[Johnny B]

I have nothing against canvassing companies per se, but have always done my own canvassing for the following reasons:

1. I am meeting every  potential customer face to face so both parties get a first impression..

2. Business is discussed and agreed first hand.

3. I am choosing where and when  I want to canvass.

4. Retention rate seems to be better according to  others' experiences.

5. It's free!

John.

This is fantastic and its all true and good.

BUT it misses out the most important  reason why it's not possible for some people to do themselves.

Which is because they hate it so much they would rather fork out thousands for someone else to do it.

I appreciate the reasons some use canvassers and that's fine if they accept that the retention rates are low compared to doing it yourself. I also understand its investment potential.

Whether you are paying a canvasser or doing it yourself, you are either investing money or time.  There is nothing wrong with either method.

John

[jo5hm4n]

Retention  rates will vary because the people who answer the door vary. You could gate all great customers or all crap customers but usually a mix.

In my experience having used at least 4 diff canvassers and done it myself and paid local lads to help me that a year down the line I would expect to retain anything from 25-75% from canvassed work.

But what you guys are forgetting in your calculations is this.

You pay 3k for 1200 of work.
You clean 1000 the first time
Second time maybe 900
Third maybe 800
Fourth maybe 700

There's your money back. Now you are in profit from this point on. Its called investment. And it's the first 2-3 cleans where most who are going to drop out do so. The rate of drop offs dramatically reduces after the first 2-3 cleans. Remember you haven't had to go out and bang these doors yourself you've simply taken some money invested it and then a later point you get a return on that investment.

Another way to look at it is that you are investing time not money in reality.  It takes you extra hours to do the extra work and go through the process to get the end result of having more customers. You get the money invested back but not the time. If you do it yourself you invest the time also but I don't like canvassing so would rather clean than canvass.

This is without doubt the best comment i have seen on this forum in regards to canvassing.  Totally agree with you 100% and i haven't even used a canvasser as of yet, but understand that it is an investment and when the round has paid off how much you had to pay for it, anything after that is profit and even if you only end up with 25-50% work after a year, it's all been paid for and now its making you the profits, but you didn't have to invest the time yourself.

My problem is that i don't have the TIME, to canvas as much as i would like too.  Ideally i need £500-£1000 more of work, but i'm lucky if i can find the time to go out canvassing once a week, so it's just not quick enough for me to get the work at the rate i need it.  I do enjoy canvassing but at the same time, i love the idea of being able to pay somebody and then they bring in £1000 of work to you, all in one hit, rather than scattered like when your canvassing yourself.

For example, lets say i go canvassing once per week for 2 hours.  I may pick up £25-£50 in new customers(good day).  That's still only £100-£200 in new work every month.  That means it would take me 5 months just to hit the goal that i am looking for, which too be honest i need in the next 1-2 months.  The quicker i start doing all of this work, the quicker its paid off and the quicker i will see the profit.

This is why i am considering using a canvasser, because its bringing in more work and more money, much quicker than i can bring it in.

Thanks for posting your experience on retention rates from canvassers and your personal experiences, that has helped me to understand just that little bit more clearly the benefits of using a canvasser.

 

[dave f]

main problem remains you are never gonna get any thing like compact work  with a canvasser when I go out knocking I go around the area I have work already and close buy to plug the gaps were possible  I just do a couple of hrs   for example I went out last Saturday on a small estate were I have  a few  and got an extra 4 not a great deal but it means I have a foot hold in that area  to work with imo any body can achieve  the numbers they need  just keep chipping a way  I go round the same area a couple of times a year with flyers  just to let people know that I am regular and not some summer brigade chav

[Leeds]

This is without doubt the best comment i have seen on this forum in regards to canvassing.  Totally agree with you 100% and i haven't even used a canvasser as of yet, but understand that it is an investment and when the round has paid off how much you had to pay for it, anything after that is profit and even if you only end up with 25-50% work after a year, it's all been paid for and now its making you the profits, but you didn't have to invest the time yourself.

My problem is that i don't have the TIME, to canvas as much as i would like too.  Ideally i need £500-£1000 more of work, but i'm lucky if i can find the time to go out canvassing once a week, so it's just not quick enough for me to get the work at the rate i need it.  I do enjoy canvassing but at the same time, i love the idea of being able to pay somebody and then they bring in £1000 of work to you, all in one hit, rather than scattered like when your canvassing yourself.

For example, lets say i go canvassing once per week for 2 hours.  I may pick up £25-£50 in new customers(good day).  That's still only £100-£200 in new work every month.  That means it would take me 5 months just to hit the goal that i am looking for, which too be honest i need in the next 1-2 months.  The quicker i start doing all of this work, the quicker its paid off and the quicker i will see the profit.

This is why i am considering using a canvasser, because its bringing in more work and more money, much quicker than i can bring it in.

Thanks for posting your experience on retention rates from canvassers and your personal experiences, that has helped me to understand just that little bit more clearly the benefits of using a canvasser.

 

Let's do the math:
Canvassers get you £1000 (80 house for example)
Month 1 - you earn £0 minus expenses (your wage or any employees, fuel, water etc)
Month 2 - you earn -£100 (10% drop off) minus expenses
Month 3 - you earn -£200 (another 10%) minus expenses.
Month 4- you earn £800 minus £300 paid to Canvassers even though lost customers, so £500 then fuel for having gone to 216 houses in last 3 months, say £50, so £450
Month 5 - you earn £650 (another 15% drop off)
Month 6 - you earn £500 (another 15% drop off).
TOTAL EARNED - £1,650

You canvass £200 a month yourself (£50 a week very easily done)
Month 1 - you earn £180 (10% drop off)
month 2 - £340 (20% drop off - 10 this month, 10 again for last month work)
Month 3 - £500 (20% drop off)
Month 4 - £660 (20% drop off)
Month 5 - £800 (20% drop off)
Month 6 - £960 (20% drop off)
TOTAL - £3,440

Even if you earned half that from your own canvassing, it would still be more than the work you bought, and it would be more compact, exactly how you priced it and the rest.

Canvassing only makes sense when you need an extra £10k plus of work and you need it NOW.

Just my 2 pence!

[Stoots]

The figures may stack up in favour of doing it yourself.

But like I said before the figures are irrelevant if you would rather chop your male organ off than go knocking on doors yourself.  Some people hate canvassing some really don't mind it so it's up to the individual.

[duncan h]

As long as you start making money after a few months, who cares.
I personally like my round spread apart.
Also if you tell a customer where to go, you wont lose all the street, from them telling tales

[JandS]

They canvas you a £1000 worth of work for £2000.
First clean you get £900 in.
Second clean you get £800 in.
Third clean you get £700 in and your in profit.
How long would it take in man hours to canvass that work yourself?
Let's be conservative and say you could do that in a week..say 5 days....how much could you have earned in that 5 days?

[Leeds]

They canvas you a £1000 worth of work for £2000.
First clean you get £900 in.
Second clean you get £800 in.
Third clean you get £700 in and your in profit.
How long would it take in man hours to canvass that work yourself?
Let's be conservative and say you could do that in a week..say 5 days....how much could you have earned in that 5 days?

Nothing. The week after you earn £1000 when you work it.
Canvassing company - your earn nothing for 2 months and pay to clean them in expenses. And then you start earning.

But it's clearly not about the money, it's about the nerve of knocking on doors.

I personally love it. Picking up customers is favourite part of the job, not cleaning haha.