When I tell people that I canvass leads for a living they ask, “How can you do that? That has to be very frustrating work?” Knocking on doors for me is like therapy. It’s similar to playing football. When you’re on the line and the ball is snapped the challenge is to move the ball down the field to the end zone. And when you’re in the huddle it’s time to rest and regroup. When I’m face to face with the homeowner the challenge is to get the lead. And the time walking between doors is the time to rest, clear my mind and regroup for the next door. When I ran my home improvement company, the most relaxing part of my job was canvassing.
When you approach canvassing with the right mindset and tools then the task isn’t as difficult. Sometime those tools are small things, but they’re the right tool for the job. In this month’s article I’ll address one of those small things that can make a big difference in getting the appointment and not.
Over the past several months, and articles, I’ve talked about the introduction in detail and this month I was going to go into deciphering between objections and non-objections, but in preparing for this article I realized there’s something very important I must clarify before I get into objections.
When a homeowner opens the door there’s still a barrier … a brick wall that you must hurdle before you can deal with objections or non-objections. If you’re canvassing for a single product or service your goal is to get them to consider that one, but with multiple ones you must get the homeowner to commit to one product or service before you can move on in your presentation. You can’t get the homeowner to an appointment unless you first establish a need or want in their mind. That’s the brick wall I’m talking about. Sales people are so attuned to jump in an handle objections because we think that if we address and overcome the objection (at least in our mind) that we’ll get to our goal (booking the appointment) sooner.
The problem is that if the homeowner doesn’t see a need for, or want what you’re offering, no sales skill will get you to the appointment. The conflict it creates will only fortify the brick wall by alienating the homeowner.
You need to get them to a commitment. Often though you’ll get, “We’re not interested.” This isn’t an objection, it’s a “knee-jerk” reaction, like, “I’m just looking” in response to a retail sales clerk asking, “Can I help you?”
Keep in mind though we’re not asking the homeowner to buy the product or service right then and there, but commit to considering it. Your job is to keep them in the “just looking” stage … you’re selling the opportunity to consider it, test drive it. But without getting them to mentally commit to one you can’t get to the appointment.
In my system I use the “wish list” or “dream list” language to get them to commit. This approach is consistent with keeping them in the just looking stage. Everybody dreams about what they want. They dream about their ideal car or vacation. I use this technique successfully to get them to commit to a product or service. Once you do get a commitment from them and you do get an objection, you have to handle the objection; at this point though you’ve gotten to the other side of the brick wall. If after they commit I get a non-objection like, “I want to talk to my spouse” or, “We’ll call you when we’re ready” I assume they want more information and start booking the appointment.
If after you ask them to pick the product or service that would be on their dream list and they still don’t commit, then I would consider that an objection and my system teaches to go ahead and pick a product or service. You in essence pick one for them. If you’re canvassing for exterior products it may be replacement windows or siding. If it can’t be seen then pick a popular product or service and go to the transition question, “Have you ever had an estimate on ____________?” This will change the direction of the conversation to help you work toward the commitment.
People won’t take action, even for a free estimate where you’ll drive to their house on their terms unless they’ve identified the need or want for your product or service. I’ve spent a lot of time here on what may seem like a very small point, but it’s critical to getting you past a big barrier and getting an appointment.
You have to use these strategies and techniques at the front doors in neighborhoods to really appreciate how they work. Recently I was in Virginia training on-site with a private client. One of the people I worked with has been a canvasser and manager for more than 4 years and he told me, “I read your scripts and I hear what you’re saying and that’s all good, but watching you apply the scripts and techniques is completely different. By the 4th or 5th door I watched you handle; now I get it.” I’ve been doing this for a long time so for me it’s pretty much instinctive. But something he said was very instructive for me and that was “handle.” Just like he, you can read and apply the scripts, but it takes some skill to be able to adapt these techniques because every situation is going to be different.
Nothing beats experience. Either you get the experience from doing it yourself and working out the techniques or you get a coach or mentor who can show you how to do. I think the later is the shortcut way to success. It’s one of the reasons I created a new, complete canvass training program in a box. It’s called “Canvassing in the New Economy” and I haven’t even released it publicly yet. You can find out more about it at www.canvassking.com/canvassing-in-the-new-economy.
I look forward to your comments and questions on this month’s article. Please leave me your comments here or go to www.AskTheCanvassKing.com to post any question you have about canvassing or managing canvassing. Be sure to register for my free bi-monthly Teleseminars at www.canvassking.com/teleseminar.
Next month I’ll address how to handle specific objections.