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How do you door knock?

The Jersey Digger

Elite Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2010
Messages
4,812
Location
Phoenix, AZ
We all have our different methods as to what we say when we door knock and ask for permission. I know I say that I love finding local history and I do that through metal detecting. I ask then mention they will never know I was there. Even as a salesman for over 20 years I am not the type to do a random door knock unless someone else gave me the referral. I usually wait to see a person out at the house and strike up a conversation. I would like to hear what others say when they are trying to gain a permission. This is a good learning tool for the newer people in our hobby having trouble finding places to detect...
 
this is something I have yet to do. I usually ask friends or people word of mouth, but I have never had the nerve to knock on a random door. I watch these posts closely and read about how some go about it... and I know someday I'll over come my fear. It is a bit hard here I live in a country setting and people get a bit uptight when strangers pull into the drive;) a lot of the very old early 1800's home around here have no soliciting no trespassing signs... even saw one on an old foundation down the road!
 
Yeah...20yr Salesman here too...I love cold calls..seems all my life I've had to knock and ask, even when I was a kid, mowing yards, shoveling snow, permission to trap, handyman stuff...So it comes natural now at my age....

I'm just not into old silver coin hunting private yards at the moment, I want to go out and detect and not see or talk to anybody! Yeah, I'll knock on a random door now and then just to stay in skill shape at an interesting spot, No big deal...

I will say, if anybody wants to pattern somebodies 'Door Knock' methods, Forum Member 'Beephead' has got it down cold! He is fearless and its paying off big time for him...the secrets to success are embedded in his posts! Just read about 20 of them and you will get the format if you are so inclined...
Mud
 
I usually scope out a house that I can tell is old, has a decent yard that isn't immaculate, but isn't raggedy. It's nice if you can catch someone outside, but I don't mind cold knocking a random door. I never knock a door after I've already been hunting, make sure I'm wearing decent clean clothes, and turn on the charm. "I'm an amatuer historian and noticed your lovely home looks like it has has a lot of history. I like to metal detect for fun and exercise and was wondering if I could go over your lawn". I sometimes go into detail about some things I come across depending on how they react. I always make sure to say that I'll treat their lawn with the utmost respect. Sometimes they want to see what you find, which is no biggie. Only been told to get lost twice, so pretty good luck. YMMV.
 
Very cheerfully and with a smile on my face, I say ''Hi, how are you!?, my name is Kenny and I metal detect as a hobby, you may have seen me(or us) detecting at your neighbors house or around the neighborhood, I (or we) found a few pretty cool items there and was wondering if you minded me checking your yard out also? We don't use shovels just a small knife to cut a small plug and will show you everything we find". Thats pretty much it, it may vary slightly but not much. And I say it all at once and launch straight in to the part about no shovels without waiting for a response because I know the wheels are already turning in their head about a stranger digging in their yard anyways. I think offering to show them the finds and even have something if they want is the closer most of the time. And 99% of the time they never want any of the finds. My best run was 12 knocks and 12 Yes's.
 
this is something I have yet to do. I usually ask friends or people word of mouth, but I have never had the nerve to knock on a random door. I watch these posts closely and read about how some go about it... and I know someday I'll over come my fear. It is a bit hard here I live in a country setting and people get a bit uptight when strangers pull into the drive;) a lot of the very old early 1800's home around here have no soliciting no trespassing signs... even saw one on an old foundation down the road!

Never fear No Soliciting signs, the main reason people use then is because they are week and have little sales resistance, and want the sign to give the "no's" so they don't have too.

Make a friend ,make a sale. Just relax, do everything you can to get them to laugh or smile first. I've been in sales cold calling businesses and farms for 26 years. I usually tell people "I'm Craig, and I'm with the IRS..."" then give a big old grin (while holding my hand out)and wait for a smart A** response. 9 out of 10 times they will smile back. If their response, was questionable, sometimes I'll say casually "awe, put your checkbook away, I'm not here to sell you anything"

I'm not from the camp of complementing a stranger on their right properly, until you get to know them. That's an old cheesey sales trick that everyone knows and your "victim" will know immediately you want something and keep their guard up.

