Bottled it - demoralised

[Dave B]

2 hours a time is enough unless i am on a roll then i stay out

 

[DMD]

I have the same belief as you GreenI refuse to pay for something i can do

Plus i wouldn't trust anyone to price my jobs for me

But...if you knew your strengths weren't in sales but in cleaning, would you then employ a canvasser?

I have a cleaning company, i can sell my services pretty easily to construction companies. I still use a salesperson part time as i just don't have time to keep up to date with:

stock, booking jobs, sorting VAT receipts for my accountant, forwarding on hours for payroll, health and safety reports etc etc.

The best thing to do is prioritise what you are best at and work your way down.

For me, i can run a company pretty well, but sales would eat up too much time so i sub it out. Maybe that is what he needs to do in order to get the first batch of custys to interact with, after a few months he will become more savvy and not need one again

 

[Dave B]

Good point DMD

I have never had an issue canvassing but horses for courses. .we all have different strengths

My only problem would be getting someone else to price it right

Would have to have some sort of set structure whereas i can look at a job and judge it on how much time it will take and any awkward bits that i can automatically see after 24 years doing it

 

[Guybrush]

Get some leaflets printed up and deliver them. You will bump into people that are just leaving or coming home or doing some gardening etc and that maybe an easier ice breaker for you as you are not actually knocking on the door but guaranteed you will end up talking to some customers wether you like it or not.

 

[Duncs]

i think you have to door knock and sell yourself if your looking for work

leaving leaflets nah not the same

how many leaflets get through our doors

 

[Duncs]

once you start door knocking you get into it

its all part of our job dealing with customers, any **** goes right over our heads any way

 

[Jimroot]

Has any one built a round yet based solely from none door canvassing means? To me, these days people are fearful of door knockers and sales but Internet savvy and like recommendations.

 

[Dave B]

I have a good bit from bookface and recommendations but you can't beat door knocking to build up a round ..especially a compact one

 

[TolishAPurd]

Has any one built a round yet based solely from none door canvassing means? To me, these days people are fearful of door knockers and sales but Internet savvy and like recommendations.

I have mate. All my work is from advertising, recomendations, and people walking past. Canvassing is by no means a necessity but I would say it most likely increases your chances.

 

[cheapncheerful]

if you dont fancy canvassing....just trad kit up and walk up and down a street looking the part...lean your ladder up the lamp post ..ask doris if she knows where a local street is when you know all along where it is and just say to her oh isnt it cold but I do like the sunshine and you will soon have some work.../emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[boarcity]

id say i built my round from 5% door knock and 95% flyers . i cant tell you the numbers of flyers but it was tens of 1000s. if i had my time over again id not flyer as it was wasteful

 

[adamangler]

Well, I finally did it!

Went out today for 2 hours and knocked some doors!

I did cheat a bit, i got a lad i know to help me and gave him a few quid, but it pushed me to take the leap.

Between us we got one customer, i was hoping we would get two or three but didnt manage it. We did give out couple of quotes who seemed interested for them to call me at a later date. The one guy we did get just happened to be the treasurer at a local church so wanted a quote for that doing as well.

So what did i learn

1. No where near as scary as i had built it up to be in my head the few people we did catch in where generally pleasant, there was one miserable old git who slammed door but i just laughed it off.

2. 2 hours canvassing is long enough, after an hour of people not in a getting told no it felt a bit like a chore.

3. Not many people in day time, i would say only maybe 1 in 6 or 7 doors we knocked on actually got an answer, so in future im going to aim for weekends or evenings.

4. There is a lot of window cleaners out there, a lot of competition.

Overall i defo feel i would have been better doing an hour on an evening vs 2 in the day, we probably spoke to only 20 people in 2 hours, also of the ones that did show an interest i should have taken a contact number and called them rather than leave it up to them to call back.

Not something i particularly enjoyed but tolerable for an hour or so i think, hopefully this will be the start of building my business now.

I feel relieved to have done it and like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, it was really getting to me how anxious i have bee about knocking.

