Half way through yesterday’s dinner, a familiar rapping on the front door, interrupted our tranquil meal. Expecting to see one of the neighborhood kids looking to squeeze in a couple of hours of playtime with one of my kids, I was not expecting to see a
bearded man with a clipboard standing at my door. I quickly realized it was a roof salesperson, hoping I would allow him time climb on my roof so that he could tell me my roof is in disrepair and must be replaced immediately. Quickly I uttered, “Thanks, but no thanks”, and closed the door before he could utter a word.
In hindsight, I was not surprised at all by the roof peddler’s intrusion into my families evening meal. My family asked who it was; I answered matter of fact, “another roof salesman”. He was the third salesperson of the day. Around 9am, earlier the same day, a woman in Ford truck slowly trolled the neighborhood, behind a small girl, who I estimated to be six or seven years. The girl was handing out business cards for the woman behind the wheel.
Around 3pm on the same day, I opened the door to a well-spoken, cleaning solution salesperson. He was itching to come inside so he could show how well his secret solution would take care of my toughest stain, I did not bite. I allowed this person to go on with his sales pitch, because he spoke well, and he was naming off all of my neighbors who had purchased his miracle solution at $70 a pop. Knowing he was not going to be invited in, the magic solution sales representative looked for alternative things to clean. He cleaned a window, an ink stained washcloth, which he had marked himself. He also cleaned the bumper of my truck parked
in front of the house and a small section grout. My house has brick siding. The cleaning solution rep. expressed visible surprise that I would not shell out $70 for his miracle cleaner.
Usually when there is a piece about door-to-door salespeople, somebody is railing about unlicensed sales people roaming the town or why does my town crack down on these sales people. I have no problem with people selling door to door, it is a part American tradition that I would hate to lose. If it really bothers you, do not answer the door.
What I have noticed is the dramatic increase in the number of people going door to door for business. In an average week, I find two to three business cards squeezed between my front door and the door frame for landscapers. The same number of house cleaners attempt to sell their services. Roofers stop by two to three times a week. Less frequently are the mobile food service proprietors, house painters, insurance sales people, yes we have people occasionally trying to sell insurance. Fortunately the magazine subscription sales force has been absent over the last couple of months. Maybe due to the bad reputation they have developed over the years. Also absent are the Fuller Brush man, Encyclopedia man, and vacuum cleaner salespeople. Okay the last three have been waning for a number of years now.
This year I estimate the number of people knocking on my door has increased three-fold from last year and probably five fold from three years ago. Why the sudden increase? In the words of President William Jefferson Clinton, “It’s the economy stupid”.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in April 2011, that employment in the construction industry is still down $2.2 million jobs from its peak in April 2006. If you were in the construction industry or a related support industry and you were laid off in the past five years, and cannot find work, what do you do? You find work related to what you know.
Unable to find work in construction, maybe you can find work as a landscaper. Your spouse had a good job in construction five years ago; work has been sparse since then. What do you do? You find work doing what you know to help support the family by cleaning houses. You have a roofing company, housing starts are so low that if you are in danger of losing the business. What do you do? Hit the streets and solicit homeowners to replace their roof.
You are a good sales person with a background in mortgage, but the few jobs there are do not pay anything close to what you made
before. What do you do? Try you hand selling high margin products door to door until the housing market picks up.
I have no evidence to back up my theory other than the large increase in people selling door to door. I fully expect the number of people knocking on my door to drop off as soon as the employment picture in the construction industry turns around. My neighbor in the heavy equipment rental business to the construction industry attests to the continued drought in new construction. Next time someone knock on your door and tries to sell you something , don’t be too hard on them, they are doing the best they can in a tough economy.
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