Today I hit the pavement and knocked on doors...

So today was my first day of going out and visiting pizza shops and other businesses trying to pitch my SMS services. I definitely learned a few things and most of them are good.

1. Business owners and employees are WAYYYY friendlier in person than on the phone. Maybe it's because when they first see me they think I'm a customer so their guard is down. Maybe people are just friendlier face to face in general. But whatever it is, talking to them in person is a lot less mentally draining than it is making cold calls.

2. Visiting pizza places and restaurants between 1:30 and 4:00 is best. It's definitely a slow time for them and they can actually give you a few minutes to talk.

3. Most of the time the owners aren't in. BUT, the employees never seem to have a problem giving out the owner's name and when they usually are in. I never got that far with cold calls.

4. Pizza owners always seem to have a partner they have to talk to first.

So, that being said. I had two pretty successful (although not sales) drop in visits.

Number one was a franchise pizza shop and the owner liked what I showed him. Even though he didn't understand it, he said his partner would and I should come back and meet both of them next Tuesday. He even gave me a specific time since he knows his partner will be there. Also, even though it's a franchise, the owners are still allowed to do some marketing and advertising on their own.

Number two was a Chinese restaurant which I made an appointment with last week while I was there for lunch. The owner was a very friendly guy and also loved what I showed him. But he too didn't understand it (he was in his late 50s) but said his daughter would and he'd show it to her. He said that his restaurant dies after Mothers day and during the summer and he HAS to do something to bring customers in. I told him that SMS text marketing would be perfect for that. He also said that he likes that he can change his text coupons anytime....unlike print ads that, once they're out, they can't be changed.

Most of the other places I hit didn't have the owner in but I did find out the name and times that they are...so I"ll be following up then with another visit.

One place that sold popcorn said she's heard of text coupons but wasn't interested because she felt that the only people that would sign up and use the them are customers that she already has. I told her a few ways to bring in new customers but she was a bit subborn. Oh well. I did purchase some tasty peanut butter carmel popcorn with chocolate sprinkled on it, though.

So I'll be hitting the pavement again tomorrow and next week. I hope to start seeing some sales happen soon.

Mike