Note: This is not a religious commentary. This is a sales commentary. Now read and enjoy!
The sales person's greatest challenge.
The sales person's greatest challenge.
Door-to-door Mormons – they have it tough.
From a sales perspective, their prospects are slim.
They’re essentially door-to-door salesmen that are trying to sell you on faith.
The ‘customers’ they encounter and why the sale is not an easy one:
If you don’t believe in God, you’re irritated at the prospect of someone trying to get you to believe a big guy in the sky.
If you do believe in God, you’re angry that someone is telling you your faith is wrong.
If you’re already Mormon, you’re bugged that they’re wasting their time on you and not out there converting more people.
So unless a person woke up and thought to himself : “Gee, I wonder what I think about things like God and religion. I’m curious about exploring different faiths.” – well most of us just are not going to change.
Why study these tactics?
I can tell you for a fact that when they came to my door, there wasn’t even a tiny part of me that said “well, since they came all this way, I might as well re-evaluate all the values on which I base my life.”
But there was a tiny part of me wondering – why do they do what they do, and how successful are they at doing it?
So being the curious marketer, I invited them in, gave ‘em some food, and we sat down and chatted about God n’ Sales – and here’s what I found.
3 Sales MISTAKES the Mormons made – and how you can avoid them
Mistake 1) They’re too focused on changing ‘beliefs’ - this is something extremely personal and touchy. When they say they want to share the word of the lord with the homeowner…I’m sure they get a lot of slammed doors.
How to win: A better tactic would be to say they simply want to understand your beliefs because they want you to educate them – right off the bat. Imagine if these guys came to you because they wanted YOU to educate them. Heck, there’s a lot of people who would be willing to chat about their faith and belief. And getting a person to let you in and chat with you is the first step towards pushing the sale.
Although they do ask about you after you let them in, their initial approach is way off and results in almost never getting past the front door.
Homework? Awww hellz no!
Mistake 2) They want you to do homework. They wanted to leave a book with me and asked me to look over it and study it.
I did not want to, felt pushy. The idea was that I would invest time and accomplish something, thus getting further to their goal.
But all I heard is “Take time out of your busy day to do what we want you to do”
How to win: If you want a person to accomplish something, you have to give them an incentive. Having a possible revelation and shining lights beaming down on me just doesn’t cut it.
Mistake 3) They tried to close the sale too fast. You don’t talk sale until your customer seems eager… or at the very least interested. I was neither.
How to win: In hard sales, you can push the sale, but again – usually the person has at least a bit of interest for whatever you’re selling. Using the car lot example, if they came there to check out cars, it’s likely that they are at least interested in getting a car. But since these fellas are going door to door, it’s a stretch to assume I’m interested if I’m just listening politely and saying “no thanks.”
3 Good Sales Tactics the Mormons Used – and how you can apply them to business
Good sales move 1) They get you to talk about yourself - People love talking about themselves. I know I do! This does two things. One, it gets you to open up and two, they can take the information you share with them and use it to sneakily convert you.
"MA!! I just scored FREE stuff from the Mormons! So I'm converting, k? ... Mom?"
Good sales move 2) They give you free stuff. Sure it’s a book about Mormons, but The Law of Reciprocity goes “I do something for you, you do something for me.” So think twice before you accept that free water at the car dealership – or the free bible.
Remember when you’re the person selling, the more information n’ help you give someone, the more they see you as someone they can count on. And the easier it will be for them to give you money to help them.
Good sales move 3) They had great customer service – Whatever you think of them, they listened carefully to me, never interrupted me. They were polite, and even offered to help me out around the house.
Again, Law of Reciprocity!
What to do with these lessons:
Keep ‘em in mind for your pitches. Match people, get them to talk about themselves, offer information and draw them in. Give them things so they feel like they owe you somethin’.
Granted, you wont always be making the sales on a face to face basis. And goodness knows, you’ll need a better strategy than going door to door hoping someone wants what you’re pitching.
