Who Are Salesmen Trying To Fool?

By Stephen Palmer • February 19th, 2009 • Email This Post • Print This Post

I’m washing dishes at about 7:30 last night. It’s dark outside. Just finished a great dinner with the family. Listening to my favorite music. Feeling good.

A fake-friendly rap at the door interrupts my reverie. (You know the knock — the sing-songey one where they’re trying to sound like your best friend, doing their best to conceal that they’re a complete stranger.)

My son answers the door, says it’s for me. Lo and behold, it’s a salesman.

“My name is Kyle and I’m with such and such power company, blah blah blah, green electricity, blah blah blah. Have you heard of us?”

“I haven’t,” I respond indifferently.

“Wow! Finally someone who hasn’t heard of us!” he exclaims in a scripted voice. (Can’t you just see their weasely sales managers teaching them that trick? “Show surprise if they haven’t heard of you — that gives the perception that we’re so huge and widespread that everyone knows about us.”)

Then, out of the blue, he stops his canned presentation to make a lame comment about the picture hanging on the wall that he can see over my shoulder. “Hey, that’s a tight picture!”

“Yeah, really tight, like my wallet right now,” I think to myself. (I’m also thinking of his sales manager bestowing upon him that wonderful tip — “Look for things in their home to talk about. It’s an ‘ice-breaker’!”)

I stop him in his tracks. I’m very happy with my current power company, which, by the way, uses relationship marketing — I was introduced to it from a friend who benefits from me paying my electric bill. The key word is friend.

Honestly, who are these interruptive, obnoxious, fake, manipulative, self-centered salesmen trying to fool? Do they really believe that people don’t see through the act?

This is nothing personal towards Kyle — he seemed like a great guy. It’s the system — the mentality — that I think is ridiculous.

Sales Mentality Is Dead

It’s what Carl and I call the sales mentality versus the Hub Mentality in our free e-book.

When I see people like Kyle at my door, I envision seeing dinosaurs. That system is so far behind the times that it’s laughable. When I can research 15 power companies in my area — from price to service to customer reviews — at the touch of a few buttons, sales pitches at my front door fall as flat as a ball thrown by my three-year old.

Let me further clarify: I’m not saying that door-to-door sales are entirely ineffective. I’m saying that the sales, churn-and-burn, love ‘em and leave ‘em, transactional mentality is ineffective.

Can Door-To-Door Sales Actually Work?

The first business I ever owned was a window cleaning business. I had great success with door-to-door sales — in fact, that was my primary lead generator. But I was never pushy or manipulative.

The offer was simply, “We’re in your neighborhood giving free estimates for window cleaning. It takes five minutes, would you like one?” Customers were given the estimate and asked politely if they would like to schedule an appointment.

We were respectful, transparent, unobtrusive.

Here’s how I would do it today, knowing what I now know: I would carry refrigerator magnets that displayed the company website prominently. I would explain to everyone that didn’t set an appointment that they can go online and research our company to feel secure about our services.

And I would have a sharp website waiting to embrace them with trust and transparency.

Website As Business Card, Brochure, & Coffee Shop

Among other components, the website would have testimonials, at least a dozen case studies complete with before and after pictures, a matrix comparing our services and pricing with every other window cleaning company in town, and a money-back guarantee for any dissatisfied customers. I would even consider a no-risk trial, such as five free windows.

In other words, I would provide a comprehensive venue for potential customers to research and make the decision on their terms, then drive traffic to that website. I would never try to push them into a decision — I would provide content and tools whereby they would be pulled into making the decision of their own accord.

Permission Database Is Crucial

Furthermore, I would provide a free e-book download, such as “The 10 Most Important Things to Look For in a Window Cleaner.” This would create a permission-based database that could be marketed to over time. But I wouldn’t send out sales-oriented emails all the time. I would send out useful information on everything from dealing with hard water stains to tricks for washing second- and third-story windows without using a ladder.

75% of my emails would be valuable content, and 25% would be sales-related. They could unsubscribe at any time. I would protect their personal information fiercely. I would cultivate trust and respect over time and do all I could to make them feel comfortable throughout the entire process.

And I would never, ever, stop in the middle of a canned schpiel to make a lame comment about a picture on their wall. I’m just sayin’.

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Stephen Palmer is a marketing consultant and persuasive writer with KGaps Consulting, a co-founder of The Center for Social Leadership, and the New York Times best-selling co-author of Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths that are Destroying Your Prosperity.

He is a liberal-arts graduate of George Wythe University and a graduate of the “non-traditional business school” Wizard Academy.

Stephen resides in Round Rock, Texas with his gorgeous wife Karina, awesome son Alex, and princess daughters Libby, Avery, and Laela. Stephen and Karina blog about their magical life on Palmer Journeys.