Norway launched new regulations on door-to-door sales and fundraising from October 1, 2023. It will have the most impact on commercial players, but also voluntary organizations that run door-to-door operations, has had to adapt to the new rules.
In brief, these rules state that it is “prohibited for traders to operate with unmatered door sales to consumers who clearly oppose this”. The consumer can let the organisation know this in several ways; Have a sticker, a sign or a handwritten note that says “no thanks to door sales” or you can register directly with the organisation who then has to register and save this information so that they do not knock on this door in the future.
Fundraising campaigns from voluntary organizations, unless they engage in sales and are considered traders, such as lottery sales, are not covered by this regulation.
In addition, it is forbidden to conduct door sales to consumers during the period from 21:00 to 09:00 and Saturdays, weekends or any holidays / red days.
Voluntary organizations, on the other hand, can do door fundraising even within these time periods – but we suggest everyone should keep inside those times, even if you are allowed to do otherwise..
There is also an obligation of information and presentation for the door seller – which means that they will first present themselves and state that the conversation applies to sales (sales promotion/marketing intent). It should also be informed of the right to reserve directly with the trader.
In addition to this, there is a compulsory payment deferral of 14 days at unseen door sales (whether the total contract sum exceeds 1500,-) and the payment deadline begins to run after the item/service has been delivered. This payment deployment applies in addition to any right of withdrawal.
So here are some things everyone who does door sales must be aware of and comply with in the future – we have not heard of any cases where anyone has been “snapped on their hand” for this, but it will certainly be statue some example going forward. This is for Norway and maybe you have similar regulations in your country that you need to comply with?
Another example is Australia that has the following limitations when it comes to “Hours of Contact With Consumers”:
You must not visit consumers:
- At all on a Sunday or a public holiday;
- Before 9 am or after 6 pm on a weekday; or
- Before 9 am or after 5 pm on a Saturday.
The only exception to these times is if you have made a prior appointment over the phone or in writing with the consumer before your visit.
If the consumer asks you to leave, tells you that they are not interested in your goods/services, or is unwilling to talk to you about the goods/services you must immediately leave the premises.
If there is a “do not knock” sign, a “no soliciting” sign, or other similar sign on the consumer’s premises, you must immediately leave the consumer’s premises and must not attempt to sell them your goods/services. Importantly, if a consumer asks you to leave, you must not return to their premises for at least 30 days.
And the UK have their “No Cold-Calling Zones” – A No Cold Calling Zone is a designated area where the resident community declare they no longer wish to accept traders calling at their homes without an appointment. Such zones are actively supported by Trading Standards.
A zone is designated via the installation of signs at the entrance and exit to the zone and residents are supplied with educational advice, information and door stickers.
How can you easily make sure to comply with these rules going forward?
First of all, it is important to know the rules in your country and know how it affects your organization, then it is important to find good processes and solutions that ensure that you comply with the rules that exist.
Here are some solutions – some you probably already have in place, while there may be others you haven’t come so far.
- Make sure their representatives are well trained, have thorough training and comply with the new rules.
Here we know that you are definitely on the ball already and have a thorough and complete, training as part of the process before sending your people out into the field. There are also some technical solutions that can make this even easier:
- Make the training an integral part of the application used in the field. Training modules where you can see who completed the training and not.
- Introduce a knowledge test that must be carried out in the app before they can access the relevant sales or recruitment campaign.
- Have documentation and information easily accessible so that it can easily be presented if the customer asks for it or asks “difficult” questions.
These are some of the “soft” sides of complying with rules that have come to stay. In addition to this, both the one in the field and organizations must know where they are now allowed to knock and which doors to skip. Some opportunities and solutions that exist, we will take a closer look at in the subsequent points.
Have information on reservations easily accessible and make it easy to see which doors can be knocked or not.
It is important to always have updated lists of those who have reserved themselves so that you avoid visiting these doors. The lists can/should have several sources of correct data. There will be both those who reserve themselves directly to the company, those who put signs/patches on the door and those who tell the field seller that they do not want more visits.
This means that there is information that will go two ways – from the company out to field sales and from field sales to the company.
In order for field sales to have an overview of which doors can be knocked or not, it can e.g. Lists and symbols are made in a map so it is easy to see what is good and what is no-go. It may look like this, which is a screenshot from the Best, which is a field sales and field recruitment tool.
The same information can be obtained in list format:
Furthermore, it is important that those in the field can also add addresses to the blacklist. In this case, the field seller has been at an address, marked it in the map and can easily add address on blacklist.
This is information is synced ed back to the company’s CRM or other systems where you have the opt-out information you also get from other sources. This means that everyone, always has a complete overview of who has reserved themselves or not and which doors to prioritize.
Such a solution provides many other benefits as well – For now you will have a complete overview of which doors are knocked, what the result on that door was and how the different areas “perform” and can use data to become even more accurate in their visits.
Here is an example from a campaign where e.g. A team leader can see what an area looks like: Which doors are knocked, how many were at home, how many rejections we got, how many sales have we made and how many doors are left to knock in that area ..
Enter restrictions on the app based on areas and time
Another important function/solution is the ability to limit when and where a field seller can enter/register customers.
In the app, time constraints can be added which means that you cannot register/log in outside the specified time and it also makes it easier for the field seller to relate to and they will be “helped” to comply with sales hours.
Here you can easily impose restrictions on areas where it is not allowed to run door sales or street sales and the app will not provide access to register/turn off in these areas.
These are features that of course can be turned on/off and adjusted according to their organization’s needs and requirements.
For those who are interested in the tool we have shown some screenshots from – then you can find more information at https://beest.App and feel free to contact a demonstration or review – this is just a tiny part of the functionality that exists in Best, which has been developed by, and for, organizations that work with sales and fundraising door-to-door or on the streets.
