Why Door Knocking Is Never Productive!

I found this interesting article published in the Telegraph back in March 2009. It just goes to show that door to door sales is not the way to be going about business in this day and age:

Frustrated double glazing salesman lashed out at villagers, court told.

A double glazing salesman attacked a man and made an obscene gesture at an elderly woman after his sales pitch was repeatedly rejected, a court heard.

By John Bingham

Published: 6:12PM GMT 25 Mar 2009

Leo Wardrop, 18, lost his temper after spending an afternoon being turned away by villagers in Lingwood, Norfolk, while under pressure to make commission fees worth £60-per-sale.

Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court heard that the teenager snapped when Hazel Wilcox, a pensioner, said that she was not interested in his wares.

He repeatedly rang her doorbell and banged her gate in frustration, said Fergus Harold, prosecuting.

As the row escalated, he became caught up in a tussle with one of her neighbours, Michael Dack, 67, a retired engineer and former neighbourhood watch coordinator, after he took a photograph of him arguing with Mrs Wilcox.

Vaulting over a 3ft garden fence, he tussled with Mr Dack trying to grab the camera from his hands and blocking his doorway.

The photograph was later used to identify Wardrop, of Wymondham, Norfolk, who was fined £125 after being found guilty of assault and harassment by the magistrates.

He has also been sacked from his job at Anglia First Home Improvements based in Lenwade, Norfolk, following the incident on Feb 3.

"I feel a bit sorry for the poor lad," Mr Dack said after the hearing.

"He was at the end of his tether after everyone had turned him away and he just blew a fuse.

"It is a terrible job going around knocking on doors trying to sell things.

"I think I did him a good turn by getting him the sack so he could find another job."

The court heard that matters escalated when Wardrop made an obscene gesture at Mrs Wilcox prompting her to warn him: "If you come by again, I will clip your ear for you."

Mr Dack saw what was happening and stepped outside to take a picture.

But Wardrop accused him of breaking the law by taking the picture and jumped over the fence and began struggling with him until Mrs Wilcox's husband, Robert, stepped in forcing the salesman to retreat.

Under cross examination, he told the court: "There was pressure on me to get quotations. You get rejected a lot."

You can find the article at:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5049873/Frustrated-double-glazing-salesman-lashed-out-at-villagers-court-told.html.

Luckily I joined this industry as the door-to-door sales method had died out. A lot of our customers come through the door and into the showroom. A lot of our customers are local to us, but we also have a very good repuation and people know we have a good product. They also know that we are by far not the cheapest, but also appreciate that we sell a superior product.