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Everything old is new again – at least when it comes to marketing strategy. While you might think of door-to-door sales as a thing of the past, it’s actually a highly effective method for acquiring new customers in today’s modern climate. Many thriving corporations are seeing the benefits of adding door-to-door selling to their marketing mix, and here’s why:
Advertisements are easily tuned out.
Commercials are everywhere these days. From billboards and TV commercials, to social media and mobile advertising, we're flooded with so many advertising messages that it’s easy for all of it to blend together into one ocean of noise that easily fades into the background.
This is why door-to-door sales should be part of your marketing strategy. Unlike any other advertising medium, in-person sales reps create real connections with potential customers. They communicate from one human to another, customizing their sales pitch and even their body language and tone in a way that even the most sophisticated digital advertising and artificial intelligence can’t. Well-trained salespeople are able make the potential buyer feel comfortable, attracting their interest and initiating a discussion, which is the first and most important step of acquiring new customers.
The competition is fierce.
With so many companies vying for consumers’ attention, it’s extraordinarily difficult to stand out. Even the most creative billboards and eye-catching social media strategies are bound to get lost in the mix.
Door-to-door marketing is a secret weapon for any company looking to carve out space in a crowded market. Not only is it a less common approach to customer acquisition, but it is highly effective at reaching people who have been unresponsive to other forms of customer outreach. Actively engaging face-to-face provides the opportunity to first, inform customers about products they might not have otherwise known about; and second, influence their decision-making process.
People buy from people.
As much as technology has changed over the years, human nature has not. There is no digital replacement for connecting face-to-face, human-to-human. A commercial can’t ask a business owner to describe the challenges facing his business. An internet ad can’t inquire about the needs of a growing family, make eye contact, or interpret facial expressions. But a skilled salesperson can.
Through door-to-door sales, companies are able to localize their marketing efforts and connect with customers on a personal level. By engaging one-on-one, salespeople are able to learn about the needs, wants, and concerns of their customers throughout the sales process. By building rapport, they are able to establish trust, which in turn translates not only to the consumer’s decision to buy – but to remain loyal to the respective brand.
It’s highly adaptable.
The launch of a new product or service is expensive and time-consuming through most marketing channels. Whether you’re paying for market research, air time, graphic design, public relations, or anything in between, the expenses add up quickly.
This is another key differentiator of door-to-door marketing. Not only is it more cost-effective, but it’s dramatically faster to implement changes and market new products. When you already have an outside sales team in place, launching a new product is as simple as educating the salespeople about your new offering. The right door-to-door sales team should be able to start selling immediately and at no added cost to your company.
Success is 100% measurable.
The tricky part about most forms of marketing is that the success or failure of a campaign is often a gray area. While a given ad might enhance brand recognition or contribute to the buzz about a new product, results are difficult to quantify.
Unlike advertising campaigns, there is no doubt as to whether a door-to-door sales strategy has been successful. The number of new customers acquired is crystal clear, allowing companies to track progress, calculate ROI, and make changes accordingly.
There is a reason one of the oldest professions, face-to-face sales has seen a resurgence over the past decade: it works! No matter how advanced digital marketing becomes, people will always prefer to buy from people. It’s human nature. While the smartest sales strategy is diversify your sale and marketing tactics, including a door-to-door element to your marketing mix remains a highly effective way to increase revenue and drive consistent sales results.
How many famous people can you name who started their careers in sales? Before becoming well-known actors, musicians, comedians, and CEOs, quite a few of today’s celebrity’s early jobs meant going door to door, working in retail, serving in restaurants, and telemarketing. Not only did these soon-to-be celebrities who once had sales jobs eventually hit it big, but their history in sales seems to have taught them some valuable lessons as well. Perhaps there is something to be said for a sales gig as the ultimate crash course in communication!
Check out this list of six celebrities who had sales jobs before they were famous.
Would you believe it if we told you that Johnny Depp was once a telemarketer? It’s true! Using made-up names, Depp phoned people asking if they’d like to buy pens. He only ever made one sale, but he considered the experience to be his first foray into acting.
This now-billionaire founder of the shapewear company Spanx spent nine hours a day for eight years selling fax machines door to door. She credits the experience with developing an immunity to rejection and teaching her that the best way to be persuasive is face to face -- both of which served her well in starting Spanx.
It’s kind of hard to picture this now award-winning rapper working at a chain retailer like the Gap. Indeed, he was a part-time sales assistant there during high school. In retrospect, West believes that this early job working with clothes sparked his inspiration to become a fashion designer many years later.
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban’s first job as a pre-teen was selling garbage bags door to door. Coveting a pair of sneakers that his father wouldn’t fund, Cuban took matters into his own hands by selling boxes of garbage bags at a profit of three bucks a pop.
This well-known comedian and talk show host used to live quite the different life! After dropping out of college, DeGeneres held a variety of sales positions, which included selling clothing, demonstrating Hoover vacuums in front of customers, serving, and bartending. Perhaps the celebrity’s early jobs in sales contributed to her talent for thinking on her feet and quickly getting people to like her.
Years before adopting this pseudonym, Stefani Germanotta was raking in the tip money as a waitress at a diner – which as most servers will tell you, is essentially commission sales! She made conversation with customers by telling stories and always kept it stylish in high heels. Maybe she translated some of her talent for earning tips into her later penchant for earning lifelong fans.
