What really happened when I opened my front door last night

publication date: Oct 2, 2009

Dear,

It's 8pm last night . . .


The kids are in bed, I've had dinner and just settling in to relax for the
evening when there's a knock at the front door . . .

At this time of night it has to be some kind of door-to-door sales pitch. Damn!
It's too late to turn the lights of and pretend I'm not in!

Expecting the worst (i.e.: having to turn away a pushy and slightly scary
ex-con selling dishcloths), I ready myself for a polite "Not today thank you . ."

I don't know about you, but I feel very uncomfortable with someone
door-stepping me totally unannounced, invading my personal space. Even the
lovely and very well meaning Jehovah's Witnesses bring me out in a cold sweat.
Being typically English and polite, I find it very uncomfortable saying no.

So I open the door with a fixed smile. On the doorstep is a nice young chap. In
his hands he has a wad of brochures for Friends of The Earth - the environmental
charity.

Can you guess what happens next? Here's what I said:

"Hello! Brilliant, I'd love some information! Could you give me the direct
debit form as well?"

"Oh you would . . . right . . . I mean you don't have to make a decision today.
I can call back tomorrow to see if you have any questions."

"No, that's alright, I've been meaning to give some money to your charity. Just
hold on a minute while I get a pen."

"Umm, right . . . well . . . we don't normally have people make a decision that
quickly."

I think this poor charity worker thought I was slightly deranged. But, for
once, I was genuinely pleased that he was on my doorstep giving me the
opportunity to spend money (even if it is for a good cause). I explained . . .

"You've arrived at just the right time. I've been meaning to do something about
my carbon footprint . . . I've just bought a car with a dirty great 6 litre
engine, that does about 19 miles to the gallon, so I wanted to do something to
offset my emissions."

I don't think the charity worker could believe his luck. He's probably used to
having to go door to door, taking plenty of rejection. It must have been the
easiest donation of his week . . . perhaps year!

But what was going on here and what can you take from it to make money?

I'll tell you. If you get the right person, at the right time, with the right
offer, they WILL buy. Although highly unlikely, if someone had come to my door
last night selling obscure Japanese horror DVDs, limited edition converse
trainers or a wide angle lens for my Leica camera, I'd have got my cheque book
out there and then.

You see, everyone has desires and wants. Some are big. Some small.

People want solutions to their problems.

The want to make money. Or save money.

They want objects to satisfy their material desires.

They want to fulfil their passions in life.

They want to avoid pain, lose weight or build muscle.

They want to feel as if they are doing something to help save the planet,
rainforest and donkeys!

And this principle informs just about every exchange.

Think about the Internet. Hundreds of millions of people searching for ways to
satisfy their wants and needs. You have to understand that many people are
actively searching and have money burning a hole in their pocket. They WANT to
buy. They want to give someone their money in exchange for making them feel
better.

If you already have an established business, can you identify what would
motivate your customers to buy from you?

It doesn't matter if you have something as down to earth as a plant hire
company specialising in pneumatic drills. Your customers have wants. They will
come back to you again and again if you can satisfy those specific desires. For
drill hire, I suspect the prospect will be extremely price conscious. They will
also want as little paperwork as possible. They may have to get access to
equipment at very short notice.

How could you position your offers and business to resolve these issues?

I truly believe that everyone has that hot button. Everyone is primed to buy
something. All they need to be offered is the right opportunity. At the right
time.

Something else comes out of this. Make sure you target your customers. Friends
of the Earth were tipping the chances of success in their favour. I live in a
part of London that is affluent and historically liberal. In my street, everyone
uses their recycling boxes. What's more there are a lot of high performance cars
parked. Doesn't take a genius to realise that, like me, many people might feel
guilty about their impact on the environment and just need a little nudge to
make a donation.   

I suspect Friends of The Earth would not be door stepping the local council
estate. There would be no point. I don't think I am being controversial by
saying that giving to some 'green' charity would not be high on their to do
list!

So if your customer doesn't come to you, then figure out where they hang out
(metaphorically speaking) and hunt them down. This is easy when it comes to
direct mail as there are list brokers who can provide lists with specific
profiles that match your ideal customer.

If you are on the Internet, then go search out forums in the group you want to
sell to. Let me give you an example. I am mentoring someone at the moment on how
to create an online business. We have identified back and joint pain as our key
niche.

Where on earth would you find people with back pain on the Internet?

Easy. Open Google and type in

"Back pain forum"

(The speech marks are important as Google will look for that specific key
phrase.)

The results? 149,000 pages!

Now, do you think if you visited some of these active forums and followed the
threads, you would begin to understand what people with back pain want? Do you
think you would understand their frustrations and hopes?

You bet!

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Have a great weekend

Nick