Turning Hope Into Results
Too many home improvement companies start up their canvassing departments on the “hopes” of generating qualified leads for their sales team. With other traditional forms of advertising, like TV and print, you can’t always anticipate what results they’ll generate. Unlike those other forms of lead generation, canvassing is that one source that can provide you with a consistent and controllable source of leads… if you only understood how to track, measure, interpret and manage the front end numbers.
In March I detailed the numbers that are important for you to track on the front end of canvassing. It answers the question I often get from both managers and canvassers, “How many doors should be reached in an hour; in an evening?”
There’s no perfect way to know everything your canvassers are doing in the field unless you’re out there with them. Tracking the numbers of doors they reach, how many presentations they make and appointments they get is your only defense to create a strong offense in managing a successful canvassing department.
It’s one thing to tell a canvasser how many doors they should reach in an hour; by tracking and measuring you’ll have considerable information by which you can manage… it’s a numbers game. When your canvassers see the numbers, they too will be able to understand what’s going on and what they need to do to change their results.
Of course, things will be different from one day to the next; weather conditions will change, the distance from door to door will be different and the number of homeowners they meet will change from day to day and neighborhood to neighborhood. Yet over time you’ll see a pattern develop with each canvasser and you’ll be able to manage them based on their averages. And from those averages you can change their efforts and outcomes.
Can the canvasser fudge the numbers? Yes, but only in the short-run. They can’t fudge the numbers consistently over the long haul. The benefit for you and the canvasser is that once you know the numbers you can do something about it.
If your canvassers know their scripts and they know their presentations you can turn hope into results. You can go out and know how many doors you need to knock on in order to get your numbers, though the key is in having and knowing a tested, successful presentation.
Presentation + Knowing Your Numbers = Your Destiny
You control your canvasser’s destiny… actually, your canvassers control their own destiny; all you have to do is help them manage it. For example, if your canvassers were reaching a low number of doors and weren’t getting leads then it’s an issue of, “not knocking on enough doors.” If the houses are closely located and your canvasser isn’t seeing people, then they should be knocking on a lot of doors… the more doors they knock on the more opportunities they have to see and make presentations to homeowners.
On the other hand, if they were knocking on a lower number of doors because they were talking to a lot of homeowners yet not converting them into appointments, then it would likely be an issue of their presentation. As a manager, your focus would be on your scripts and the presentation. It may also be a case they’re not overcoming homeowner objections. This is great opportunity for you to continue training.
There’s a tremendous benefit to tracking your canvassing numbers… for you, for the canvassers… and for the company. Often as managers it’s easy to conclude that an under-performing canvasser isn’t working hard enough. Sometimes that’s the case; yet imagine how demoralizing it would be to accuse a canvasser who’s truly working hard, but is struggling with the presentation or objections. For them it’s an issue of conversion. With out knowing your front-end numbers you run the risk of “ham-stringing” your canvassing department before you ever have a chance to succeed.
If you’re not presently tracking your front-end numbers I’d suggest you review my article from March 2009. Then review the follow up to my national survey (so you understand you’re not the only one not tracking the numbers), then check out my article in July 2009 and download my easy tracking form in order to help you collect the right data to start managing your front-end numbers and turn hope into results.