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

joecostello

Hi,

I have spent many of my years working door-to-door , and of course have heard many...many oppinions regarding the JOB, which at the end of the day, i think people forget , it is a job, infact a career.

Id like to pick up on one point Mr Lewis mentioned about the door to door salesman "persistance" , this is what he is paid for, if i may be so bold, our general public can be very stupid, your "tips " of just telling people to tell door to door agents "no thanks " straight away helps no body. you have no idea how thustrating this can be when you are a GOOD salesman and an honest one. for instance i have read your site and i believe you were ENCOURAGING people to take up FREE cavity wall and loft insulation on the goverment grant.... i Knocked doors selling this scheme... and because of your " advice " customers automatically saying " not interested " "no thanks" (which by the way IS still rude when it doesnt even make sence to the conversation ) people lost out on a very good product which would have cost them next to nothing or in most cases nothing!

Another point i picked up on was your comment that the advisor should have seen your grandma and known she was too old... how would your grandma feel if she sore you say that? that is in no way fair to assume, in doing this job for as many years as i have i have seen 90 year olds with more savvy the 30 year olds it is in NO WAY fair to judge someone on there age. if i can save a 90 year old money i will, and i shouldnt NOT save them money just because of there appearance. obsured.

I will agree that some door to door salesman have tarnished the industries repuation. but is it fair to judge every salesman for that? most are just hard working people who enjoy there job, but less and less from the rudness that is given off by the general public due to you and people like you forcing your oppinions on them. for years now Mr. Lewis you have caused me hassle in me doing my job. so this rant was a long time coming!

At the end of the day my advice for customers who have a door to door sales man at there door is this, listen to them, see what they have to say, yes keep your wits about you but dont be rude. if it benifits you, take it, you will have atleast 14 days cooling off period anyway as any contract will, so by all means check what the advisor said was true but dont be so protective, and the end of the day if a salesman DID lie to you the company will punish them and reinburse you anyway, so i ask, is there any need for this neggitivitty towards door todoor salesman?

I have much more to say but i feel this is too long as it is , sorry!

Kushan

joecostello wrote: »

Hi,

I have spent many of my years working door-to-door , and of course have heard many...many oppinions regarding the JOB, which at the end of the day, i think people forget , it is a job, infact a career.

Id like to pick up on one point Mr Lewis mentioned about the door to door salesman "persistance" , this is what he is paid for, if i may be so bold, our general public can be very stupid, your "tips " of just telling people to tell door to door agents "no thanks " straight away helps no body. you have no idea how thustrating this can be when you are a GOOD salesman and an honest one. for instance i have read your site and i believe you were ENCOURAGING people to take up FREE cavity wall and loft insulation on the goverment grant.... i Knocked doors selling this scheme... and because of your " advice " customers automatically saying " not interested " "no thanks" (which by the way IS still rude when it doesnt even make sence to the conversation ) people lost out on a very good product which would have cost them next to nothing or in most cases nothing!

This doesn't stem from Martin Lewis' advice, this stems from the sheer reputation that door to door salesmen have. You're not even helping your own case by admitting that your perception of the general public is that they're "very stupid". Yet you demand respect from people when you knock on their door trying to sell them something. It doesn't matter if it's something they need, that will benefit them. Even when it's free, you're still knocking on their door, disturbing them from their daily life. Don't try to act like you're trying to do people a favour, you're doing it because you get paid to do it. If you really did want to just help others, you'd be doing a different job.

joecostello wrote: »

Another point i picked up on was your comment that the advisor should have seen your grandma and known she was too old... how would your grandma feel if she sore you say that? that is in no way fair to assume, in doing this job for as many years as i have i have seen 90 year olds with more savvy the 30 year olds it is in NO WAY fair to judge someone on there age. if i can save a 90 year old money i will, and i shouldnt NOT save them money just because of there appearance. obsured.

It's not fair to judge anyone based on any characteristic such as age, race, religion and so forth, but you can't deny that the more unscrupulous salesmen will ultimately target who they feel are the most vulnerable - and sadly, that often happens to be older people.

joecostello wrote: »

I will agree that some door to door salesman have tarnished the industries repuation. but is it fair to judge every salesman for that? most are just hard working people who enjoy there job, but less and less from the rudness that is given off by the general public due to you and people like you forcing your oppinions on them. for years now Mr. Lewis you have caused me hassle in me doing my job. so this rant was a long time coming!

If you want to blame anyone, blame those who have tarnished your reputation. I've been there, I've worked for two different companies doing door to door and they were worlds apart. One was about as legitimate as you can get, with the odd "rogue" salesman occasionally having to be weeded out, while the other (The Cobra group, of course) shamelessly promoted anything and everything that would get a sale. They wouldn't outright say "Yeah, do this illegal thing" but they sure as hell wouldn't discourage it, either. Face it, your job has a reputation and that's part of it. Don't blame consumers who simply just don't want to be ripped off, blame those that have been mercilessly ripping them off for years.

joecostello wrote: »

At the end of the day my advice for customers who have a door to door sales man at there door is this, listen to them, see what they have to say, yes keep your wits about you but dont be rude. if it benifits you, take it, you will have atleast 14 days cooling off period anyway as any contract will, so by all means check what the advisor said was true but dont be so protective, and the end of the day if a salesman DID lie to you the company will punish them and reinburse you anyway, so i ask, is there any need for this neggitivitty towards door todoor salesman?

I have much more to say but i feel this is too long as it is , sorry!

