Door to Door Sales
O for A
Door-to-Door Sales
The Forgotten Channel
CONSUMER
T
he days are long gone when it was common to find a stranger on your doorstep pushing aluminum siding, brushes, or encyclopedias. Yet even today, Mary Kay’s
1.7 million “beauty consultants” still drive up in their pink cars to demonstrate and sell cosmetics to women in their homes. And in some 70 countries around the world, millions of Kirby vacuum cleaners are being sold in households that have just received a “free” cleaning.
■ Door-to-door selling is generally considered too costly and difficult to manage in today’s environment, but in the right circumstances, this $20 billion channel offers a significant opportunity
■ For products and services that generate high lifetime consumer value or that benefit from a consultation or demonstration, door-to-door sales can be a powerful means of acquiring customers and increasing revenues
■ Whether to recruit an in-house sales force or to contract with vendors depends on the products or services being sold and the company’s capabilities and constraints
■ BCG’s experience suggests that companies are best served by maintaining a small in-house force and outsourcing the bulk of the work
Although many businesses got their start selling products door-to-door, the approach is largely perceived to be too costly and difficult to manage in today’s competitive environment. As a result, this $20 billion channel is shrinking in some categories: many businesses traditionally associated with door-to-door sales have abandoned them. However, in such industries as retail energy and telecommunications, there has been a resurgence of door-to-door selling. The
Boston Consulting Group’s recent experience revamping the door-to-door approach for a company in the energy sector has convinced us that, given the right circumstances, there is a significant opportunity in the door-to-door channel for consumer products and
Door-to-Door Sales
The Forgotten Channel
CONSUMER
T
he days are long gone when it was common to find a stranger on your doorstep pushing aluminum siding, brushes, or encyclopedias. Yet even today, Mary Kay’s
1.7 million “beauty consultants” still drive up in their pink cars to demonstrate and sell cosmetics to women in their homes. And in some 70 countries around the world, millions of Kirby vacuum cleaners are being sold in households that have just received a “free” cleaning.
■ Door-to-door selling is generally considered too costly and difficult to manage in today’s environment, but in the right circumstances, this $20 billion channel offers a significant opportunity
■ For products and services that generate high lifetime consumer value or that benefit from a consultation or demonstration, door-to-door sales can be a powerful means of acquiring customers and increasing revenues
■ Whether to recruit an in-house sales force or to contract with vendors depends on the products or services being sold and the company’s capabilities and constraints
■ BCG’s experience suggests that companies are best served by maintaining a small in-house force and outsourcing the bulk of the work
Although many businesses got their start selling products door-to-door, the approach is largely perceived to be too costly and difficult to manage in today’s competitive environment. As a result, this $20 billion channel is shrinking in some categories: many businesses traditionally associated with door-to-door sales have abandoned them. However, in such industries as retail energy and telecommunications, there has been a resurgence of door-to-door selling. The
Boston Consulting Group’s recent experience revamping the door-to-door approach for a company in the energy sector has convinced us that, given the right circumstances, there is a significant opportunity in the door-to-door channel for consumer products and