Like these stories of salespeople turned celebs? Check out this list of CEOs who got started in sales before striking it rich. To find out more about Cydcor, check us out on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales and marketing services located in Agoura Hills, California. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company to garnering a reputation for consistently exceeding client expectations and driving outstanding revenue growth, Cydcor has been helping Fortune 500 and emerging companies achieve their customer acquisition, retention, and business goals since 1994. Cydcor takes pride in the unique combination of in-person sales, call center, and digital marketing services we offer to provide our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.
In our increasingly digital world, door-to-door residential sales continue to thrive. Why? Because door-to-door sales is highly effective, generates higher value sales, boosts brand loyalty, and provides excellent customer experiences. The reason, you’ll discover, is simple. At the core of door-to-door sales is people connecting with people. Face-to-face communication, though more and more rare, remains the most effective means of connecting with a consumer base. It is the most reliable way to establish trust, assist in decision-making, and forge new relationships with decision makers. This sales approach benefits customers as well by providing personalized service, helping them find solutions to fit their unique needs, and giving them opportunities to ask specific questions.
With the right outsourced sales partner, corporations large and small can reap higher ROIs by getting back to basics. Let’s dive in and take a look at why door-to-door residential sales still works.
In more than 25 years outsourced sales experience, Cydcor has found that customers are often already familiar with our clients’ products and services before the sales representative arrives at their doors. They’ve seen the billboards, listened to the radio ads, and watched the commercials. Yet, they haven’t taken action to buy. Why? For many people, researching cable or energy options is simply one of many dozens of items on their to do lists – and it rarely takes priority.
That’s where a door-to-door sales team comes in. Sales professionals can reach consumers who haven’t responded to mainstream marketing initiatives. They can convert them into paying customers by personally responding to their questions and concerns and by helping them find the right products to address their needs. An effective salesperson is able to approach a homeowner, quickly establish rapport, and provide an informative sales pitch and personalized presentation. At the very least, the interaction succeeds in educating the consumer about his or her options. Even better, after painting the picture, answering questions, and addressing lingering concerns, skilled door-to-door salespeople create positive brand experiences for consumers. These face-to-face interactions increase the chances they’ll remain customers longer, or if they aren't already, improves they’ll decide to become customers in the future. In other words, door-to-door residential sales is not just effective at generating sales, but it also boosts brand loyalty by making the consumer feel important, valued, and well-served.
When executed by the right sales team, door-to-door sales is an incredibly effective secret weapon for increasing market share and making incremental sales. Not only do sales representatives reach the unreachable, but once they do, they often uncover needs that the customer wasn’t even thinking about. By asking the right questions, reps can recommend the right packages, often providing the customer higher-value products and services they’ll be happier with in the long-run.
The customer wins by getting exactly the services they want and need at the best possible price, and the client wins by acquiring lasting customers with a high lifetime value. Not only do residential customers who purchase at the door buy better packages, but they tend to cancel less and stay with the service longer.
The best predictor of brand loyalty is a positive customer experience – and the face-to-face communication is the best possible way to provide one.
By meeting in person, sales representatives can use friendly body language, make eye contact, and shake hands, building trust in a way that phone calls and advertisements can't. The door-to-door sales process leaves customers feeling confident in their decision to buy. They've have had their questions answered, and they feel warm and fuzzy about the enjoyable interaction they had with the sales rep.
All of this leads to happy customers who are fans for life. It’s no surprise that according to Net Promoter scores, potential buyers have overwhelmingly better experiences through the face-to-face sales channel. Thanks to its ability to offer a personalized and connected experience, in-person selling leads to more successful sales and benefits clients and customers alike.
As experts in outsourced, door-to-door residential sales, Cydcor understands the impact generating great face-to-face sales experiences, whether in the residential, B2B, or retail channels, can have on the long-term revenue growth of its clients. Learn more about Cydcor’s services, or become a client to see how Cydcor can help your organization achieve its customer acquisition goals.
Do you agree that door-to-door residential sales still work? If so, share this post on your favorite social media network!
Did we miss anything on our list? Tweet us @Cydcor and let us know why you believe direct sales is a win-win for companies and their customers alike!
Sales & Marketing Management Magazine published a case study on Cydcor earlier this year that we wanted to share with you. Here's a snippet from the article:
Some 26,000 C-level officers and senior executives ranked Cydcor No. 1 in several key areas, including sales team outsourcing and sales support service, client satisfaction, and numerous performance categories (including vendor overall preference, training, trust, and reliability).
Clearly, Cydcor is doing something right. The company's sales network marshals approximately 200 offices in North America and nearly 3,000 representatives.
Three key factors account for this success: a company mission that meets a growing need, a collaborative culture that cultivates and rewards excellence, and a proven business model that drives results.
At the company's core is what Chief Executive Officer Gary Polson describes as a singular "focus to be the best outsourced sales solution for [Cydcor's] clients." Cydcor's mission anticipates and fulfills an escalating market need, as organizations seek more scalable solutions to achieve top-line growth and bottom-line value in the post-recession environment.
To read the full article visit: Case Study: Cydcor's Outsourced Sales Solution