Knocking on Doors: Worthwhile Lead Generation or Waste of Time?
I was spending some time on a fellow blogger's page today, TopLeadGenorators.com. The blog is all about—you guessed it—lead generation. This blog is of particular interest to me as InsureMe is an online lead gen company, and though I'm not an insurance sales agent, like you, the people in my department are constantly thinking of ways to generate more leads.
But is door-to-door sales still a worthwhile method of finding new insurance prospects? Our friends at TopLeadGenerators, whom, I should tell you, I hold with some esteem, say that knocking on doors can still get the job done. TopLeadGen blogger, Dan Tudor, wonders if maybe this old school method of sales is a new way for organizations to stand out from their competitors.
"In fact, so few sales organizations do it (or do it well) that when someone effectively mounts a professional, ethical door to door marketing campaign, it's a great way to get sales leads," says Tudor. "You'll stand out as different and original, I think..."
Alright, I kind of see what the guy's saying. After all, aren't I the one always preaching about standing out from the competition? I'm just not sure door-to-door sales is the way to do it.
Here's the deal. You're always going to hear of someone that's trying one or two unorthodox methods of generating sales leads—and succeeding. There's the one agent who makes cold calls, the other one who dumps a ton of money into direct mail campaigns and another who takes out ad after ad in the local newspaper. But that doesn't necessarily mean any of these are worthwhile ventures.
So, while it works for some people, I'm going to have to dump door-to-door sales into the Big Fat Waste of Time category, right next to telemarketing/cold-calling. Why? In the age of permission marketing, the vast majority of people are totally turned off by marketing that disrupts their lives...or their dinner, family time, relaxation hour, etc. And eventually those disruptions lead to negative product assocation—of what you sell and who you sell it for. That's no good.
Case in point: I was a telemarketer for a brief period of time in college. I cold-called just like some of you insurance guys and gals are doing. Luckily I had a thick skin going into that job, which allowed the numerous death threats to roll effortlessly off of my back. And for every death threat I got, I made four or five sales. And that was worth it to me at the time, just like an occasional door slam may be worth it to you. But I can't tell you how many people have looked at my resume since then, saw the company for which I sold, and made a snarky comment. That's no good! Not only had the company earned a bad reputation, but I looked like a bit of a jerk because I worked for them.
In sum, I'll tell you that most traditional forms of sales and marketing like door-to-door sales and cold-calling are quickly becoming a thing of the past—and we'd all be better off to send them packing and focus our attention of more forward-thinking ways of doing business.
Need ideas? Visit the InsureMe Agent Resource Center. We've got over 60 insurance-related sales and marketing articles just waiting to be read. And without futher ado, here's a shameless plug for InsureMe insurance leads. :)
[Hat tip]: Seth Godin
Comments
Excellent points, Megan. With so much information competing for our attention these days, people are more and more protective over their time and privacy. It seems like the quieter, more respectful advertising has really earned consumer respect and, importantly, consumer patronage.
Posted by: Jeb Foster | June 7, 2006 08:22 PM
I agree, Jeb. And let's be real: we don't live in a serene Leave It to Beaver worldâ€â€annoying marketing and privacy invasion aside, I have no tolerance for strangers who show up at my door.
Posted by: Megan Mahan | June 7, 2006 08:54 PM
I'm going to have to say that I concur, as well. When people show up at my door I turn off the lights, TV and hide in my bathroom. I'm also a little offended when I go out to my car and have pieces of paper stuck under my wipers. If you're going to come door to door, or car to car in this case, don't leave information identifying yourself. It's the surest way NOT to get my business.
Posted by: Laura | June 7, 2006 09:57 PM
It's also annoying when someone rubberbands an ad to my garage door. I see it when I drive up, hit the garage door opener and it rolls up where I can't get it. We both lose.
Posted by: Jr. | June 8, 2006 03:16 PM
Well, I think one thing is clear: this kind of disruptive marketing is both annoying to the consumer and inefficient for the sales professional.
But let's not leave this on a sour note...I'm going to recommend that agents check out the marketing & sales articles in the resource center; here's one to get you started:
Internet Provides Useful Insurance Marketing Tools.
Enjoy. :)
Posted by: Megan Mahan | June 8, 2006 06:05 PM
I do want to add a comment to this topic... is there such a thing as bad marketing. If you get something stuck on your front door and you start complaining about it; the person that you are complaining to might actually look into it. I think there are good ways to do your marketing and then there are better ways. It just depends on what you want the result to be...
Posted by: Greg | June 9, 2006 12:33 AM
I respectfully disagree... I've been doing door to door insurance sales for over a year now, and I've never seen such explosive growth... My sales organization grew over 60% this year, and our company grew about 30%. Of course, I generate a lot of leads and referrals on each door knock, but it's still door to door and B2B.
That's just been my personal experience, but I've found that most people are pretty friendly and open minded, and things have worked well.
Just one man's opinion, and I've found that opinions are kinda like armpits. Everybody's got them, and a lot of them stink.
Have a great day!
Posted by: Brian Burkett | November 18, 2006 08:52 AM
I've door knock for several years, and I've been successful in the market.
Something to think about:
If a client gives you a lead of a person who has no telephone but! they will do business with you, what will be the difference in door knocking, because in order to obtain the business you must knock on the prospects door to start the process.
Many agents donot door knock because of Laziness.
Have A Great Day.
Posted by: Richie Bell "Shreveport Louisiana" | May 26, 2007 08:48 PM
ARE YOU PEOPLE SERIOUS?
SOME OF THE MOST POWERFUL SALESPEOPLE ON THE PLANET KNOCK ON DOORS! OH...THATS WHY YOU DON'T
Posted by: AL ANTUZZI | June 5, 2007 06:26 PM