Door to door seller

Description

Door to door sellers sell goods and services door to door.

Door to door sellers typically do the following:

  • Travel to different neighborhoods and suburbs going door-to-door with the goal of selling merchandise or services such as life insurance, vacuum cleaners, knives, or magazine subscriptions.
  • Sets up and demonstrates product and shows how customer can maximize product features.
  • Show a presentation on product features.
  • Convince client to purchase product using a script or persuasive technique.
  • Distribute product samples.
  • Hand out pamphlets.
  • Write up orders for merchandise.
  • Negotiate prices and create tickets.
  • Take payments such as cash, credit, or check.
  • Travel by foot, truck, automobile, or bicycle to deliver or sell merchandise or services.
  • Make change.
  • Develop prospect list or lead list.
  • Circle back and check on customers who are in the position to buy the product.
  • Develop constructive and cooperative working relationships with others.
  • Work an assigned territory, often up to 30-50 houses or locations per day.
  • Win back or upgrade current or former customers.
  • Assist with installation of product.
  • Tell customers why product is better than competitors.
  • Suggest specific product purchases.
  • Clean up demonstration area before leaving.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to door to door seller:

travelling saleswoman
door to door salesman
home seller
door to door salesperson
door-to-door seller
door to door saleswoman
door to door entrepreneur
travelling salesman
doorstep seller
travelling salesperson

Minimum qualifications

No formal educational credential is generally required to work as a door to door seller, although a high school diploma or equivalent if often a minimum for most employers.

ISCO skill level

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

  • the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
  • the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
  • the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Door to door seller is a Skill level 2 occupation.

Door to door seller career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to door to door seller.

promotions demonstrator
bakery specialised seller
rental service representative in cars and light motor vehicles
rental service representative in machinery, equipment and tangible goods
rental service representative in personal and household goods

Long term prospects

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of door to door seller. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of door to door seller with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

sales account manager
performance rental technician
electricity sales representative
garage manager
commercial sales representative

Essential knowledge and skills

Essential knowledge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of door to door seller.

  • Sales argumentation: Techniques and sales methods used in order to present a product or service to customers in a persuasive manner and to meet their expectations and needs.
  • Product comprehension: The offered products, their functionalities, properties and legal and regulatory requirements.
  • Sales strategies: The principles concerning customer behaviour and target markets with the aim of promotion and sales of a product or a service.

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of door to door seller.

  • Guarantee customer satisfaction: Handle customer expectations in a professional manner, anticipating and addressing their needs and desires. Provide flexible customer service to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty.
  • Ensure customer focus: Attitude that puts customers at the centre of the business in all cases.
  • Prepare presentation material: Prepare the documents, slide shows, posters and any other media needed for specific audiences.
  • Adapt to different weather conditions: Cope with regular exposure to extreme weather conditions and hazardous environments.
  • Use different communication channels: Make use of various types of communication channels such as verbal, handwritten, digital and telephonic communication with the purpose of constructing and sharing ideas or information.
  • Take care of personal appearance: Project the correct professional image by ensuring personal appearance is always of the highest standard. Select proper outfit and overall image and outlook; make daily efforts to build a good impression.
  • Implement customer follow-up: Implement strategies that ensures post-sale follow up of customer satisfaction or loyalty regarding one’s product or service.
  • Assist customers: Provide support and advice to customers in making purchasing decisions by finding out their needs, selecting suitable service and products for them and politely answering questions about products and services.
  • Identify customer’s needs: Use appropriate questions and active listening in order to identify customer expectations, desires and requirements according to product and services.
  • Prospect new customers: Initiate activities in order to attract new and interesting customers. Ask for recommendations and references, find places where potential customers can be located.
  • Negotiate price: Arrange an agreement on price of products or services provided or offered.
  • Work independently in sales: Develop one’s own methods of operating with little to no supervision. Sell products, communicate with clients, and coordinate sales while working independently of others. Depend on one’s self to perform day-to-day tasks.
  • Achieve sales targets: Reach set sales goals, measured in revenue or sold units. Reach the target within a specific timeframe, prioritise sold products and services accordingly and plan in advance.
  • Carry out active selling: Deliver thoughts and ideas in impactful and influencing manner to persuade customers to become interested in new products and promotions. Persuade clients that a product or service will satisfy their needs.
  • Plan customers’ sales visits: Plan day-to-day sales routes and customer visits in order to introduce or sell new services or products.
  • Apply health and safety standards: Adhere to standards of hygiene and safety established by respective authorities.
  • Demonstrate products’ features: Demonstrate how to use a product in a correct and safe manner, provide customers with information on the product’s main features and benefits, explain operation, correct use and maintenance. Persuade potential customers to purchase items.

Optional knowledge and skills

Optional knowledge

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of door to door seller. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

  • Credit card payments: The methods involving payment done through credit cards.
  • Consumer protection: The current legislation applicable in relation to the rights of consumers in the marketplace.

Optional skills and competences

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of door to door seller. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

  • Carry out products preparation: Assemble and prepare goods and demonstrate their functionalities to customers.
  • Maintain relationship with customers: Build a lasting and meaningful relationship with customers in order to ensure satisfaction and fidelity by providing accurate and friendly advice and support, by delivering quality products and services and by supplying after-sales information and service.
  • Speak dialect: Interact with customers in local dialect.
  • Prevent theft: Anticipate on theft and robbery. Prevent goods, cash or individuals from being stolen or damaged.
  • Process payments: Accept payments such as cash, credit cards and debit cards. Handle reimbursement in case of returns or administer vouchers and marketing instruments such as bonus cards or membership cards. Pay attention to safety and the protection of personal data.
  • Establish customer rapport: Gain customer interest and trust; establish relationships with wide varieties of people; communicate in a likeable and persuasive style; understand and respond to the individual desires and needs of customers.
  • Utilise cross-selling: Apply sales techniques to sell additional products or services to current customers.
  • Keep records on sales: Keep records of the activities of the sales of products and services, tracking which products and services were sold when and maintaining customer records, in order to facilitate improvements in the sales department.

ISCO group and title

5243 – Door to door salespersons


References
  1. Door to door seller – ESCO
  2. Featured image:
Last updated on November 5, 2022

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