The problem is, sales by its very nature these days is seen often as seedy and underhanded simply because that's the reputation it has. I actually agree with you that people should be polite and perhaps even listen if it sounds interesting, but I certainly wouldn't agree to "sign up, if it's bad you can always cancel". Another thing you have to keep in mind is the "Small print" that people are now particularly aware of, plus why should people go through the hassle of having to call up and demand to be reimbursed? If people aren't interested, they aren't interested. Deal with it - that's your job.

If you find that you're struggling in your job, perhaps you aren't as good at it as you think you are. Perhaps, much like the record industry, your own profession is dying out and you're willing to blame anyone and everyone on it except yourself. Whatever it is, don't go blaming the likes of Martin Lewis, or the "stupid" public for being wary - blame those that have caused this in the first place.

MoneysavingArthur

thustrating?

People don't like to be bothered... a good salesmanwill make people feel excited and interested, not bothered or annoyed.

Ivrytwr3

door to door salesmen?

Burn them, burn them all with fire.

joecostello

Just to get it out in the open now, no i do not have a spell check, and no concidering this is just a website and not formall at all i really care very little about my spelling as im at work as we speak and this is for my own enjoyment and rushed.

Yes the public can be silly, they take advice from people who have no present day experience yes i have used mr lewis as an example because many many MANY people take what he says as gospal HE IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT and im sure he will be the first to admit. I dont feel anybody really listened to what im saying in my post. im simply saying ease up on door to door salesman doing there job. i mentioned the option to cancell as your SAFTY net, no you should not have to do that, but i said take it if it seems good for you... why not? who cares if you found out about such offer door to door, phone, word of mouth does it really matter?

The world could not run without sales. it is needed in almost everything.

what people on here are forgetting is MOST door to door salesman will have the companies best offers, because you all hate us! it makes are job easier to have the best deals, why not look at it this way?

i was not putting all the blame of our reputation on mr lewis, i do blame the rogue salesman, more then you will ever know, but this is what organisations like energy watch are for. all im saying is, there is no need for the pitch forks to come out just because someone nocks your door, try interacting with some, your find we are a lovely bunch. NO NOT ALL OF US.

i met a postman once...absolutle liar, smelt , preety sure he nicked a letter once aswell.... i dont now say "burn all postman" i had a bad experience, i got over it, i didnt set up a blog against postman.

because of people like some of you on here i actually got hit by a customer, for doing my job, i said nothing to him, he did it because he ASSUMED he knew me just because i had a scottish power uniform on, and a year before he had a very bad salesman knock his door...fair on me?

i cant remember the name of whoever it was that took great interest in my post and tried to pick it apart, but no actually i am a VERY good salesman i did so well on the field i had my own team by the age of 20 ( not once did i lie to a customer , and not once did my customers not save money ) i know run my own sales company and am 22 years old.

antrobus

joecostello wrote: »

....
I have spent many of my years working door-to-door , ...

No sorry, not interested. I never buy anything from unsolicited callers whether they contact me by phone, email, or in person.

1jim

As you seem to be the self appointed spokesperson for door to door sales people can I ask why your colleagues insist on knocking on my door despite 2 signs saying no cold callers and we do not buy at the door? It seems to me that my intention is very clear..... I will not buy at the door, I will not sign up to charity donations at the door and I will not change utility suppliers at the door...... But yet your colleagues insist on trying to find out if I mean it and are surprised that I say no thank you and close the door?

Surely sales people should be able to detect when they no chance of a sale and move on?

Feel free to explain?

1jim

joecostello wrote: »

what people on here are forgetting is MOST door to door salesman will have the companies best offers, because you all hate us! it makes are job easier to have the best deals, why not look at it this way?

I would argue this, I would suggest that you may think that you are offering the best offer, i would suggest that a lot of door to door deals can be bettered by going online, if your deals are always so good, why the general reluctance to leave leaflets/quotes outlining the wonderful deals you offer?

Kushan

1jim wrote: »

I would argue this, I would suggest that you may think that you are offering the best offer, i would suggest that a lot of door to door deals can be bettered by going online, if your deals are always so good, why the general reluctance to leave leaflets/quotes outlining the wonderful deals you offer?

Oh I can answer this one with a simple word - commission!
They don't get paid to leave leaflets. In fact, a lot don't get paid at all without sales.

joecostello

1jim wrote: »

As you seem to be the self appointed spokesperson for door to door sales people can I ask why your colleagues insist on knocking on my door despite 2 signs saying no cold callers and we do not buy at the door? It seems to me that my intention is very clear..... I will not buy at the door, I will not sign up to charity donations at the door and I will not change utility suppliers at the door...... But yet your colleagues insist on trying to find out if I mean it and are surprised that I say no thank you and close the door?

Surely sales people should be able to detect when they no chance of a sale and move on?

Feel free to explain?

Honest arnser? a door knocker will look at your " sticker " ( a good door knocker anyway ) and think your be an easy sale, whilst some people think they are being extremly clever by sticking a sticker on there door all your doing is attracting them, a sticker would imply you are worried about door knockers, but what would you have to be worried about? if your confident enough in your own albility to sus a con or a bad deal then you shouldnt have a problem talking to a door saleman, infact you should welcome it because if the salesman deals with all your opjections and your happy with the way hes handled them then hes done his job well, you should be happer youve got a got deal, everyones a winner, thats the idea of door to door sales. at the end of the day people are busy with there own lives, you can stand there and say " if i wanted it i would have asked for it " but if you dont KNOW about it, because its not your profession then whats the harm in telling you? im sorry but i will never understand peoples problem with door to door sales, the general public just like a moan.