Simple, break down the walls between you and the land owner before you ask.
 
Never fear No Soliciting signs, the main reason people use then is because they are week and have little sales resistance, and want the sign to give the "no's" so they don't have too.

Make a friend ,make a sale. Just relax, do everything you can to get them to laugh or smile first. I've been in sales cold calling businesses and farms for 26 years. I usually tell people "I'm Craig, and I'm with the IRS..."" then give a big old grin (while holding my hand out)and wait for a smart A** response. 9 out of 10 times they will smile back. If their response, was questionable, sometimes I'll say casually "awe, put your checkbook away, I'm not here to sell you anything"

I'm not from the camp of complementing a stranger on their right properly, until you get to know them. That's an old cheesey sales trick that everyone knows and your "victim" will know immediately you want something and keep their guard up.

Simple, break down the walls between you and the land owner before you ask.

I am 100% sure that the methods and attitude described in this post would have you ordered off of my property in a heartbeat. "Victim" my a......!
 
I usually scope out a house that I can tell is old, has a decent yard that isn't immaculate, but isn't raggedy. It's nice if you can catch someone outside, but I don't mind cold knocking a random door. I never knock a door after I've already been hunting, make sure I'm wearing decent clean clothes, and turn on the charm. "I'm an amatuer historian and noticed your lovely home looks like it has has a lot of history. I like to metal detect for fun and exercise and was wondering if I could go over your lawn". I sometimes go into detail about some things I come across depending on how they react. I always make sure to say that I'll treat their lawn with the utmost respect. Sometimes they want to see what you find, which is no biggie. Only been told to get lost twice, so pretty good luck. YMMV.

Very cheerfully and with a smile on my face, I say ''Hi, how are you!?, my name is Kenny and I metal detect as a hobby, you may have seen me(or us) detecting at your neighbors house or around the neighborhood, I (or we) found a few pretty cool items there and was wondering if you minded me checking your yard out also? We don't use shovels just a small knife to cut a small plug and will show you everything we find". Thats pretty much it, it may vary slightly but not much. And I say it all at once and launch straight in to the part about no shovels without waiting for a response because I know the wheels are already turning in their head about a stranger digging in their yard anyways. I think offering to show them the finds and even have something if they want is the closer most of the time. And 99% of the time they never want any of the finds. My best run was 12 knocks and 12 Yes's.

Never fear No Soliciting signs, the main reason people use then is because they are week and have little sales resistance, and want the sign to give the "no's" so they don't have too.

Make a friend ,make a sale. Just relax, do everything you can to get them to laugh or smile first. I've been in sales cold calling businesses and farms for 26 years. I usually tell people "I'm Craig, and I'm with the IRS..."" then give a big old grin (while holding my hand out)and wait for a smart A** response. 9 out of 10 times they will smile back. If their response, was questionable, sometimes I'll say casually "awe, put your checkbook away, I'm not here to sell you anything"

I'm not from the camp of complementing a stranger on their right properly, until you get to know them. That's an old cheesey sales trick that everyone knows and your "victim" will know immediately you want something and keep their guard up.

Simple, break down the walls between you and the land owner before you ask.

Thanks guys, this is what I was hoping to see for everyone. And thanks Beep for posting, I heard you were real good at it...
 
I am 100% sure that the methods and attitude described in this post would have you ordered off of my property in a heartbeat. "Victim" my a......!

You can say anything with a smile on your face. Never had a negative response to me personally, for cold calling a business or farm. Not always sold everyone, but always got along with everyone. Not sure of the "attitude" you got from my post, but I can assure you most people would rather deal and talk to a jovial person than one that not.

Secondly The "victim" comment was used in a scenario, I suggested would not work.

