Canvassing & soliciting
Written by Jamie May
Canvassing: The Lost Art of Just Walking In
Written by Jamie May
My son needed a job last week. So we went to the local shopping centre and he walked into every shop that was vaguely relevant, about 50 in an hour and a half, introduced himself, shook hands, asked if they were hiring. He had a job start that afternoon.
That’s canvassing. And most businesses have completely forgotten it exists.
What Canvassing Actually Is
Canvassing comes from political campaigns, walking around, knocking on doors, making introductions. It’s not door-to-door sales, which is more of a product demonstration. It’s not soliciting, which is stopping strangers on the street. It’s closer to local area networking, showing up, shaking hands, and letting people know you exist.
Nobody does it anymore because the office is a “nice to have” in modern business. Which is exactly why it works.
When to Do It
Any time you open a new office, move locations, or just haven’t introduced yourself to the surrounding suburb in a few years, walk around and do it. Bring something with you, a brochure, a sample, an invitation to something. It gives you a reason to be there and something to leave behind. If you are on the road do a drop in to adjacent businesses.
Know your elevator pitch before you go. Something like: “Hi, sorry to disturb you, my name’s Jamie from Outsold. We help businesses secure new clients. We just opened down the street and thought we’d come say hello.” Simple, human introdduction, no pressure.
Who It Works Best For
Canvassing is particularly effective for service businesses where proximity matters, IT support, catering, cleaning, maintenance, dentists, plumbers, couriers. Being around the corner means no travel costs, faster response times, and an easy reason to choose you over someone across town. People like knowing they can reach out and actually touch you.
It’s also genuinely good for community. You’ll bump into the people you meet later, at the café, at the local chamber event, in the street. Community is the bedrock of business in ways that are hard to measure but very real.
A Few Practical Notes
There are laws around unsolicited commercial visits but in practice you’ll rarely have an issue during normal business hours on weekdays. If someone asks you to leave, just leave. Don’t worry too much about “no sales” signs on the door, the law is really only enforced outside business hours or on Sundays.
Realistically you can only canvas the same area once every couple of years before you start becoming a nuisance. So when you do it, make a proper day of it, take some little lolly bags, or merchandising thing.
The Takeaway
If you’ve moved offices recently, or just haven’t introduced yourself to your local business community in a while, block out a morning this week. Print a small brochure, know your pitch, and walk into ten businesses within five minutes of your office. Be fearless about it. The results are almost always better than you’d expect.
