Door-to-door salespeople
In my early youth, in a foregone analogue era, I was ecstatic upon hearing the doorbell ring, meaning that the door-to-door booksellers had arrived. My passion for reading never ceased, and whenever my mother gave in to the convincing sales approach of the salesman, the house filled with joy. Even if the book was a trivial new cookbook, I saw it as a welcome addition to our expanding private library. To this day, I have the same joy for books. This devotion helped me grow my voluminous collection, which I gladly share with family and friends. I am delighted they trust my refined and sharpened literary taste.
My sympathy for door-to-door salespeople ends with books. In the nineties, various salespeople passed from one house to the other. In the morning, one came selling vacuums, another came selling private shares during lunch, salesmen with the “best” cosmetics frequented us in the afternoon, and a supposed expert in insurance funds usually came just before dinner. As the years passed, I developed a strong aversion to salespeople, who were only deterred by the ceaseless barking of a four-legged resident. A sign saying “bad dog” might have sufficed if they had read it.
In all the years that have passed, much has changed; our society has become digitalised, yet the salespeople still cling to us like leeches. Wealthier retirees represent their core target group – a group they can still persuade into purchasing an utterly useless kitchen appliance or food supplement.
I am pondering the evolution of sales as colleagues continue to convince me that sales visits still work in our industry. Interestingly, their numbers are increasing.
Let’s take it step by step: MICE salespeople mainly target all types and forms of event organisers, from corporations and associations to all types of event agencies. These salespeople offer us dream destinations, outstanding hotels, the best destination experts and unrivalled informational services for events. They even provide services that have not been invented yet.
Providers are not even aware that they might be violating some of the basic psychological sales principles. They should notify their relentless bosses who force them to go from door to door about this. Regardless of whether you are an extrovert or introvert. Here is the psychological science behind this:
Invasion of personal space/protection of territory
Invited or uninvited salespeople in the meetings industry invade our personal space. Physical or virtual, at home or at the office, people are territorial creatures by nature.
Sudden stop in activity flow/control and psychological safety
A sudden, unexpected cessation of an activity can cause stress, especially when someone offers something that we do not even need at a given moment.
Defending your ego/cognitive dissonance
Imagine finding yourself in a situation where you wish to be polite but feel resentment and discomfort at the same time. This leads to cognitive dissonance between your emotions and your expected course of action. Such dissonance triggers defence mechanisms and stress.
Manipulative approaches
With cunning psychological tricks that fly under the radar, salespeople will trigger the FOMO effect that may result in resentment or anger. Your brain might recognise this as a threat, forcing your body into a fight-or-flight mode.
Negative past experiences
Such experiences arise subconsciously. If you had a bad experience with a forceful salesman (perhaps you bought something you later regretted), your mind might automatically perceive them as a threat, activating defensive mechanisms such as anger or rage.
Street salespeople risk clients cringing over their approach and seeing the polar opposite of what they carefully planned.
If you still believe that door-to-door sales or sales calls are the most effective way of selling, be sure to respect the time of potential clients, listen to their needs, and avoid creating unnecessary pressure.
As a colleague commented today, it is a different story if you have a well-developed CRM system and thank your best partners in person. Entering your valued partners’ personal space this way will be a positive move.
To get to the gist: I believe that, in our business, it is better to sell in orderly markets than on the street. Street salespeople risk clients cringing over their approach and seeing the polar opposite of what they carefully planned. The client they approach might feel uncomfortable or have chills running down their spine after they have left. Ultimately, a brand’s reputation is at stake.
Whatever market suits you, it is a space where you can sell your services without any contemplation. The organisers of such markets will even aid you in doing so. The success, of course, depends on the league that they play in. Pre-arranged matchmaking also prevents introverted attendees from feeling embarrassed or cringey. Most of all, everyone who comes to such markets or events comes voluntarily, with a mutual interest in joining structured and effective meetings.
That is one of the reasons business trade shows – markets – have been sprouting like mushrooms. The decision to join an event is not only emotional but mathematical, as event organisers can substantiate their decision by measuring the ROI (Return on Investment) of attending a trade show and sales in general. For starters, it is wise to track the CPL – cost per lead. Once we compare the cost for a relevant acquired contact at a trade show with a contact made serendipitously, the picture becomes clear: at trade shows, the costs are lower, the quality of contacts is better, and the conversion rate is much higher.
Suma sumarum – the market is a rational choice, whereas relying on your gut feeling for sales is a shot in the dark that rarely hits the target.
