They call it "cold canvassing," and on this Saturday morning it was not only cold but wet. Rain beat down on the unseeded backyards of a new tract of homes in Canyon Country, far north of the San Fernando Valley, turning them into mud fields.It was a crummy day to trudge door to door to try to talk somebody into buying a $600 vacuum cleaner, but Paul Karlebach's attitude was, as always, positive."There's the good, the bad and the ugly," he said matter-of-factly. "Sometimes the bad and the ugly just happen to be there first, and the good is around the corner."Karlebach, a pleasantly confident 29-year-old transplanted New Yorker, needs those old saws. He needs the cassettes of famous motivational speakers he keeps in the cab of his small pickup truck. He needs the handwritten tips that he tapes to his steering wheel--"Do it now," "Enthusiasm," "Keep going."He needs them because he is one of a small group of salespeople who each day bang their heads against an implacable piece of conventional business wisdom: It's harder than ever to make a full-time living by knocking on strange doors.

The increase in two-income families and society's mounting suspicion of unknown faces means that there are fewer folks home to answer the door, or no one willing to open it. vacuum cleaner inventionOf an estimated 6 million Americans who make a living in what is called "direct sales," 90% do it only as a part-time income supplement, and most avoid cold canvassing by arranging home parties or office demonstrations or making phone calls to obtain appointments. used vacuum cleaners hamiltonWhen a company like Fuller Brush resisted such strategies in the 1960s and '70s by clinging to its tradition of full-time salesmen, its revenues fell by half."miele vacuum cleaner filter grilleIt's a tough job," said Harold H. Kassarjian, a UCLA marketing professor who specializes in consumer behavior.

The homeowners a door-to-door salesman confronts are "downright nasty. (They) won't open the door. There's very little quality research, but my suspicion is that the average person who does this is somebody who just doesn't have an opportunity for some other job. You've got to have an amazingly strong ego or be amazingly hungry."Karlebach, who sold framed pictures office-to-office in New York City and then home security systems in Los Angeles before catching on with the Kirby vacuum cleaner company, acknowledged the adversity as his truck headed down Soledad Canyon Road toward the new tract of homes he had targeted for today's canvassing. He picked up one of the motivational speaker tapes on the truck seat."I've heard at least 50 different ones," he said. "It keeps me associating with positive people. Usually you're around people who say, 'Nah, you can't do that.' Nobody stays 'up' all the time, but the whole trick is bouncebackability."I enjoy knowing I'm willing to do something most people are not willing to do.

The fact that few people are willing to do it means there's probably a future in it."The future comes at the price of constant rejection.Karlebach says he tries to catch about 60 potential customers in their homes each day and talk them into letting him inside to put on a vigorous 90-minute demonstration of the Kirby. As bait he offers a free hand-held vacuum, worth about $39.A successful day is one in which only 58 of the 60 refuse."I try to get a minimum of two demonstrations a day. Three is better, but two is what I'm satisfied with. I've got a good closing rate. When I show the product, half the time they'll buy."It was time to go to work. He rolled up one street where new homes were still undergoing finishing touches and turned onto another that appeared occupied, a stretch of two-story homes of various pastel shades, many with newly planted front lawns.He hopped out of the truck and began walking swiftly from house to house, clutching one boxed portable vacuum, only a sweater protecting him from the rain.

It was a little after 10 a.m., so people were definitely home, but the first few he spoke to were not interested.And then he came to Ashok Patel's door.Patel, a young, soft-spoken hospital X-ray technician who had moved into the neighborhood only two months earlier with his wife and 3-year-old son, answered Karlebach's knock.Kirby's PromotionKarlebach began telling Patel about the mini-vacuum, explaining that it was a promotion for Kirby, and asking if Patel was interested in having one. Patel, who speaks with a pronounced accent, said little but he did say yes to the offer--unaware, he said later, that a full-fledged demonstration was tied in.What are some highly-rated vacuum space saver storage bags? give the bags 4.1, 3.6 and 3.2 out of five stars, respectively. What are some good vacuum storage bag brands? How is the Delonghi Magnifca espresso and cappuccino machine a space saver? Ideal for soft clothing and pillows, Ziploc’s 14-bag set is a comprehensive vacuum packing system that includes a wide range of sizes to pack multiple items conveniently.

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