It helps to do research and narrow down your targets so you can spend your time on people you actually have a chance of closing the sale with.
Remember – Research. It actually has a purpose outside of college.
Have you chatted with mormons or seen them use other tactics?
Tell us below or just share your thoughts!
Danielle
P.S. They were good sports – even cracking up when I asked them “Is it sacrilegious to say Joseph Smith looked hot?” in the photo they showed me of him.
I love how you can turn the simplest interactions into a marketing opportunity!
I can’t wait to see what “real life” experience you’re going to turn into a Clear Copywriter lesson next!
And, I’m not Mormon either, but I’ve always liked them. We have the missionaries over for dinner too. They have it tough!
Great post as usual.
–Lauren*
Marketing is hiding everywhere
My favorite way to talk marketing is to use unusual situations.
I like them too – very nice people!
And thank yee, I always love hearing from you!
This was a great article! I am a “Mormon”, though we prefer not to be called “Mormons”. We are actually “Latter Day Saints”.
But most people just know us by the street term coined by other faiths who do not believe we are Christians (though we are to our core).
I loved seeing your perspective from a “sales” angle. I agree too, there are things these young 19-21 yr old young men could improve on. But isn’t it great that such young men sacrifice what MOST young men their ages are crazy about, to do something completely unselfish– and without pay too. ( Most 19-21 yr old males are busy pursing their own interests: Girls, education, career, cars, sports, etc) But these young men (and some young women too) put that all on hold to stand for something they believe in. That’s impressive.
Their motivation? The opportunity to grow spiritually in the service of others (just like Christ did in his ministry). Did you know these boys and their families pay for their own missions? While most young men save years to buy cars or get an education, these young men save for years for the opportunity to serve others.
…there was only one comment in your article that I must comment on (for fun) “If you’re already Mormon, you’re bugged that they’re wasting their time on you and not out there converting more people.” Actually, most members are so happy to have them knock on their door and they are either invited in or have a friendly chat. When members see them riding their bikes or walking with their white shirts and names tags, it is not uncommon to hear members honk and wave to give them encouragement. You’re right though, they do have it hard… but the reward is eternal.
BTW, for what it’s worth… that book they gave you… I’ve read it 6 times. It is life-changing. Even if you have no intentions of ever becoming a “mormon” it is a fantastic read. I can vouch, when i read it, there is more peace in my life, and more success in my endeavors all around. Very enlightening. Once again, Enjoyed your article very much.
Hello there Desiree!
Welcome to the Clear Copywriter!
First off, I’m very pleased you came here to share more with us about your views and to shed some more (and more accurate!) light on the Latter Day Saints.
The people who visited me were some of the most friendly and polite people I’ve encountered in a long time.
I can fully appreciate that the book has brought joy to millions of people – there’s gotta be something to that!
Again, it’s truly a pleasure to hear from you – hope we see more of you!
Danielle
Oh BTW, “doing homework” is actually very useful in marketing. It is how you convert people to products too.
example: “Try this new soap and compare it to your other soaps. Read the labels and compare the ingredients, ours are organic and safe for pets and children- no harmful chemicals or artificial coloring. Try it for free and I just know you’ll love it. You’ll see after just one week a difference in how your skin feels and looks. No risk, just try it.”
Someone willing to do the homework will be even more of a loyal consumer after they have become educated on the product (people love to defend knowledge) and when they have taken the time to actually study a product and compare it to others, they will be more likely to educate others about the product.
Absolutely, sounds like you know a lot about marketing as well! I’m going to have to keep my eye on you
great work suggestion for sale rap or sale executive actually this article is just for those people who sale the good at door step and help for those who sale at online market…thanks for sharing
Hi Stella,
No worries – yep, it’s useful for both door to door salesmen and online salesmen (or people if you want to be politically correct… but who wants that!)
Love hearing from you