Zac KerrIntroduction to Canvassing – Part Two of Four
Although some people may think door-to-door canvassing is a strategy of the past, it can still be extremely successful as a sales and political tool. The key is knowing how to make your canvassing efforts successful. Here at SalesRabbit, we are committed to helping our clients fulfill their canvassing goals by providing effective tools and proven strategies. Whether you are working on a local city council campaign or for a presidential candidate, political canvassing can help you reach your target audience with your message. If you’re ready to get started, read on for proven strategies and tips.
Understand the Theory
Before you can send your team out on the campaign trail, it’s essential to have a thorough understanding of canvassing door to door and how to do it correctly. In general, political canvassing refers to initiating face-to-face contact with voters in the target area to encourage support for a cause, ballot measure, or candidate. This type of strategy has been around for centuries, and studies show it is still one of the most effective methods of fundraising and political campaigning.
When you are setting up a canvassing mission, you should make sure you and your team have realistic expectations for how it will go. Not every conversation will provide a new supporter for your cause or candidate. In fact, you’ll probably only get about a third of the doors you knock on to open. When your team members are prepared for this, however, they can minimize wasted time and feel confident about moving on to the next house.
Personal interaction is more effective than passive campaign methods, such as mailing pamphlets. Although it can take several positive interactions to convert a vote to your cause, canvassing provides side benefits, such as increasing awareness of your candidate and finding new potential campaign volunteers. Canvassing is hard work and not for the faint of heart. However, there are plenty of positive statistics that show just how effective canvassing can be:
● Good canvassers can hit an average of 15 doors per hour
● Personal conversations can greatly increase voter turnout
● Small-dollar fundraising campaigns targeting individual donors are popular and effective
● Simply increasing community awareness in your candidate or cause can lead to real change
Get Your Team Together
Once you have a clear set of canvassing goals, it’s time to assemble your team and get started. Ideally, everyone on your team should be passionate about your political cause. Help your volunteers make a good first impression by instituting some wardrobe guidelines:
● Stick with business casual clothing, such as khakis, polo shirts, and clean and comfortable shoes
● Make sure everyone has enough water
● Encourage simple hairstyles, minimal jewelry, and tattoo coverage
Next, outfit your team with the proper gear. Everyone should be familiar with the main talking points of your candidate’s platform or your ballot measure. Go over answers to common questions. Each member of your canvassing team should have informational material to share, such as brochures, pamphlets, business cards, and buttons/stickers. If you are looking for petition signatures or campaign volunteers, use strong clipboards and make sure each person has several pens.
Use the Right Tools
While the art of canvassing goes back hundreds of years, you don’t have to rely on antiquated methods. Modern technology has provided numerous tools to help make canvassing more effective and fun. Cell phones make it easy for your team members to communicate with each other. The internet is full of advice for new and veteran canvassers to help increase confidence and improve performance. You can also take advantages of the numerous benefits of canvassing software to organize and track your political campaign.
The SalesRabbit door to door app is an ideal addition to your political campaign. Our cloud-based platform is easy to use and allows your team leaders to quickly see what areas have been covered. You can also use the app make notes and follow-up reminders about specific addresses and place this information into a high-resolution map. Our app can store and display team assignments, campaign presentation materials, and route information. By making this powerful tool available to your canvassing team, you can increase the efficiency of your entire campaign and give each person the best chance of success. Find out more about how SalesRabbit can support political canvassing, and take the first step toward a top-notch campaign.
