The term canvassing is often attached to the picture of a politician campaigning to convince people to vote in their favour. However, canvassing can also be an effective tool to accomplish sales. It is an essential part of most organizations.
Sales Canvassing is a technique used to create contact with a potential customer with no prior association with the product or services offered. These prospective customers can vary from individual to business, depending on the initial research and target market. Sales canvassing does not take place haywire; instead, it is an organized selection process.
Methods
The new leads can be contacted through the following methods:
Cold Call
Cold Call is a method of contacting potential customers without any prior notice and pitching in sales offers and services. The cold call aims to make a direct sale or to foster customer relationships. The first call might not lead to a deal, but it can help persuade the customer to accept more minor requests like subscribing to emails.
Door-to-door
Door-to-door canvassing is one of the old sales strategies involving identifying and visiting customers who are more likely to use the product or services offered. The process to visit the customer is pre-planned and based on the recognized list of houses or businesses that can benefit from the products or services.
In the same ways as the cold call method, the potential buyer is unaware of the visit. Consequently, the goal is to achieve sales or arrange a further meeting with the customer to nurture the relationship.
Networking
Networking involves meeting prospects at a particular event or public occasion. The events are targeted based on the attendance of prospective customers. Networking helps to build clientele as direct sales are less likely to be achieved at the event. Further, these people can be persuaded later to buy the product.
Emails or Postal Mails
Businesses often use Emails or Postal mails to inform prospective customers about the products and services in a detailed written draft. This method helps to overcome the drawbacks of the previous strategies. It gives the customer more time and space to make a decision. The pressure of an immediate response is taken off. On the downside, emails or postal mails can be ignored entirely. Therefore, emails or postal mails should be visually and informatically attractive.
Advantages
Sales canvassing is budget-friendly. It requires little to no expenditure to reach people and persuade them directly.
It is an effective way to list out people, connect with them and convert them into potential customers.
A salesperson can work individually to acquire as many prospects rather than to work in a huge team.
The salesperson can contact as many people as they want during the whole day. There is no set limit to sales canvassing.
The requirement for sales canvassing includes only pen, paper, contact numbers and phone.
The higher chances of reaching out to people and understanding different perspectives can help gain insights into the products and services offered.
The salesperson canvassing experiences personal growth learns how to communicate effectively and handle rejection.
Disadvantages
The amount of fatigue experienced increases as one has to contact many people.
Sales canvassing can lead to a decrease in confidence due to continuous unsuccessful calls.
The rate of success is low.
Other new advanced techniques have replaced sales canvassing as they are more effective and sustainable.
Most of the time, a customer might give a positive response but will not be willing to buy the product.
Likely, the person might not respond to your call as soon as they notice the caller-id.
It is a comparatively slow technique to spread the word.
Sales Tips
Sales canvassing can be effectively managed using the following tips:
Identify target markets
The first building block of sales canvassing is to research the potential buyers in the market. It is essential to identify who the buyer is, their needs, and how your product solves their existing problem by buying the product. Therefore, just making calls is not going to generate sales. A well-researched list of prospective individuals and businesses is a must before making calls.
Set attainable goals
Goal setting will provide a higher chance of achieving sales. Whether working in a team or individually, setting a daily goal can be helpful. It will give direction and prevent you from getting side-tracked. Also, it will provide a sense of accomplishment and motivation if you reach the goal.
Create a sales pitch
Creating a sales pitch allows the salesperson to be confident and fluent while speaking with the potential customer. The sales pitch should be clear, and it should highlight why is it the best fit for the customer. It should reflect your brand identity and value propositions.
Be prepared
Be friendly and maintain a positive attitude. Practising your sales pitch before talking to the potential customer can help you overcome anxieties about the call. It will help you to deal with demanding customers and at the same time help to nurture relationships with the prospects.
Be understanding
Rather than taking things personally, understand and learn from the experience. Being understanding takes you a long way to handle rejection and understand the customer’s pain points. It will help you to empathize with the customer and personalize your sales pitch.
Focus on the connection
Sales canvassing can be more effective when the focus is on establishing a rapport. This rapport can help to build the relationship further and get more dedicated customers. Canvassing should aim towards providing information and solution to the pain points of the customers.
Always follow-up
Following up with the potential customer is always a good step to get a qualified lead. The customer might not be presently interested in the product or service but can become a dedicated customer in the long run.
Don’t get discouraged
It might be not easy when the goal set is not achieved, but persistence is the key. Giving up might seem the easiest option, but identifying the mistakes and overcoming the rejection can be equally satisfying.
