After getting past the many people that refused to give me or any other door to door salesperson their time, then came the worst part of it all: the doorbell phase. There is certainly quite a bit of anxiety between the time of ringing the bell and the door is opened, as it is close to impossible to predict what would be on the other side of that door. I recall one time where a sweet old lady opened the door at one house and the next door over I got cursed out by a biker and his brother. Cold calling is much more unpredictable for this reason, wherein a typical sales call you could and should research a prospect, door-to-door cold calling is the polar opposite. It requires you to completely reset your expectations after every interaction, and where attunement is king. I very much liked the philosophy of getting to know the client and then finding out if their needs meet your product but in my position, all of that goes out the window. The reason for this is most people tend to not like it when people show up at their house to waste their time, so its an art of walking a fine line between information and personal interaction. It is easy to tell by the initial facial expression of the prospect where the conversation will go and if they are even going to listen to a fifteen-second elevator pitch or humor you with a smile on their face. Though an initial reaction isn’t everything, so if they were willing to hear my out I would at least give a basic rundown of what I’m offering.
BoweryJE22