Many people ask me why the script they use in door to door sales is not working well. One reason is often that they ask the big question too early. When I say “the big question” I mean asking for the goal of your visit. It could be to come in to the home, it could be to get an order, it could be to get an appointment later.
I recently was working with a company that offers a free water heater if you use their natural gas service. Their door to door team was saying. “I am here to sign people up for a free water heater. Would you like to have a free water heater”. Even though it is free, almost no one accepted the offer. It is too abrupt. They went for the “big question” too early.
Here are some ideas that made this script much more effective:
“Hello, I am Carl With Acme Utilities. We are in the area offering a free new water heater to people who’s water heater is more than 5 years old. Is you water heater five years old or more?” (They only worked in neighborhoods where it was very likely that the water heaters were old). This is a question almost everyone would answer “yes” to.
“Good. Since your heater is that old, we are offering a free upgraded heater that will save you about $10.00 per month on your utility bills. Would a sav9ings of $10.00 per month be a good things for you?” Again, this is a question almost everyone will answer in the affirmative.
“Great. Also, these newer heaters produce about 30% more hot water than the old inefficient model you have now. Would you like it if you never ran out of hot water in the middle of a shower again?” This is also a question most people will agree with.
Once you have them answering “yes” to a few easy questions, you should assume your goal. Don’t end by asking, “Do you want a free water heater”, just say. “Great, I’ll get the paperwork started.”
If you really want to success in door to door sales, never just say what comes to your mind. Write out your script and work on it to cut the words that don’t lead to a sale, to increase the benefits you show the customer and to make your opening more powerful.
If you lay the foundation by building interest and getting answers to smaller, easier questions, your door to door sales scripts will work much better.