Went door knocking today and while it wasn't as horrible as I imagined it would be, but I ran into 2 no answers and 1 "someone's already detected it"....
First, I would think many people might be somewhat leery about having a stranger come to their door with the Coronavirus pandemic, not to mention you not knowing if someone who answers the door might be infected.
I'd wait until this pandemic blows over. Hopefully sooner than later.
Yep, I agree with GKL and SW...at this point, I think it’s wise to hold off on seeking permissions through cold-call style door knocking until physical distancing measures for the pandemic are relaxed. Regardless how you may feel about the situation, most people are going to be leery of a stranger coming to their door, and they’ll be predisposed to say “no”. Frankly, they may be more likely to become outright rude - I’m not sure I would be kind to a random person coming to the door to try and sell Girl Scout cookies right now!! It just isn’t advisable to try to be a door to door salesman during a pandemic situation for numerous reasons - and as permission seekers, we are “salesmen”...just asking for permission instead of money.
I was intending to just stick to parks and curbstrips for the meantime anyway, but Ohio is now under a stay at home order from the governor since Monday, so door knocking is officially off the table here. It probably doesn’t apply for you yet, but for others, keep in mind that door knocking for permissions would not be considered a valid exclusion from stay-at-home orders.
...how do you get around the "someone's already detected it..." answer?
All that said, once all this all blows over, they best way I can think of to get around the “someone’s already detected it” response is the “technology changes” tactic. You can try briefly explaining that, “like computers, phones, and other technology, metal detectors have drastically improved in separation and depth especially over just the last couple years. Add in differences in soil conditions and personal technique, and there’s almost always something still left to find!”
If that doesn’t work, then they are likely just making a convenient excuse for their “no” and you probably aren’t going to change their mind no matter what tactic you use. Much easier and more efficient to just thank them for their time, leave a card in case they change their mind or lose something (you have one, right?), and move on to the next one!
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