I remember my first canvassing exploits. I honestly thought I would cack myself for the first few - I managed to mumble 'Hi I'm a window cleaner and I wondered if you needed one' for the first house - throat really dry and just about got the words out.
Use the first 5 - 10 houses as practice for what you are going to say. I know it sounds weird but try practicing in front of a mirror to see if that helps. I didn't do this and found that I often said something completely different to what I planned to say - nerves definitely got to me. But as said above it's a numbers game on 2 fronts: the more you knock the better you will get at your sales pitch and also the more jobs you will get. Some areas you can get streets and streets of 'no thank you' but don't let this put you off.
I had a sheet with boxes printed on. In each box I would put the house number and after I had knocked I would put the response:
HW: Has Window Cleaner - so know not to bother again unless see house for sale/to let in future
NI: Not interested - as above
PL: Not in so posted Leaflet - call on these again to canvass when in
FS/TL: For Sale/To Let where the property is empty as a reminder to keep an eye out for when occupied again
HL: Handed Leaflet
HLQ: Handed Leaflet and quoted - also made a note of price given and frequency
YES - The Holy Grail as the custy has agreed to a first clean!!!!! I also had a separate sheet for the new custy to make a note of the full address, full name, contact number, price and frequency.
Just get out there and do it and you'll find it much easier than you think!
