This article is following the closing of the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro. I’m sure it seems like an awkward title for an article about face-to-face marketing, but follow me through.
The athletes that stood out the most from the summer games were undisputedly, American swimmer Michael Phelps, American gymnast Simone Biles, and American beach volley baller Kerri Walsh Jennings. There were many more. Aside from the athletes who participated and came from professional sports (i.e. the American Men’s Basketball team), each of these athletes shared several commonalities.
First, each is considered a ‘non-professional’ athlete, driven solely by the competition and the winning and therefore always being a student of the sport.
Second, each have a driven commitment to succeed. Michael Phelps for example was determined to win a specific race he’d lost in the previous summer Olympics, sighting he’d lost because of his lack of focus, training and determination to win.
Thirdly, each athlete, despite their talents had a coach. Someone who believed in them and they in their coach to guide them to victory.
These are 3 simple commonalities shared not only by these athletes, but by winners the world over, regardless of their sport or vocation. Napoleon Hill defined the 17 success principles in “Think and Grow Rich”. Every great performer (producer) shares the success commonalities. Every month I bring success principles from my vocation, face to face marketing. Not academic theories, rather ‘field-tested’ strategies that produce results for my students; those who’ve committed themselves to succeeding.
According to www.statista.com the home improvement industry is a $313.5 billion industry. I point to the home improvement industry because it’s my primary niche, though I coach many other industries. The $313.5 billion is divided up between both the home improvement services and do it yourself stores, like Home Depot and Lowes. Interestingly, of the big DIY stores, Ace Hardware has the highest customer satisfaction rating of all, followed by Menards. Now, if you’re in the home improvement service business (or replacement/remodeling, as most of my private clients are) you may ask yourself why that is relevant to you. It’s pertinent because Ace Hardware is not the largest of all DIY box stores, but they’re the most respected by consumers because of personal customer care.
That’s what makes them different… better!!! In the consumer’s eyes.
Of all the home improvement businesses in America there are a select few who meet here, with me, twice a month. To me, that demonstrates your desire to succeed in this business, with face-to-face marketing. You’re to be commended, and I thank you for letting me be your coach.
Now, to wrap up my Olympic comparison. I mentioned the professional athletes that participated in the summer games, specifically the American Men’s Basketball team. Yes, they have coaches too, but competition in the Olympics for them is an entirely different motivation. It’s not about proving to anyone but themselves they are the best in the world. In reality, I think it’s more about the experience in the games. When the games end they go back to their NBA careers and their big salaries. They continue to earn a living regardless of their performance during the Olympic games. You and I however, despite being professional marketers (not amateurs like our Olympic Athlete counterparts) our incomes depend on how well we perform.
We too must share those 3 commonalities I mentioned earlier; being a continual student of the sport (ours being canvassing), an unstoppable commitment to succeed and finding and following a coach.
For the Olympians they measure their success by how many medals they win. We measure success by how many leads, appointments and sales are made as a result of our direct skill and ability. Very few companies will voice it, but much of their sales success rides on the backs of canvassers forging the way with qualified prospects. However, measuring the results of our efforts happens after the work is done. Again, drawing correlation from Olympic sports, more specifically swimming, they’re constantly looking at their numbers. For them it’s timing, for us it’s a number of things; and that’s what I’m going to share here. Not your results numbers, rather the numbers that are far more important. The frontend numbers. The numbers you as an owner or manager must know to guide and coach your canvassers to success. If you don’t know these numbers, and are coaching from them, then it will be the blind leading the blind. This is truly the case of ‘in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king”. When you know your numbers, not just your results number, but your lead numbers, you will be king.
We all have coaches. Coaches reveal to you what is unknown to you. My dad was one of my coaches and mentors. He revealed a lot to me in my lifetime and still does. One of the things my dad gave me was Robert Kiyosaki’s book, ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’. Both book and my father, revealed to me that you have to know your numbers to know where you’re going.
There are 5 key numbers that dictate and guide canvassing success.
- Doors Reached (DR)
- Contacts Made (CM)
- Qualified Contacts (QC)
- Leads Obtained (LO)
- Appointments Made (AM)
These benchmarks will tell you the stories of where canvassers are lacking, succeeding and giving you the matrix of how to help and manage each canvasser.
Measuring these numbers has always been a critical part of coaching my own canvassers and now those of my clients. When I started in canvassing these numbers had to be recorded and tracked manually. The logistics and manual labor required to document and archive these numbers was very difficult and many companies quickly abandoned this tracking because it was a clerical nightmare. Fortunately, technology has advanced and today we can capture, track and compare these numbers with apps on mobile devices. Many of my clients have incorporated these data capture apps and have immediate, real time access to what their canvassers are doing at any moment. Canvass managers are able to see what neighborhoods canvassers are working because of GPS technology in the mobile devices and the data canvassers input into the app is transmitted immediately to the manager.
With this data you can see where canvassers need coaching. When you have the data available to you and you know the general benchmark numbers of what they should be getting it guides you where a canvasser needs help. For example, if a canvasser is not getting enough contacts made, it could be because he or she isn’t reaching enough doors. In this example, you can work with the canvasser on getting more doors knocked. If they’re making enough contacts but aren’t obtaining enough leads, the problem may be in qualifying the contacts or in how they’re working at capturing the lead. Without these numbers and a baseline for acceptable results you’ll be trying to hit targets while blindfolded. In my years of canvassing and coaching the proof is revealed in the numbers.
To recap, here are numbers I’ve tracked, on average, working with my private client’s canvassers. These are based on full and part time canvassing (on net hours worked).
Part Time Shift (2 1/2 hours) | Full Time Shift (5 hours) | |
50 |
Doors Reached |
100 |
15 |
Contacts Made |
30 |
12 |
Qualified Contacts |
24 |
5 |
Leads Obtained |
10 |
1 |
Appointments Made |
2 |
4 |
Leads to Follow Up |
8 |
Many canvassing managers I work with felt they were in a canvassing trap because they couldn’t figure out how to help their canvassers. Knowing this data allows you to be able to scale your canvassing department and results. And results translate into production and ultimately in sales.
If you and I have not yet had a conversation about your numbers (these numbers) then it’s probably time we have that conversation. What you focus on expands. The dichotomy of this is, what you choose not to focus on will also expand. It’s about systems and in this case, thanks to presence of relatively inexpensive app technology you can be set up, recording and tracking these numbers quickly. You’d be surprised at how once you see the numbers you’ll immediately know when and where to coach a canvasser.
By nature, we fear the new and unknown. However, you should fear more what you do know, that your canvassers can be doing better.
As always, I go into much more detail on this subject in my live Silver Telecoaching calls. If you’re a Silver member or higher you automatically receive that recording as part of your membership. If you’re not at least a Silver Level member, maybe it’s time you become one. Silver level membership is only $59.97 per month. There are no long term contracts or commitments to membership, only your commitment to yourself. As I mentioned at the start of this article, the Olympic athletes who succeeded most had a deep passion to succeed. That’s where it started, within them. That too is where it must start with you.
Also, if you’d like more information on the canvassing tracking app (or to become a Silver member) reach out to me at cthompson@canvassing.com or call my office direct at (216) 588-1337.
I remain committed to your canvassing success.
Chris Thompson
The Canvass King