My plan going forward is to try and do an hour ( more if poss) evenings or weekends and make notes of where i have been and who hasnt been in so as to try to make my round as compact as possible.

Canvassing isnt THAT bad lol, ok its a ball ache but worth it when you get that yes, even if it only was one!

 

[TolishAPurd]

Yep, I should have added to my post above that I already had plenty of work on with my other jobs so where was no rush, but if I needed the work quick then I would be pounding the streets every day.

 

[TolishAPurd]

Well, I finally did it!
Went out today for 2 hours and knocked some doors!

I did cheat a bit, i got a lad i know to help me and gave him a few quid, but it pushed me to take the leap.

Between us we got one customer, i was hoping we would get two or three but didnt manage it. We did give out couple of quotes who seemed interested for them to call me at a later date. The one guy we did get just happened to be the treasurer at a local church so wanted a quote for that doing as well.

So what did i learn

1. No where near as scary as i had built it up to be in my head the few people we did catch in where generally pleasant, there was one miserable old git who slammed door but i just laughed it off.

2. 2 hours canvassing is long enough, after an hour of people not in a getting told no it felt a bit like a chore.

3. Not many people in day time, i would say only maybe 1 in 6 or 7 doors we knocked on actually got an answer, so in future im going to aim for weekends or evenings.

4. There is a lot of window cleaners out there, a lot of competition.

Overall i defo feel i would have been better doing an hour on an evening vs 2 in the day, we probably spoke to only 20 people in 2 hours, also of the ones that did show an interest i should have taken a contact number and called them rather than leave it up to them to call back.

Not something i particularly enjoyed but tolerable for an hour or so i think, hopefully this will be the start of building my business now.

I feel relieved to have done it and like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, it was really getting me how anxious i have been to get going.

My plan going forward is to try and do an hour ( more if poss) evenings or weekends and make notes of where i have been and who hasnt been in so as to try to my round as compact as possible.

Canvassing isnt THAT bad lol, its **** but worth it when you get that yes, even if it only was one!

Good job matey,the hardest part is always the getting out there.With that out of the way its onwards and upwards. :thumbsup:

 

[Dave B]

Well done Adam

I said once you do a few doors you will forget about the nerves and anxiety

Now just carry on and you will find that good road like a seam of gold in a mine

Then you'll be happy

 

[Tuffers]

You never forget your first @adamangler /emoticons/wink.png

 

[luc]

nice one, I love it when you get that first yes one a good point I've learnt is if you give them a price and they say they will phone you just tell them you will give them a knock when your in the area cleaning I bet you will turn a couple of maybes into a yes (I have about £40 of maybes to knock)

 

[Jimroot]

my plan is to knock up and down the road of an existing client, but no further, and no big sessions. I wouldn't like all those knock backs. I would probably on those go for the kill and if they say no to windows or they have a cleaner, offer to do the gutters, awkward windows with the wfp, or clean up the upvc, and ask if you can leave a couple of cards for local family or friends or the future.

 

[Dave B]

Jim if you want a good amount of work you have to knock a good amount of doors

I don't think of no as a knockback

I didn't have them as a custy before so have lost nothing

I see each no as another step closer to a yes

Remove the nos 1 by 1 and you are left with yesses

 

[Jimroot]

I really admire your optimism davey, I'm just a pessimist by nature :-(

I definately agree with you, it just might not be in my nature to do it. I figure time wise, I might want upto 80 monthly customers, eventually. Been practicing trad all week on my and my moms house, ground floors only, and I've done each window at least four times aiming for perfect finish. They are first cleans so my applicator turned green quite fast.

Anyway, I'm hoping by the time I can actually get them done as I'm so slow, I won't need to canvass much as surely 80 can't be that hard to get ... I'm hoping

 

[Dave B]

If you want to improve your trad skills watch the guys on utube

Lots of different methods but i use a lot of different size squeegees

Always aim for one bigger than half the width of the window so don't need to fan