A Revival For Door-to-door Marketing

By on January 28, 2005 in Ideas


MSN: “Now that the national do-not-call list makes it impossible to reach millions of potential customers, some marketing companies are returning to an old-fashioned alternative: door-to-door salespeople.”

via Linda Riley.

posts sales


Business Opportunities Weblog editor and publisher Dane Carlson lives in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, just 15 miles from Yosemite National Park. He accidentally became a professional blogger in 2001. He has added 12,203 posts to the site.

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  • http://www.tedkarol.com Ted

    I just find it hard to believe that a salesperson could make money in that manner. If one looks at one’s closing ratio, the number of contact one can make and the average profit per sale, what does that work out to be?

  • http://maskey.typepad.com/just_looking mark askey

    Ted makes a good point but only if you think that door-to-door means you don’t target your customers. The key to success would be to only go to those doors where you felt you had the greatest chance of success.

    I think that this is a great opportunity for retailers. I am really suprised that stores like Home Depot and Lowes are not doing more of this.

    Home Depot, Lowes or any other retailers selling home improvement products could drive through neighboorhoods until they located a house in need of some repair. You could easily identify customer who could needed a new roof, new fencing, windows or landscaping. A polite knock on the door and an offer for a free quote on the repair could lead to a potential sale. With a Lowes or Home Depot logo on their shirt, the homeowner would probably be less likely to slam the door.

  • http://www.intelligenceagency.com Luke Haase

    It is no surprise to me that this form of direct marketing is coming back en vogue. Over the course of the past several years, marketing and advertising have veered off course…become more about “creating attractive ads” than about “getting client results.” Door-to-door marketing works because it is a direct sales process and is transparent. The advertising business needs to adapt…advertising only exists to serve sales, not vice versa!

  • Anonymous

    You may find it interesting to check the pages dedicated to… Thanks!!!

  • http://www.tninetwork.com/ Eric

    I would have to say that door-to-door marketing is very effective for big business. As you could see if you check out the clients TNI has already, ADT Security, Sprint, Primus, World Vision, MADD and tons of others it shows that big people are into it, and for small business the chance of success door to door depends on the agent doing the work. TNI trains amazing agents who dress very professionally and are trained with new material constantly. If you think your company could use a boost contact TNI and they will cater to your business needs. As a former door to door agent i would have to say its an awesome way to get the word out.

  • Chris

    There can be money to be made. I sell for local auto shops and we get pretty decent commission- but the real cash comes from the daily, monthly, and/or other bonuses and incentives. Say for instance, I were to sell 7, 10, or 15 certificates in a day, on those three sales I would get 100% commission, the commission from the other sales that day and if I sold over 10 sales and was the highest seller of the day a 100 dollar bonus.. therefore I would make (depending on discounts I gave) anywhere from $496 to $628 on 15 sales (numbers based on commissions from discounts to 60 dollars per cert and full price 80 dollars per cert) yes not all days are like that, but that would make a fun 5 hours or so. I was just showing that the potential for a good living is there.

  • Mary Knighten

    As the Tennessee Area Sales Manager for DIRECTV I am looking to build several new direct sales businesses in the state. If you, or someone you know has door to door, or other grass roots sales experience and are looking for @ $500 per sale owning your own business, I would like to hear from you.