Door to Door Etiquette Part 1 and Part 2
Part 1
I was a door-to-door salesman for a time, selling
cable TV to folks. It was somewhat different, as our
pitch began with "I'm here to let you know our crews
are coming out to do some work on your lines" (total
bull so they think you're not selling anything) "and
while they're here -- they're running a special! all
we need is your SSN...." I quit that job before long,
but read some Dale Carnegie in preparation and learned
quite a bit.
IF YOU GO DOOR TO DOOR:
FIRST! RESEARCH THE 'HOWARD DEAN' COLLAPSE IN IOWA IN
2004!
Dean supporters turned off some Iowa voters in 2004.
Obviously, we should learn from their mistakes, and
not repeat them. It may well be that the complaints
were over-reported, but we can combat that type of
thing. Just don't cram anything down people's throats.
For the most part, this is a get in, hand a flyer, get
out operation.
GOALS
====
1, NAME RECOGNITION
People need to know he exists. If they look into
candidates, they will have him on his mind. MSM will
not help here. So cram his name down their throats one
time, give them literature, and be on with it.
2. FACETIME: EXPOSURE OF RON PAUL IN ACTION
You have far less chance to convince somebody RP is
the man than he does himself.
Direct them to youtube, direct them to
ronpaularchive.com -- let them decide for themselves.
If they are able to think, they will vote for Ron
Paul.
We are a street team. We cannot offer celebrity
status, or political standing, to endorse Paul. All we
can do is say that we support him, and that others
should look into him.
DO NOT TRY TO CONVINCE PEOPLE THAT THEY SHOULD VOTE
FOR HIM
just tell them the primaries are very important, they
may have to register, etc, and that THAT'S WHAT YOU
ARE DOING TO VOTE FOR RON PAUL.
Most people will not be convinced by your words. They
very well may be affected by the simple knowledge that
YOU support him. So make yourself likeable, friendly,
and inform them he exists. Convince them to look him
up, and make up their own minds. Accepting Ron's
message comes from hearing Ron, not from hearing you.
3. GET HIM IN THE MAINSTREAM: HE'S NOT A 'FRINGE'
CANDIDATE
Just by getting out there and telling people -- 1 time
-- that you support Ron Paul -- gets this message out.
People by and large are not very independent thinkers.
Most will not support someone who will put them on the
'fringe' among those they talk to. But the more they
hear people support him, the more comfortable they
will be in considering it for themselves.
MOST IMPORTANT TO YOUR INTERACTION
============================
1. Sincerity
Eye contact, value the individual, SINCERE compliments
help, "beautiful flowers" -- but only if you really
think they are beautiful -- people know the
difference. LISTEN more than you speak, you should
even 'listen' while you are speaking.
2. Simplicity
Too much convincing, and people start resisting. The
vast majority of people will only be convinced by Ron
Paul himself, on their own time. Convince them to look
into him, not to vote for him.
3. Efficiency
Spend your time wisely. Don't fight uphill battles
with people who are argumentative or say they want to
Nuke Iran, for instance. Diffuse the ticking
time-bomb. "I can respect that. Ron Paul thinks
differently, but I recommend you at least see what
else he believes. Thanks! Bye!"
If someone gets heated, LOOK INTO THEIR EYES AND
IMMEDIATELY APOLOGIZE, NO MATTER WHAT YOU OR THEY HAVE
DONE. You are on their property. Apologize and get off
of it.
If you pay attention, you can often find out in the
first 15 seconds what type of experience it's going to
be. Be careful to pre-judge, but look for signs of
problems that pop up early.
4. Effectiveness
Use materials that provide the opportunity for folks
to find out the bulk of the message. Use something
with an outline of issues. If it's in their hands,
they may read it all, just about no matter how long it
is. But they might not sit down at the computer and
type in "all that dubya dubya crap" to get the same
information.
With those that are very supportive, spend a bit of
extra time. Balance it, of course, but a couple of
minutes could mean the difference between a voter and
a contributor/meetup supporter. Give extra information
when you need to. WRITE IT DOWN WITH YOUR OWN PEN and
it's personally recommended.
