Selling Door to Door

[fred1222]

Hi,
I need to embark on a bit of door to door selling and informing the public of my product. Can anyone tell me or point me in the right direction for any guidelines I should be following with regards to the law. Do you need to be registered with any government body for ID purposes or is it self regulated?

Thanks
Fred

 

[tom111]

Hi,
I need to embark on a bit of door to door selling and informing the public of my product. Can anyone tell me or point me in the right direction for any guidelines I should be following with regards to the law. Do you need to be registered with any government body for ID purposes or is it self regulated?

Thanks
Fred

Hi Fred,.

In most cases, if you are selling door to door (other than fish, newspapers, or by appointment) you need to apply for a pedlars license at your local police station, which costs £12.50 . You must show the license on request.

If the goods you are selling cost over £35 under the 'Cancellation of Contracts Made in a Consumer's Home or Place of Work etc Regulations 2008, you must give them written notice of their right to cancel. I can't actually post links yet, but if you google Department for Business and Enterprise Doorstep Selling - Guidance for Business you will get a useful site.

 

[adam]

Not sure about the pedlar's licence. Never come across that before in door to door sense.

I think there are time limits of when you can or cannot, or at least there is good practice!

Some areas are "no cold calling zones". This does not mean you cannot do it but it is advisable in these areas to introduce yourself to the police or council in case they get calls reporting you.

 

[fred1222]

Thanks for the info. I probably misled you when I said "selling" as it's basically informing people of a website there is no actual selling done on the day

 

[tom111]

Ah, in that case, fred, there are no regulations that should stop you doing what you want to do. Good luck

 

[Speedymail]

Your a brave man doing door to door, hope you've got a good product.

 

[MH1]

Although no formal regulations are in place I would recommend you inform the local police station of where and when you plan to knock, so they have an answer to the phone calls they might get.

People often feel there is a catch even when the item is free, I used to do door to door selling for several years, but the game is dying out these days due to so many neighbourhood schemes having been started.

A shame in many respects, done correctly it is a very legitimate and possibly the most effective marketing method for gaining sales around.

 

[fred1222]

Your a brave man doing door to door, hope you've got a good product.

It's the cheapest and most effective method of getting people to the website and at the end of the day everyone wants lucky heather don't they!

 

[fred1222]

People often feel there is a catch even when the item is free, I used to do door to door selling for several years, but the game is dying out these days due to so many neighbourhood schemes having been started.

A shame in many respects, done correctly it is a very legitimate and possibly the most effective marketing method for gaining sales around.

Yes, the main aim is just to let people know about the website so they can visit in their own time I'm not great at pressure sales but I'm quite confident about talking about a product

we'll see how things go anyway

 

[Trainer Bubble]

Fred, I'm not sure how most people would feel about somebody doing a door to door about a website. However, I have no experience in this whatsoever and hope it works for you.

I just thought I'd add something that I came across recently, which was a local person who had created a handwritten 'letter', which informed me of the services that they were providing. The letter had been photocopied, but I still thought the fact that it was 'homemade' was a really nice touch and made me stop and look at it. I am the type of person that bins every piece of 'junk' mail that comes through my door before it even hits the mat, but this one made me stop.

Anyway, my thinking is that this might be an additional you could do for those customers that are not in. It also provides an opportunity to leave something for those that are not (and will help them remember your website address).

 

[sysops]

Thanks for the info. I probably misled you when I said "selling" as it's basically informing people of a website there is no actual selling done on the day

Am I the only one who thinks that promoting a website door-to-door is nuts? I know SEO is hard, and PPC can be costly, but door-to-door?!??

 

[fred1222]

Am I the only one who thinks that promoting a website door-to-door is nuts? I know SEO is hard, and PPC can be costly, but door-to-door?!??

As you don't know what the website is I would have thought it's a little hard to make an assessment.

Thanks for all the input
Fred

 

[sysops]

As you don't know what the website is I would have thought it's a little hard to make an assessment.

Not really, it's a website, I don't need to know what it does.

Let's say you value your time at £3 an hour. That's £24 in an 8 hour day. I bet you I can get more visitors, and more importantly more qualified visitors to your site by spending £24 on PPC in one day than you ever could by calling door-to-door.

And that's before we take your petrol and shoes into account...

 

[MH1]

Am I the only one who thinks that promoting a website door-to-door is nuts? I know SEO is hard, and PPC can be costly, but door-to-door?!??

On the whole you are probably right, but without knowing the website, value of client etc it's hard to be definitive. Many people under estimate the power of door to door selling / marketing, but I only have experience in physical sales on the doors.

I've never heard of anyone solely trying to get people to a website via the doors, until now.

 

[fred1222]

Not really, it's a website, I don't need to know what it does.

Let's say you value your time at £3 an hour. That's £24 in an 8 hour day. I bet you I can get more visitors, and more importantly more qualified visitors to your site by spending £24 on PPC in one day than you ever could by calling door-to-door.

And that's before we take your petrol and shoes into account...

You maybe able to get more visitors to the site but it's conversions I'm after.

