Starting a new Canvassing Program with No Experience
Many companies starting their canvassing departments start out with a lot of questions. One of the main reasons I publish this newsletter each month is to answer as many questions as I can in order to help. A big concern I hear from many owners or managers is, “How can we grow our canvassing department if we don’t have that one key experienced canvasser?”
The truth is you don’t need that experienced person to begin. It’s nice if you have one, though you don’t want to be dependent on that one person to be pivotal in developing this lead source for you company. What if they leave? Then what do you do?
Subconscious Blocks = TIME & EXPERIENCE
Successfully growing your canvassing department from the ground has a lot more to do with your mindset than knowledge of what to do. If you remove the common subconscious blocks of, “we don’t have the time or experience on our side” you can move forward. In this article I’ll present the key components that will lay the groundwork for developing your department.
Getting started requires someone to be the point person in the process. It could be the owner or the marketing manager. Someone needs to get the process going. There are two key components to get started.
2 Components For Getting Started
- Have a simple, clear script
Create a script that your canvassers will use when they meet homeowners. The script must be developed to meet your objectives. If your promoting products or services that your canvasser can asses walking up to the house, for example, replacement windows, roofing or siding then be sure to incorporate the key benefits of having your products.
Here are the components of a good canvassing script:
- Introduction
- Objective
- Method for obtaining the homeowner’s contact information
- Fliers and/or Door Hangers
Develop your scripts around these points. The second component is:
2. What are your expectations of your canvassing efforts?
How many doors should you knock on? How many contacts should you capture and how many appointments should you expect be set? If you don’t know then you’ll want to refer to articles I wrote in earlier issues of this newsletter. Here are links to those issues.
Once you develop these components, and you implement them, your canvassers can practice and memorize the script. You can watch and coach them on things like their delivery, body language, voice inflection and pacing. You also can roll play objections to see how they handle them. When you’re listening to them and they demonstrate their ability in the office you should build on their confidence.
Your canvassers can then go out into the field and you can observe them under true canvassing conditions. From their experiences in the field you can steer and direct them further. It’s a learning process, for them and for you.
The key is to have a system from which you can teach and measure. As you go along you can adjust the system to meet your direction. Your scripting can do all the work for you initially to keep your canvassers on pace.
I started this article talking about changing your mindset. To finish that thought, understand when you’re new to canvassing or it’s new to your company the only thing that’s new is that you’re implementing a new marketing tool. You already market your products and service through other methods. You know your business. It’s only a new technique and it’ll take a little time to work into the skill. Commit to it and you’ll see where to work out the bugs.
There’s a tremendous opportunity if you do well in this process. The canvassers who are on the ground floor of this can be helpful to you and themselves. It’s something that could be the biggest thing in your company.
If you’d like to learn more about training you can call me for a brief, free phone consult. You can contact me directly at (216) 588-1337.