Hopefully DVD's will be available, otherwise, here is
a good CD:
For Liberty 2012 Re-Cut..
You need your own label at this point, as far as I
know. I suggest you at least write, "
Ronpaul2012.com
-- pass it on"
5. Consistency
Use a consistent opening line, attention grabber, or
pitch. Reasons:
You get better at it the more you use it.
When you find a good one, you just repeat the process.
6. Be knowledgable
If you can't answer the common questions people have
about issues, and especially some of RP's bad
'sounding' ones (" He's against the PATRIOT act? No
AMNESTY? Those sound good...") this probably isn't a
job for you. It's too important to be able to outline
at least the basics to those receptive enough to ask
questions.
I think that I would often use:
"Well, the Constitution says that should be left up to
the states. Ron Paul just wants to get the federal
government out of it -- so ya'all in Iowa are free to
solve it as you please."
THE PITCH
=======
What you say and how you say it is VITAL.
There MUST be a consistent, simple approach, and it
must be respectful, and you must present yourself
well.
Within those guidelines, anything works that:
1. Shows them you are sincere.
2. Gets them to look at the flyer as more than
something they will have to throw
away.
3. Gets them to realize he's not just the politician
that somebody picked this time,
he's the only guy that's principled enough to deserve
a citizen's vote.
Ron Paul indeed sells himself. The main obstacle to an
individual realizing Paul's truth is their
assumptions. You can design your opening 'pitch'
statement to shatter one or more of these assumptions
off the bat, otherwise they'll just tell you their
assumption, like "yeah, but he can't win".
Say something that gets them totally out of their
thought process. The longer you allow their
preconceptions of you (scammer! con artist! salesman!)
to remain in their heads, the stronger their
resistance will be. The first words out of your mouth
(possibly after a 'hello', but not necessarily) should
shatter any assumption they have as to your
intentions.
Part 2
ASSUMPTIONS YOU'LL LIKELY FACE
=======================
1. "All politicians are corrupt. (and I don't want to
hear about another one.)"
SHATTER THE ASSUMPTION: "I hate politics and
politicians too. That's what turned me on to Ron Paul.
He votes the way he says he will, and it's always in
line with the Constitution. He abhors lobbyists and
what they've done to our government, just like I do.
At least check into this guy, he's more like a wise
grandpa than a politician."
2. "Ron Paul has good ideas, but he can't win."
SHATTER THE ASSUMPTION: "Well, I vote on principle,
not who I think is going to win, but he does have a
good chance. He took first or second in EVERY major
debate poll, including first place in the CNN poll,
who hosted the debate. The most recent straw poll by
the Taxpayers union placed him in second, ahead of
McCain & Giuliani. He's raised upwards of $5 million
dollars based on his performance in debates only a few
months ago, and, most importantly, he has many
passionate people like me out on the streets."
3. "Our country will collapse if we take away these
government programs"
SHATTER THE ASSUMPTION: "Ron Paul's a college educated
Economist, and knows exactly what these things do to
our economy, and our society. He thinks they're
unconstitutional, and bad for our country. And no one
is saying that your state can't implement the program
-- he just agrees with the Founding Fathers that it is
not to be addressed by the federal government. It
should be left to the states."
DON'T!
Introduce your personal views -- they are irrelevant!
Leave them out of the conversation entirely. All that
matters is to achieve our goals is to pass on Ron
Paul's views.
There are a few minor issues that I'm not totally sure
I agree with about Paul -- and there are bound to be
some for you too. But he's definitely smarter and more
knowledgeable than me, and chances are he's smarter
than you too. His job is to research these things.
Leave the expertise of explaining the issues to him.
He's running for president, we're following his lead,
spreading his message.
DON'T SAY:
Some of the things that feel most natural to say up
front to someone can be detrimental.
"Do you guys want some reading material?"
"You want a flyer?"
