As someone who has dedicated themselves to marketing for the past 20 years, you might find it surprising to hear that I really don’t like certain marketers. These are the door-to-door solicitors that pass through my neighborhood every so often, and always come by right at dinnertime.
They are peddling all sorts of stuff, but mostly it’s questionnable hard luck stories or grammer school campaigns that are supposed to trick you into having a conversation and eventually part with some money. I especially dislike certain solicitors who try to convert me right on the spot to their religion.
So, I’ve tried various tactics to end our conversations quickly. You know, like telling them I’m not interested, or I gave at the office, or any number of other possibilities.
The problem is that when you do this, there is always a counter-argument. For example, you might say that you are not interested in what they are selling, but they will take that as a great starting point for trying to convince you otherwise.
I grew tried of these selling games a few years ago and started using a different tactic… this is one that always works. And so while I still get door-to-door solicitors, I haven’t spent more than about 20 seconds dealing with anyone.
Here’s what you do. When the doorbell rings and you know you’re about to engage with someone who is going to try and sell you something, open the door, but only a little bit. Once you hear the beginning of their talking script, put a distressed look on your face and quickly glance back and forth between the person at the door and some imaginary person inside the house. Then say in a low voice that this is horrible time to talk right now because you’re in the middle of a “major family problem.”
This always works. I find that solicitors will always disengage at that point. After all, they came to sell you something, not to get involved in some marital dispute. The more distressed you look and the more imperative it looks like you need to return to the major family problem, the faster the person will leave. If you can convince them that divorce is imminent, even better.
Yesterday, I got this person who was clearly selling bogus baseball tickets to leave within 10 seconds after I started my little act.
Ok… well, maybe this is dishonest (and it is), but sometimes you have to take strong measures to keep marketers from hassling you.
Ummm. I agree and I feel the same about telephone solicitation but I spend 0 time talking to them. If I get a call from someone I don’t know I don’t answer it or I answer and hang up immediately.
I have been working out of my home office for a year now and when anyone, who I do not expect, rings the bell I ignore it. Door to door solicitation is dead and should be buried.
Hi Alan,
Your post got a chuckle out of me. Haven’t we all had these hard-sell experiences at our front doors?
My question is a very simple one: if we can put our names on a national “no-call list” for solicitation, why can’t we also have a national “no-call on list” to prevent marketers from hitting on us in our homes?
Wouldn’t that be an immense boon to all of us when we arrive home after a long day at work so we can enjoy our dinners in peace?
Allen,
I haven’t faced a door-to-door solicitor (marketer?) in decades and am surprised they still exist. But if one appeared, my tactic would remain the same as that used with telephone solicitations: “I’m not interested” and then hang up (shut the door).
hi all,
i agree that there should be a do-not-call list for door-to-door, but until then, I guess we need to devise tactics on our own. I used to shut the door, but I’ve found my current tactic to be much more fun
I generally just politely say, “No thank you,” and close the door. No engagement, just a polite good-bye.
There is one guy, however, who periodically drives through my neighborhood selling what he says a gourmet steaks off the back of his truck. When I said not, he got irate and yelled at me. Putz.
Funny thing is, if he’d been nice, and then one of my neighbors said, “Oh, it’s good stuff” and gave me some kind of recommendation, I might have said yes in the future. (This is Texas, you gotta have some meat handy for impromptu grilling!) But after that – not a chance.
I’m all for a do not knock list for door-to-door marketing. Can we also include solicitations like leaving pizza menus on my doorstep, or even worse yet: phone books! If I could figure out how to get off of the annual phone book delivery list, I would be one happy camper!
Thanks for a great post.
Allen,
I am by no means a door-to-door solicitor, but I might become one just to stop by your house and see your “act”. Anyway, thanks for the good idea and the laugh today!
Our homes are supposed to be our retreats from the world, our last vestige of privacy, hence the do-not-call list. Door-to-door solicitations are an infringement of that space.
Maybe in the 50’s, door-to-door salesmen carrying Fuller brushes or saleswomen peddling cosmetics found success with homemakers who welcomed the distraction from laundry and the kids. But this is a different world.
We are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages daily. I want to be left alone at home. I recommend printing an embossed sign at the nearest business store that says, “No solicitations, please.” Maybe then you won’t need your act any longer, Allen.
I wish I had the acting skills to pull that off, just to see how they react!
We seem to have vanloads of inner city kids dropped off in our neighborhood periodically to sell magazine subscriptions, supposedly as part of a work experience program. While I don’t usually give door-to-door solicitors a chance to get past “hello,” I happened to be in the front yard with my daughter with no way to politely extricate myself from the young woman with the sob story about being a single mom trying to build her sales skills to move out of poverty. By the time she left, I agreed to buy a single magazine subscription that I didn’t need at 3 times the normal price. Once they get you to engage with them, it’s so much harder to close the door in their faces. Lesson learned.
Hi Nedra
That’s a tough one..I’ve been in a similar situation and once you start to buy into the pitch, you have to be rude to pull out (something I won’t do). I’ll need to think about another strategy that might work…if I do, I’ll post it here.
Another solution: benign but nonetheless barky dogs. The dogs go nuts with the ding of the doorbell — and between the noise and chaos, unwanted visitors tend to flee. Usually I don’t even have to ask, “So — just in case anything happens — you’re up to date on your shots, right?”
I hate door-to-door solicitations. My home is my sanctuary, and I highly resent the intrusion. I screen all my telephone calls with my answering machine. And when someone I don’t know knocks on my door I don’t answer. I’m going to make a “No Soliciting” sign for my front door.
Does anyone know how to get rid of the marketers that come by your business?
Allen,
I have been a door to door salesperson for over 20 years. I have trained many others and in the past 5 years have generated over 100,000 new customers for other businesses “my clients” with this method of marketing. I think it is valuable to recognize that this method of marketing is the grandfather of all other methods. Any method of marketing has a few basic features that have their roots in the understanding of human influence. How do people really make buying decisions. It is also important to remember that the basic right of people to knock on the doors of other people to communicate something commercially or otherwise is extremely important to respect and protect. (That is if you like freedom of course…) As for your method of repelling the pesky salespeople at the door, I have another idea you may consider…….Next time, answer the door and listen carefully to what the salesperson has to say, decide if there is a benefit to you and make a choice based on the value and credibility of what they have to offer and not based on the method of delivery. Being a marketing genius yourself you must know that a wise man learns more from a fool than a fool learns from a wise man. Maybe, just maybe your next big marketing brakthrough might come from what you learn from the door to door salesperson.
respectfully yours
Lewis
Sorry, Lewis, but you do not have the the “basic right” to knock on MY door. My property is my private property on which I have a TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT sign prominently displayed. I have followed through twice already with door-to-door solicitors who flagrantly disregarded my legal warning. You knock on my door with your sleazy snakeoil pitch, and you’ll be number three.