FACE-TO-FACE OR DOOR-TO-DOOR MARKETING: HOW TO GET THE BEST START— Face-to-face or door-to-door marketing is the act of going from one business (or household) to another physically in order to sell your services. Face-to-face marketing may seem like a nerve-wracking thing to do for the new entrepreneur or freelancer. However, when done right, its a very powerful way to build a business. If you know how to do face-to-face marketingyou can decide whether its something you want to implement in your business or not.
One area of marketing often neglected by first-time freelancers and entrepreneurs is face-to-face or door-to-door marketing. Yet, its a form of marketing that can bring immediate results and is often much easier for first timers than telesales (which is perhaps the most immediate form of selling available to start-ups).
Is Door-To-Door the Right Approach For You?
Door-to-door works best when you have a service that can be used widely in your local business community. So, for example, graphic design, web design (and development), copywriting, photography, etc. are all services that youre likely to find local buyers for.
Other services, such as UX design, for example, may not be as suited for door-to-door marketing (unless you live in a software development hotspot).
If youre going to use face-to-face marketing, you need potential clients whom you can visit. In the best cases, those clients will be closely geographically grouped. Web designers who specialize in retail sites, for example, are going to find the high street of their local town a great place to get started on face-to-face marketing.
How Do You Get Started Doing Door-to-Door Marketing?
You visit the business premises of potential clients, without an appointment. You ask to speak to the person who deals with your service.
If that persons there and will speak to you, pitch him/her for a meeting or leave information and arrange to call back, or even, if the person has the time, pitch him/her for your services on the spot.
If the persons not there and may speak to you, get his/her business card and then try to make an appointment to come back and talk or drop off information.
If he or she doesnt want to speak to you and you cant get a card, leave marketing materials and your card, asking the person you are dealing with to pass it on to the potential buyer.
Thats pretty much it. The key to this kind of marketing is not to come across as someone on the hard sell but to introduce yourself as a neighbouring business (e.g., local not next door necessarily) and to start a dialogue.
You may find that you arrive just as theyre looking for your services or that theyve been thinking about using a similar service for years but never got around to acting on it. In other cases, they may not need your service. However, if you represent yourself and your business effectively and professionally, you will almost certainly find it leads to work in the long run.
The bigger the place in which you live, the more door-to-door opportunities you are likely to have.
Always follow up on any door-to-door call with a telephone call to increaseand dramatically so your chances of closing business.
Author/Copyright holder: Guillaume Paumier. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-SA 2.0
Most business-to-business door-to-door marketing doesnt take place on the doorstep. It takes place in someones office, but it can take place on the doorstep, and its best to be prepared to hold a conversation anywhere.
One Last Thing Personal Safety
Ive done plenty of door-to-door marketing to businesses and never had so much as an angry response. However, its best not to take any chances when youre putting yourself into someone elses space. The following advice may not be necessary to apply in your local area or in your country at all. But if youre in doubt, take the following necessary precautions:
Ive done plenty of door-to-door marketing to businesses and never had so much as an angry response. However, its best not to take any chances when youre putting yourself into someone elses space. The following advice may not be necessary to apply in your local area or in your country at all. But if youre in doubt, take the following necessary precautions:
Dont go into any setting that makes you feel uneasy.
Do ensure that someone else knows your calling route before you leave and that you check in with that person when youre finished.
Do carry a phone with a GPS tracking service.
Dont be afraid to leave any premises where you are made to feel uneasy or if someone becomes rude or abusive.
GPS can be a handy navigation device when going door-to-door, but it can also be used for personal safety. Make sure your phone has GPS which can be tracked by a friend, family member or business partner just in case.
The Take Away
Face-to-face marketing is highly effective but needs to be conducted with a sensible regard for personal safety. Make sure that theres a decent sized market for your services in a location before conducting face-to-face marketing work; otherwise, itll be a lot of work without sufficient rewards.
If you find it hard in the early days of doing door-to-door marketing, you might want to remember Thomas Edison, the famous inventors advice: Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.