In a 'cold call' situation, if you give them an option
to take the flyer, they will say no, almost every
time, because the vast majority of people assume that
when they are confronted by strangers in situations
such as this are about to be 'conned' into something.
Many, many people will greet you with skepticism.
And, although it could probably be handled properly, I
don't even like:
"Have you heard of Ron Paul?"
Most commonly, at least at this point in the campaign,
this question results in a 'no' answer, and creates an
obstacle for you to overcome. Now, not only do you
have to tell them WHO he is, but you have put them in
a position to defend their not having heard of him.
The easiest way for them to defend this: "He's a
nobody." Now they have an incentive to convince
themselves your message, and Ron's, is not important
to them. Before you asked if they had ever heard of
him, they didn't even know you were coming
to talk about a person.
SOME IDEAS FOR YOUR PITCH:
In all situations that I have found -- Keep It Simple
Stupid
What I have learned while passing out flyers on my own
is that simple works best. I went through the trial
and error period and made many mistakes -- the main
one being I would TALK TOO MUCH. The simplest approach
(and it works surprisingly well!) is to hold the flyer
in front of them until they grab it, while saying
nothing, or maybe just "Hi guys". Their instinct is to
grab it. The longer you are silent, the more likely
they are to grab it, if they haven't already. Then, in
defense of a possible awkward silence, they start
reading.
If I try to explain why they should grab the flyer
from my hand, they are much more likely to defend
themselves against my argument -- a simple 'no thanks'
and they are out of the situation. The silent way, it
is easier to grab the thing than to figure out
something to say.
The foundation of this approach is that most know
politicians are full of it, and most strangers who
approach want something in return. That's why they
resist.
There will be as many different approaches as people
walking the streets, but they should all aim to
achieve the goals and guidelines outlined above. Here
are some suggestions. Note the intent to instantly
shatter some of the common misconceptions/assumptions
about Ron Paul/candidates in general.
"Hi, I don't know if you guys are into politics...
(hold out flyer)
I never was until I found this guy. (they look at the
flyer)"
"He took first in the debate polls on MSNBC and CNN,
and second in the latest straw poll by the Taxpayers
union, ahead of McCain & Giuliani."
OR
"I've never been excited about a politician before --
but this guy is awesome."
OR
"I hate politics because I hate politicians -- but
this guy is different"
OR
"You probably don't believe in the Constitution, but
if you do, this is the guy"
QUESTIONS
========
Often they will just say "OK. Thanks." Leave em be!
They're gonna look, but they want to do so alone.
Other times they will ask questions back, and at this
point it is VERY IMPORTANT TO HAVE DONE YOUR RESEARCH.
http://www.ronpaularchive.com..
http://www.ronpaul2012.com..
if you can't answer these questions succinctly and
accurately, you have reading to do:
What is RP's stance on:
Abortion
Gun Rights
Church & State
Christianity
Foreign Policy
State's Rights
Health Care
Taxes
& maybe most importantly,
How do you get rid of a bunch of federal programs and
bring the troops home? Won't the country collapse?
Most of these people are prime for Paul's message --
but a small few just want to argue politics with you.
Watch out. If you are lucky enough to get someone
interested enough to ask questions like this, your
answer may be the difference between them researching
more, or deciding RP is no good -- so read up!
--------
At least half of the RP supporters I know were
convinced through RP's speeches. Therefore, I believe
the most effective campaigning strategy is to get RP
videos to the people.
Ron Paul Flix
http://www.ronpaulflix.com..
Ron Paul's YouTube channel
Ron Paul 2012..
Download and burn a CD to hand to people (doesn't even
require internet for them to watch it)
------------------
REMEMBER:
Kindle the fire, and let it burn on it's own. Don't
try to stay with one person, tending their fire, while
you could be starting others that blaze by themselves.
Our biggest obstacle is NAME RECOGNITION and for the
fed up to realize he's NOT JUST ANOTHER POLITICIAN --
he's EXACTLY WHAT WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!
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Originally Posted by Edward
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