It's a little pointless us debating this unless I state the product but the aim of my question was to find out if there were any sort of regulations regarding calling door to door for which I now have the answer
Thanks
Fred

 

[sysops]

You maybe able to get more visitors to the site but it's conversions I'm after.

Qualified visitors. Read my post.

 

[fred1222]

Qualified visitors. Read my post.

So just to clarify
1) You don't know the website
2) You don't know what it offers
3) You don't know what it costs (if anything)
4) You don't the target market

Yet you can quite confidently say you'll get more "qualified visitors" or in other words sales

Am I correct here or am I missing something?

 

[sysops]

So just to clarify
1) You don't know the website
2) You don't know what it offers
3) You don't know what it costs (if anything)
4) You don't the target market

Yet you can quite confidently say you'll get more "qualified visitors" or in other words sales

Am I correct here?

Get more qualified visitors by spending whatever reasonable value you place on your time on Adwords, yes. Spot on. Exactly what I am saying.

 

[fred1222]

Get more qualified visitors by spending whatever reasonable value you place on your time on Adwords, yes. Spot on. Exactly what I am saying.

That would only happen if people were actively looking for a product though wouldn't it.

Thanks
Fred

 

[sysops]

That would only happen if people were actively looking for a product though wouldn't it.

Your thinking implies that the only way to promote a new product or service is door-to-door. It isn't. This is especially the case when your goal is to just get people to visit your website.

There are two main approaches to promoting a new product or service online:

1. Directly advertise it to people looking for a similar product or service.
E.g. Say your brand new product is Double Glazing. No one has heard of it, so running adwords for "Double Glazing" is pointless. So you'd run adwords for "windows", "leaded lights", "sash windows" etc, telling people about the marvellous new alternative and all its benefits.

2. Directly advertise to people who aren't looking for the product, but who have a general interest in that field. Taking the above example, you might buy some banner and text advertising in forums dedicated to DIY, on websites advertising property for sale etc.

You can keep repeating "you don't know what I'm selling, so you aren't qualified to judge", but I can guarantee there are at least a dozen more effective ways (by that I mean higher RoI) of promoting your product than door-to-door, whatever it is you are selling.

 

[fred1222]

Your thinking implies that the only way to promote a new product or service is door-to-door. It isn't. This is especially the case when your goal is to just get people to visit your website.

There are two main approaches to promoting a new product or service online:

1. Directly advertise it to people looking for a similar product or service.
E.g. Say your brand new product is Double Glazing. No one has heard of it, so running adwords for "Double Glazing" is pointless. So you'd run adwords for "windows", "leaded lights", "sash windows" etc, telling people about the marvellous new alternative and all its benefits.

2. Directly advertise to people who aren't looking for the product, but who have a general interest in that field. Taking the above example, you might buy some banner and text advertising in forums dedicated to DIY, on websites advertising property for sale etc.

You can keep repeating "you don't know what I'm selling, so you aren't qualified to judge", but I can guarantee there are at least a dozen more effective ways (by that I mean higher RoI) of promoting your product than door-to-door, whatever it is you are selling.

No,
I'm saying that SEO isn't the way to sell this product.

Ok let's try this example:

The government are currently offering grants for for loft and wall insulation. If you fall into a certain criteria the work is free of charge with the government body making the payment direct to the company in question.

How would you use SEO to advertise this product?

 

[fred1222]

Your thinking implies that the only way to promote a new product or service is door-to-door. It isn't. This is especially the case when your goal is to just get people to visit your website.

There are two main approaches to promoting a new product or service online:

1. Directly advertise it to people looking for a similar product or service.
E.g. Say your brand new product is Double Glazing. No one has heard of it, so running adwords for "Double Glazing" is pointless. So you'd run adwords for "windows", "leaded lights", "sash windows" etc, telling people about the marvellous new alternative and all its benefits.

2. Directly advertise to people who aren't looking for the product, but who have a general interest in that field. Taking the above example, you might buy some banner and text advertising in forums dedicated to DIY, on websites advertising property for sale etc.

You can keep repeating "you don't know what I'm selling, so you aren't qualified to judge", but I can guarantee there are at least a dozen more effective ways (by that I mean higher RoI) of promoting your product than door-to-door, whatever it is you are selling.

No,
I'm saying that SEO isn't the way to sell this product and the aim is to get people to visit the website for more information and take the product not just visit it.

Ok let's try this example:

The government are currently offering grants for for loft and wall insulation. If you fall into a certain criteria the work is free of charge with the government body making the payment direct to the company in question.

How would you use SEO to advertise this product? It's not something everyone is aware of or even looking for but would you turn down free this offer if it were to save you money?

 

[sysops]

I'm saying that SEO isn't the way to sell this product.

No one is talking about SEO, I'm talking about adwords, because you can be up and running with qualified traffic tonight.

Ok let's try this example:

The government are currently offering grants for for loft and wall insulation. If you fall into a certain criteria the work is free of charge with the government body making the payment direct to the company in question.