Maybe using humor is kinda like they use to say about karate, if you don't know how to use it, don't try, you'll just hurt yourself.:laughing:
 
You can say anything with a smile on your face. Never had a negative response to me personally, for cold calling a business or farm. Not always sold everyone, but always got along with everyone. Not sure of the "attitude" you got from my post, but I can assure you most people would rather deal and talk to a jovial person than one that not.

Secondly The "victim" comment was used in a scenario, I suggested would not work.

Maybe using humor is kinda like they use to say about karate, if you don't know how to use it, don't try, you'll just hurt yourself.:laughing:

I'm not saying you are right or wrong, you are the one with experience knocking on doors. I'm just stating my views on the approach you are recommending and how my mind works when a stranger knocks.

To me, a stranger standing on my porch knocking is probably there to sell me something or to save my soul. Either way, I am not the least bit interested, I'll go to the store if I need to buy something and to the church if my soul needs saving, thank you. I'm certainly not going to be in the mood for some attempt at humor. I would rather this intruder get to the point quickly, he is interrupting whatever I was doing when he decided to knock and my attention span will be very short, no time for wise cracks.

And, I think it is ridiculous to assume that most people who put up No Soliciting signs are just "week" and have little sales resistance. They are not wanting the signs to give the no's so they don't have to. They want solicitors to stay away, they have no desire to waste their time with them. In my opinion, your approach shows arrogance and a total lack of respect for the property owner.

And, "awe, put your checkbook away, I'm not here to sell you anything"? In the first place, if a stranger is standing at my door, he is out of line, talking down to me, by telling me to do anything, period. He is not my superior and certainly not an invited guest. The visit would end right there for me.

I'm aware that not everyone has the same reaction to door knockers that I do. I just thought you might want to know how the approach you were recommending is sometimes perceived by the "victim" on the other side of that door.

No offense intended.
 
I'm not saying you are right or wrong, you are the one with experience knocking on doors. I'm just stating my views on the approach you are recommending and how my mind works when a stranger knocks.

To me, a stranger standing on my porch knocking is probably there to sell me something or to save my soul. Either way, I am not the least bit interested, I'll go to the store if I need to buy something and to the church if my soul needs saving, thank you. I'm certainly not going to be in the mood for some attempt at humor. I would rather this intruder get to the point quickly, he is interrupting whatever I was doing when he decided to knock and my attention span will be very short, no time for wise cracks.

And, I think it is ridiculous to assume that most people who put up No Soliciting signs are just "week" and have little sales resistance. They are not wanting the signs to give the no's so they don't have to. They want solicitors to stay away, they have no desire to waste their time with them. In my opinion, your approach shows arrogance and a total lack of respect for the property owner.

And, "awe, put your checkbook away, I'm not here to sell you anything"? In the first place, if a stranger is standing at my door, he is out of line, talking down to me, by telling me to do anything, period. He is not my superior and certainly not an invited guest. The visit would end right there for me.

I'm aware that not everyone has the same reaction to door knockers that I do. I just thought you might want to know how the approach you were recommending is sometimes perceived by the "victim" on the other side of that door.

No offense intended.

I'm not offended. I wouldn't have suggested it if it hadn't worked for me. I have a big smile (when I need to) and I generally always get smiles back, and that breaks the ice with nearly everyone. You can't please everyone, and if I can't get a person to smile back at me....well it probably doesn't mater why I'm there, it wouldn't be right. If a person is so upset about someone simply knocking at their door without even knowing why, I can't believe anyone in 10-30 minutes could even come close to opening their mind to allow them to dig in their yard. So essentially it does matter what is said, it won't work.

No offense intended, but if I stop by to talk to your neighbors, I hope they warn me about you. :yes:
 
Why would you be surprised that someone with a No Solicitors sign would not want solicitors? To knock on the door wirh that sign shows a blatant disregard for that property owner's wishes. He owes you no courtesy.

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So funny...Just as I am reading this I get a knock on my door with a guy from Tru Green. Told him I take care of my own lawn...Wow that was weird...
 
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