My son, whilst unemployed and not in receipt of support did this for several months. At first, his income was dire and responses discouraging. Gradually, as he got to realise the houses to avoid, he started to make headway. The catalogues cost the caller 40p apiece, so they soon learn which houses to avoid!
In message , Mark writes
I've chatted with him about it before because I thought exactly the same as you but he reckons that he loses very few catalogues and a good percentage are returned with orders tucked inside.
Tell that to my mum, last time I heard her answer the door to one, she was waiting in for a delivery, and when their spiel started, all they got back was "Oh for F*~ks sake", and the door slammed in their face!
I was quite quite surprised!
I thought AMWAY used to operate this sort of scheme and got bollocked for it...
I think that was related to the "Piramid" aspect.
Quite possibly...
Its going to be like any sales business - marketing is one cost of sales and that will include things like catalogues etc, of which you will lose a certain percentage each time they are used for a variety of reasons. The reps who get the best returns will be those that actually take time to build a relationship with their customers, and hence can indulge in a little show and tell, and cross product promotion etc.
In message , John Rumm writes
Of course, used to reckon on 5-10% conversion rate out of a possible
5-7% response from a mailshot. We used to get a lot of repeat business when I was (peripherally) involved in sales, our customers knew we were good and were happy to look after them. Shame the MD screwed the pooch in so many interesting and varied ways before screwing himself royally with his big mouth.
If you got a 5-7% response to a mailshot you did bloody well, I'd guess they were highly targeted. A 'shotgun' mailer is considered a success if it gets a 0.5% response.
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "The Medway Handyman" saying something like:
Indeed. When I was touting for business years ago I'd drive round the streets with my eyes open and a cassette recorder mike on standby. Easy to verbally note addresses and mail-shot them later. 10% was about the rate of response, with easily 90% of them resulting in business.
Of course, the service I was selling related directly to how passers-by would perceive the appearance of the premises, so would jerk property owners into a sudden awareness, which helped.
0% is about average nowadays ;-)
Or -1% if the campaign is really bad and puts off existing customers ;-)
I'm put off suppliers that I've bought from once, who then bombard me with junk mail, special offers, cheques for £30 if I spend £100, introduce a friend and get £5 etc etc. I reach the stage the letters just get torn in half unopened and put in the compost bin.
BES is one of the worst IME.
Depends how often they phone you, and how often you change your password.
First and third characters please ...
Second and fourth characters please ...
Obviously if you've got a *sensible* password (like di!osa@r) that won't get them anywhere.
Owain on googlegroups because Ubuntu Jaunty's broken X ...
Two mars bars and a bag of wotsits in exchange for a fondle in the confessional is hardly generous.
Owain
Would it be too cynical to think that the profit is in selling catalogues to the agents, rather than dusters to the householders?
Owain
on googlegroups as Ubuntu Jaunty broke X and my graphics card.
Not really.
I've never changed my password or passcode. They rarely 'phone.
Like I said, once they've asked you for the two characters from each to "take you through security", it's very easy to tell from the remaining conversation if they're genuine. If they start asking dodgy questions then just hang up and phone back to check what's going on, or ask *them* something about your account that only genuine bank staff would know. If the bank staff themselves are corrupt then, obviously, all bets are off, but that's not peculiar to this system.
I can't see why anyone can have a problem with system, no one has suggested anything better.
MBQ
It shows a lack of understanding of good security IMHO.
I also share that view, though it does prevent the agent being profligate with them.
Give them one wrong letter.
Regards,
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