On Monday evening I launched my third Twitter poll. These are turning out to be working quite well. I have done these on the subjects of standard welds vs timber look joints on PVCu windows, and whether people believe triple glazing has already had it’s best days. Click the links to catch yourself up on those two posts.

For my third Twitter poll I am asking whether in 2019 there is a place for cold-calling and door canvassing with a view to generating leads and new business. The early results show that this one isn’t going to see a clear winner. At least not yet.

The question

Here’s what I am asking people on Twitter over the next week:

Within one day of this poll going live over 100 people have already voted, so out of the three Twitter polls so far this is already the most participated in, and we’re only on day one. So perhaps this time next week we could double that. What this means is that people still feel strongly about this issue. So far few people have come outright and said that it still has a place in our industry. Over half have said it doesn’t, with a not-so-insignificant 38% so far saying that they think it might still have a place, so long as the methods are carried out properly.

Lee Marriott of Anglo European commented:

In all fairness, in the most part I agree with him. The number of ways to reach out to new customers is far more diverse than it used to be. In any method of trying to win new customers it always has to be done with integrity. However that’s where cold-calling becomes a problem for me, because so many people and companies have for so long used it to abuse home owners and use it to harass and apply pressure.

Speak to any home owner who has embarked on the process of buying new windows and doors and so many of them will be able to tell you a story about a company who would not leave them alone no matter how many times they told them to stop calling. This is something that has plagued our industry for many years now and it’s probably far too late to be able to repair the damage.

For me, if you can get a potential customer to make the effort to come to you, you’re already more likely to win their business before you have even started. There is though the other method of door knocking, or door canvassing as it’s professionally known.

DGB Stats

Door canvassing

Lets face it, as far as jobs go, this isn’t the best one our industry has to offer. In the middle of November, it’s 7 degrees outside and raining sideways, you’re knocking on people’s doors knowing the kind of reaction you’re going to likely get, just to try and make an appointment for a future rep to go and sit. All in the hope that lead gets converted and you get a snippet of that money. Not exactly enticing is it.

It’s 2019. The chances are that any of us who gets a knock at the door, be it from religious groups, charities or double glazing companies, we’re going to say no at the door. No one likes being bothered at home. It’s your home at the end of the day. Your own little bit of peace, privacy and quiet. Being nagged to buy windows isn’t going to butter your parsnips.

Door knocking isn’t an illegal activity. Yet, we now live in a very distrusting world, so not only are we not fond of the practise itself, we’re now automatically sceptical of who is at your door. The chances then of door knockers from windows companies creating tangible levels of leads must be as low as they ever have been.

Now my own personal opinion of door knocking, cold-calling, hard sell and pressure tactics are well known. I don’t like them, at all. I work for a small family run business and we do just fine selling on the back of quality, service, and generating leads from those who have come into our showroom and phoned up themselves. We don’t need to do any of the above.

That is just my opinion however and my aim with these polls is to try and find the wider view of the industry on matters such as these. So the more of you who can vote the better. I will report back in a week with the final results, which I think may be closer than you might think between those who think they need to be stopped and those who think they still have a place in UK fenestration.

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