Door-to-door sales… can we ask them to be more responsible?

barkerboy

first time user - think i am doig this right

posted quick reply but not sure if it works
i have just joined this new service i found on the web called WWW.ukdoorstepchoice.org.uk

you join - they send you official stiuckers and then if anyone calls you report them via hotline - they take complaint to sales company or usually energy companies flogging thingsh

Paulgonnabedebtfree

Interesting thread this. Due to unemployment in the last recession (early 90s), I took up window cleaning which I still do today (so hardly a fly by night). If I had been prevented from door knocking, it would never have got off the ground. After a year or two it gets easier because people refer you to neighbours and other people see you working and get a quotation from you. I realise that their are rogues out there but to totally ban canvassing would be a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
I do take on board the OP though about the layout of leaflets/flyers. Mine have a choice of phone numbers (including landline), my business address (which is my home address), and an email address. Obviously the email and mobile numbers have been tacked on later as there wasn't too much of that around in the early 90s. One of the problems is that the average response to leafletting is probably around 0.5% - 1%. In a face to face canvassing situation, it might be 5% or very occasionally even as high as 10%.
I deplore some of the tactics I've read about on this thread. I've always just knocked, and asked the question. If the answer is yes I provide a written quotation and make an arrangment to start cleaning when I'm next working in the area. If it's no, that's fine too. I just move on to the next house. If someone seems unsure, I leave them with my contact details (if they want them). No effort to persuade someone to take a service if they're not sure that they want it. I would rather have customers who WANT me there. If they aren't too bothered, they tend to mess you about anyway so it just becomes less profitable.
I understand that legislation has recently changed and that I now have to allow a seven day cooling off period. No problem. I would just canvass areas where I wasn't due to clean for another week or so. However, I think the new cooling off legislation only applies to jobs of more than £35 (that's how I read it anyway). Most of my domestic window cleaning jobs are less than that.
Just thought I would supply a view from the other side of the fence and to show we're not all rogues.
I do avoid the "no cold calling" areas. I do not knock on a door if there is a sticker saying not to (though I will put a flyer through those boxes). I do not put a flyer through a letter box if there is a sticker or something that says "no junk mail. no flyers" or similar. I have had the odd problem when leafletting in the dark. Not everyone puts their "no junk mail" stickers in an easy to read place.

gaz_jones

I worked for a company called 'Dairy Crest' as a door to door canvasser. I have to say it was actually quite a fun job. It allowed me to travel all over the UK. A team of us would drive up to say edinburgh. Our boss would pay for us to stay in a hotel for the night. We'd work for about 6 hours a day.

It was crap in the winter when it was cold and windy. But in the summer it was a really good job. Lots of time spent outside and the good thing was most of us that worked there were mates.

We wernt your typical 'pushy' sellers though. OBviously we had to try and meet targets but the targets were so low that it was easy to do.

Dairy crest are a milk delivery company so we were signing people up to getting milk delivered in the mornings. We didnt take any money off people we were just signing them up. We also gave them a slip of paper with details of when they could cancel by without being charged.

You'd be suprised at how many people said 'I always wanted milk delivered but didnt know how to go about it'.

A lot of people didnt mind us knocking on their doors. Obviously quite a few did but that'll always be the case.


Just thought i'd add this to let everyone know that not all cold callers are cold blooded sellers!

BargainGalore

NO but cold callers are often blind/or stupid or both they think like notices above dont apply to them

They also dont like to take 'no' for a answer

The only message they understand is door shut in there face, I tried the polite way it rarely works

Paulgonnabedebtfree

BargainGalore wrote: »

NO but cold callers are often blind/or stupid or both they think like notices above dont apply to them

They also dont like to take 'no' for a answer

The only message they understand is door shut in there face, I tried the polite way it rarely works

If you said a polite no thanks to me, you would see that not all cold callers are like that.
Maybe you would run down the road after me begging for an argument

gaz_jones

Same goes for me. If there was a 'no cold callers' sign we didnt knock. Why would we want to waste our time knocking on doors that we know were not likely to get a sale on when we could spend that time canvassing another area where we think we WILL get sales.

mr.scrooge_2

If no one sold anything to anyone commerce would stop. 90% of sales on any product range is spur of the moment.

There are crooks and scum in every walk of life, door to door sales men are no different. They are getting of their !!!! and earning money rather than sponging of the state. Many of us earn great money. And personally I love the job. Every day is a new challenge. You learn eventually to keep a positive frame of mind. Negativity is your enemy the theif that steals your happiness.

I sell door to door and will not waste my time trying to sell if there is no desire for my product the sooner I get moving the sooner I get to that customer who buys from me. At the moment it is one in 10 who buy my products at the door. Yes I sell utilities. I make sure my id is the second thing the customer sees and my licence numbers from Ofcom and Ofgen. I have made many friends amonst my customers, and the company has just had the highest rating for customer satisfaction from Which ?

If some one decides to be rude to me that is their issue, I simply smile and bid them goodbye, my day will not be spoilt by them. Some people need to find things to be annoyed with every day, walking in the shadows.

savemoney

Well I had one last week despite having a noticed displaying on rhs of door clearly visible

The spin went like this

DG salesman: We come to inform you that as you live in a neighbourhood watch area that we have to inform you that we are doing some work to a house down the street.

Me: I tried to contain myself with the laughter bursting to get out
Me : I said "oh"

DG: But as we are here and we are aware you got some DG would you be interested in upgrading it to a new product?"

Me: "No thank you"

The funny thing is we haven't got neighbourhood watch nor are they doing any work is a small cul de sac and a very narrow road a DG van would sticky out like saw thumb

They completely ignore the the sign again they think it doesnt apply to them.

barkerboy

ck this out
https://www.ukdoorstepchoice.org.uk

they are taking on the big boys

they take complaints and take them to the big energy companies

Antispam

Cold calling should be banned. Your house should not be subjected to harassment or bombarded with silent calls