads or mailers. It’s only good business to investigate and research new areas of profit before committing valuable company resources to new products and/or markets. So if you were to consider a new market or product line what would you ask yourself?
- What’s the profitability of the market, product or service?
- Who’s the competition?
- Who’s been successful, unsuccessful and why?
- How is the target market making their buying decisions now?
- How is it being communicated with?
- How much of the market do you want to control?
- What resources will you commit to attract your share?
- What value will you bring to the market?
- How will you generate leads, communicate with, and close your share of the market?
If you were selling replacement windows, you wouldn’t be advertising in an area of newer homes; nor would you try selling gutter protection systems in a neighborhood without trees. The same is true when recruiting canvassers. It’s valuable to define the type of person you want to hire, then focus your recruiting efforts towards that segment.
Sit down with a blank piece of paper and design your ideal canvasser. Consider:
- Demographic
- Age
- Distance from the office
- Skill/Ability
- Hours to canvass
- Timeliness
- Work ethic
- Ability to follow directions
My greatest success with clients has been with younger people ranging from 16 to 22 years of age. High school and college aged kids, mostly from middle-class backgrounds. I find that today’s youngsters are highly motivate because they ‘want’ more; iPods, Xbox, cars, etc. Therefore they need more disposible income. Who is your ideal canvasser? You may want a crew of mature adults. Or a combination of mature and young canvassers. One may canvass during the day and the other in the evenings. Once you’ve defined what the ideal canvasser looks like for you, what they’ll be canvassing for and where, the next step is to canvass for canvassers. Identify where that person is and go get them
Canvassing for Canvassers
If you were fishing for Trout you wouldn’t go to the ocean to catch them, nor would you fish a lake for a sharks. Once you’ve defined what the ideal canvasser looks like for you, canvass for that person in their environment. Identify where that person is and go get them.
Once you’ve identified who they are and where they are you need to catch their attention. What you use to attract them is as important as where you’ll find them. You wouldn’t catch sharks with worms. The bait, or message and medium you use will dictate who you attract. What mediums are you using and what is the message you’re communicating?
If you’ve been in this business long enough you know that traditional means don’t work! Classified ads or ads on Craig’s list will make the phone ring, but you’ll have to interview a lot of people to find just one “ideal canvasser”.
Here are three methods I use to effectively find canvassers:
- Fliers
- Social sites
- 3-foot rule
Fliers are a quick way to communicte your message to your target market, plus they’re easy and inexpensive to produce. If you’re looking for younger canvassers they can be distributed in the parking lot of your local area colleges and high schools.
Social electronic sites such as Facebook and MySpace are ideal mediums for viewing profiles and finding people. You can pinpoint your demographic and communicate with them immediately… and they can respond just as quickly. Future issues will go into more detail on how to do this. But, if you need to find out right away then refer to the Canvass King Insider Circle.
Another is what I call the “3-foot rule”. Be on the lookout for your next canvasser during your everday social interactions and encounters. If you’re shopping for shoes, looking for apparel in the department store, or at a restaurant having dinner, take notice of the person who’s eager to help; someone who’s outgoing and personable. That person who’s not afraid to talk to you about the more expensive items available; or sell you up on something even after the sale’s made. When you find them pitch them, recruit them, entice them to come in for an interview. If they’re comfortable approaching strangers in these environments they’re likely a potential candidate for you; and they’ll be easily motivated by the benefits you can offer over their current position. In short, canvass for canvassers. A great recruiter is always on the lookout for their next canvasser.
What do you promote?
Benefits, benefits, benefits. Never try to sell the position of canvassing in your recruting material, or over the phone. People don’t know what the job of canvasser entails. If you were applying for a job at McDonalds, you know in advance what your job would be. If you were going to work for UPS or Fedex as a package handler… you’d know what you were going to be doing. Canvassing, what’s that? People don’t know! They have to see and experience it to fully understand it. They have to come in for an interview where they can see what they’ll be doing; talk to others who are doing it. Remember, the objective of recruiting is to get them to respond about the job, not to sell them on it. That’s your job!
Recruiting on autopilot
This is the ultimate! Develop a successful recruiting process and you can expect 5% to 10% of your recruits to become crew chiefs, trainers, and recruiters… assets who have like-minded friends. Friends who are likely to also be motivated and posses a strong work ethic. But you’ll have to go through the 90% to get that one out of ten. The key is to get started. Design your ideal canvasser; identify who and where they are; commit it to paper right now! Start canvassing for canvassers!