Door-to-Door Realtors
October 28th, 2015 by PotatoIn what I have to assume is a world first, I had a door-to-door solicitation from a pair of realtors flogging pre-construction condos last night.
In true door-to-door salesman style‎, I had just taken the first bite of dinner when the knock on the door came. I jumped to answer the door, thinking it was the landlord stopping by to chat, only to be faced by a pair of ladies lugging glossy brochures of the new Tridel development coming down the street.
I had hot food waiting so I brushed aside their sales pitch and wished them good night, but I have so many questions‎ that I wish I had asked at the time.
- Do people, who already live in detached homes, actually buy pre-construction condos from an unsolicited visit?
- Has anyone ever made a major six-figure purchase from a door-to-door solicitation ever? Do you think it likely to happen?
- Why does the sales literature promote shopping at Bayview Village (more than anything else about the development) when Fairview is the larger mall and closer to the development?
- ‎Doesn’t it hurt the image of the development to flog the units this hard? Hasn’t the traditional approach been to hold “VIP” and “exclusive” sales events?
- Is door-to-door condo sales really a thing Torontonians can look forward to, or were you just trolling me in particular?
- And then the first few questions like twenty more times because seriously WTF.
I know I’m a blogger, prone to introspection and constantly amazed by the impulsiveness of people in this city when it comes to real estate, but do people really make half-million-dollar decisions by door-to-door sales?
October 29th, 2015 at 10:09 am
I have a friend whose “financial advisor” has been pounding on him to buy into the second mortgage on one of these pre-construction condos. The purchase is in blocks of $25,000, so no need to shell out 6 figures. All evidence seems to be that the developers don’t care about how these sales techniques affect their reputations.
November 2nd, 2015 at 8:19 am
To answer your questions, yes, yes, and yes.
I’ve been told by realtors that knocking on neighbours doors is a good thing if you’re selling something in the neighbourhood. Some people might like to move but stay nearby. Others may have friends who would like to move nearby. Those people appreciate the knock on the door.
Can you make a six figure income from cold-calling like this? Yes. I have a friend in the insurance industry who did this when he first started out (well, not knocking, but hanging flyers on doors).
And I think your assumption that this methodology is hurting their image – I bet it’s not. The kidney foundation cold-calls on my door every year soliciting me for cash at the door, that doesn’t seem to hurt their image with the public. Should they be knocking on doors?
What about political candidates? That is one time I’ve personally knocked on doors to ‘sell’. A lot – perhaps most – people appreciate that knock.
So perhaps it’s not so much about cold-calling on doors. Perhaps the perception is whether after the fact you were interested in their services or not :).
November 3rd, 2015 at 12:00 am
Thanks Glenn & Michael!
For the image, it was more because they seemed to be pitching it as a luxury type development, which usually gets something like an “exclusive VIP event” treatment rather than the door-to-door sell. But you both seem to be telling me that my understanding of marketing is lacking (not the least bit shocking to anyone who has seen me fumble through marketing, well, anything).