Advertising
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“May I be candid with you,” Door To Door starring William H. Macy as Bill Porter, a salesman born with cerebral palsy, illustrated many of the elements I was exposed to in professional selling. This is a true story depicting how a mentally handicapped man became one of the best door to door salesmen of his company. Bill Porter became quite a successful salesperson by mastering all the elements of professional selling from the pre approach to the follow up and there are many examples of these elements throughout the movie.
Upon his first day in selling Bill Porter was constantly rejected. Although he made a lot of planning in the pre approach, listing numerous FABs to his prospects, many still did not give him the time of day. Even though his route was extremely painful because of his condition, coupled with his inability to make sales, he did not back down. “Patience and persistence,” a phrase his mother often used with him stuck with him that day to help him through the approaches he made. He usually began with the introductory approach, introducing himself and what product he was selling from The Watkins Company. Also throughout the day he used visual aids, with pictures of the products as a way to entice prospects. Although he did have many doors slammed in his face on his first day in the sales environment he did eventually make a sale. After connecting with a prospect on a personal level, Gladys Sullivan became Bill Porters first official customer.
Over time Bill learned how to quickly master objections. He was constantly approached with the no-need objection and used the dodge method on several occasions. For example when trying to sell his products to a prospect watering his flowers in his green house, the prospect quickly used the no-need objection. Bill quickly “dodged” the objection by talking about the orchids the man was watering and lead into talking about Watkins laundry detergent. He would quickly