The age of intuition
As a brief postscript to the local elections, here are some tips for successful canvassing.
1. Do introduce yourself, even if you're a local MP - or rather, especially if you're a local MP. Do give the person on the doorstep (hereafter 'the punter') a chance to tell you they're not interested. Don't just launch into your spiel, like a Jehovah's Witness or an npower salesperson. Yes, they can see the rosette. Yes, they can always shut the door in your face. Not the point.
2. If the punter disagrees with you or expresses opposition to your party, do say something mollifying about how you understand their concerns or appreciate their point of view before resuming your attempt to gain their support. Don't argue back. Some examples:
2.1. Punter complains about communications with your party (wrongly-targeted mailshots, unanswered letters etc).
Do say: "I can't recall that particular letter, but I will look into it for you and make sure we respond to it."
Don't say: "When did he send it? Well, you can't expect us to have acted on it by now."
2.2. Punter complains that your party's campaigning was negative.
Do say: "I appreciate your point of view, but I think we did have a strong positive message in the area of..." (and complete as appropriate).
Don't say: "No it wasn't!"
2.3. Punter complains about the absence of appeals to ethical principle in party's campaign literature.
Do think of something. ("I understand your concerns, but...")
Don't say: "Like what?"
3. Do talk to the person in front of you. You may have a particular voter on your canvass list, perhaps because he/she has told an earlier canvasser that he/she intends to vote for someone else. If you find that the punter isn't your target voter, do ask him/her whether you can count on his/her vote. Don't make it look as if you don't care about anyone who's not on your list.
3.1. In particular, don't do this when your target voter is male and the punter is his female partner. Really, really don't.
This guy has a good voting record at Westminster, but his doorstep technique could do with a bit of work. Manchester was one of the few areas where Labour did well last week; they gained four seats from the Liberal Democrats. I'm slightly disappointed, but I can't say I'm surprised.
1. Do introduce yourself, even if you're a local MP - or rather, especially if you're a local MP. Do give the person on the doorstep (hereafter 'the punter') a chance to tell you they're not interested. Don't just launch into your spiel, like a Jehovah's Witness or an npower salesperson. Yes, they can see the rosette. Yes, they can always shut the door in your face. Not the point.
2. If the punter disagrees with you or expresses opposition to your party, do say something mollifying about how you understand their concerns or appreciate their point of view before resuming your attempt to gain their support. Don't argue back. Some examples:
2.1. Punter complains about communications with your party (wrongly-targeted mailshots, unanswered letters etc).
Do say: "I can't recall that particular letter, but I will look into it for you and make sure we respond to it."
Don't say: "When did he send it? Well, you can't expect us to have acted on it by now."
2.2. Punter complains that your party's campaigning was negative.
Do say: "I appreciate your point of view, but I think we did have a strong positive message in the area of..." (and complete as appropriate).
Don't say: "No it wasn't!"
2.3. Punter complains about the absence of appeals to ethical principle in party's campaign literature.
Do think of something. ("I understand your concerns, but...")
Don't say: "Like what?"
3. Do talk to the person in front of you. You may have a particular voter on your canvass list, perhaps because he/she has told an earlier canvasser that he/she intends to vote for someone else. If you find that the punter isn't your target voter, do ask him/her whether you can count on his/her vote. Don't make it look as if you don't care about anyone who's not on your list.
3.1. In particular, don't do this when your target voter is male and the punter is his female partner. Really, really don't.
This guy has a good voting record at Westminster, but his doorstep technique could do with a bit of work. Manchester was one of the few areas where Labour did well last week; they gained four seats from the Liberal Democrats. I'm slightly disappointed, but I can't say I'm surprised.
posted by Phil at 11:59 pm
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