How would you use SEO to advertise this product?

That's a great example. Ok, I'll play along.

Here are the number of searches for some relevant search terms in the UK over a 30 day period:

cavity wall insulation - 49,500
cavity insulation - 49,500
wall insulation - 60,500
loft insulation - 90,500
insulation grant - 5,400
insulation grants - 18,100
loft insulation grant - 1,900
grants for insulation - 3,600

Those keywords alone account for 300,000 searches a month, or 10,000 a day. You can have your advert in front of all those people within a few hours. If you craft your advert well, you can make sure it is seen by people who want your product or service.

Do you begin to see why pounding the pavements is not the way?

 

[fred1222]

No one is talking about SEO, I'm talking about adwords, because you can be up and running with qualified traffic tonight.



That's a great example. Ok, I'll play along.

Here are the number of searches for some relevant search terms in the UK over a 30 day period:

cavity wall insulation - 49,500
cavity insulation - 49,500
wall insulation - 60,500
loft insulation - 90,500
insulation grant - 5,400
insulation grants - 18,100
loft insulation grant - 1,900
grants for insulation - 3,600

Those keywords alone account for 300,000 searches a month, or 10,000 a day. You can have your advert in front of all those people within a few hours. If you craft your advert well, you can make sure it is seen by people who want your product or service.

Do you begin to see why pounding the pavements is not the way?

Your missing the point again, It's about getting in front of people that aren't searching for a product or are unaware of it.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree as we're going round in circles over a question I didn't need the answer to

Thanks for your input
Fred

 

[sysops]

Your missing the point again, It's about getting in front of people that aren't searching for a product or are unaware of it.

No, you're missing the point. There is always a way to effectively market your product or service online, and if the end goal is to get people to visit your website, then it will always be more effective to market online.

I can't really do much more. I have illustrated in a number of ways that you can reach a huge audience, even if you have a totally unheard of product. You can drive qualified traffic to your site much more cheaply than you ever could doing door-to-door. But I think in your head, door-to-door is the only way. So be it.

 

[adam]

Your missing the point again, It's about getting in front of people that aren't searching for a product or are unaware of it.

If Fred is "selling" insulation and he wants people in a specific area then I agree, door to door is fine.

Sysops may well be able to get 20,000 to his website of which 200 might but but if Fred can knock on doors and get interest in the street or neighbourhood he wants to work and get 10 people on board then if that fits his business model he is right to do it his way.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

I'm sure that I have seen signs in areas saying,"No Door to door selling in this area" or words to that effect?

 

[Chris Kaday]

Does my heart good to hear someone is going to take direct action like this - well done chum. If I can help you with your approach or anything else just ask - no charge
Chris Kaday
Business coach and mentor

 

[sysops]

Does my heart good to hear someone is going to take direct action like this - well done chum.

There's a bit of an implied criticism there of those of us who choose to use more effective (less direct?) means than door-to-door.

 

[Chris Kaday]

Perhaps more about your sensibilities, as no criticism of anyone intended or implied by me, but let’s not start a long winded debate about it eh?
Chris Kaday
Business coach and mentor

There's a bit of an implied criticism there of those of us who choose to use more effective (less direct?) means than door-to-door.

 

[MH1]

Guys, end of the day there are many ways to market, all are viable in their own way.

Shop buyers generally will never buy from catalogues etc, but they can all be used to maximise your own markets.

Although I am an ex door seller of many years, I understand the point sysops is making, there are only so many hours in the day which limits the productivity of a doort to door salesman. That said even though a telephone canvasser can ring 300 odd people a day, they might only obtain 8 sales. A door salesman might only knock 50 doors but can obtain 30 sales a day.

All theoretical though, door to door sales is getting much harder due to the poor image from several years of utility sales in particular. Then again, no route is that easy anymore.

Best of luck if the OP tries this idea, I would be very interested in the results, pm me if you feel you could do with a hand regarding how to pitch etc.

 

[Justin_B]

Hi Fred, why not tell us what your product is?

 

[rapidremap]

there seems to be some dispute about the effectiveness or otherwise of Freds idea to promote his website door to door.

Whilst I agree that SEO and PPC marketing can be effective at driving visitors to a website, I also feel that given the right set of circumstances and product, door to door may provide exposure a online campaign cannot.

When marketing, I have learnt that you should use a variety of approaches to gain maximum exposure especially if you are targeting a local area.

In my case people searching for the service my company provides may search online and as a result of SEO and PPC we get a lot of hits and enquiries.

The trouble is we are still at a stage in our particular industry where many people who would benefit enormously from our service, dont even know it exists let alone have the desire to actually search for it.

A Door to door campaign is something I am considering to raise awareness of our service with members of the public who may otherwise be unaware of it, yet may want and benefit from it.

We employ both online marketing and offline marketing, both of which are effective for different reasons.

I agree that door to door is not as cost effective as online marketing, but it can raise awareness in a way online marketing will not and as such may represent excellent ROI for the company using this method as part of an overall marketing plan.

in my humble opinion