What does a canvasser do?
A canvasser is responsible for supporting the sales operations by researching the current market trends to know the public demands, sell goods and services, negotiate sales offers to customers, and recommend the organization's product to potential clients through marketing sales pitches. Canvassers must have a broad knowledge of the goods and services of the company to respond with the customers' inquiries and concerns, record recommendations, and improve products' features based on clients' feedbacks. A canvasser should have expertise with the marketing and sales disciplines to get more clients that would increase the company's revenues and profitability.
Canvasser responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real canvasser resumes:
- Manage voter contact tactics, organize phone banks, GOTV canvasses and visibility events such as campaign rallies.
- Talk to customers about ADT.
- Engage citizens in grassroots lobbying, organizing and fundraising.
- Sign designate people to support plan parenthood and stop the refunds going on in Illinois.
- Organize grassroots campaign initiatives between the public and local elect officials through campus awareness, letter writing and mass mailings.
- Present infographic relevant to Maryland coal power plants and discuss state level energy policy in the era of anthropogenic climate change.
- Demonstrate leadership abilities through delegating wards.
- Demonstrate leadership qualities in a fast pace environment.
- Recruit other canvassers to strengthen campaign outreach potential.
- Direct canvassers across district to engage in voter contact
- Gain first-hand experience in door to door advertisement and acquire excellent one-on-one communication and sales skills.
- Work in fast-pace sales environment requiring excellent time management skills to complete multiple contracts before deadlines.
- Set appointments for a medicaid visit for Medicaid and Medicare patients/Provide program info and health insurance policy
- Carry HIV/AIDS awareness to communities.
- Conduct interview s with the LGBT Q+ community.
Canvasser skills and personality traits
We calculated that 31% of Canvassers are proficient in Door Sales, Social Justice, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Canvassers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Door Sales, 31%
Job duties included door to door sales using negotiation skills to set appointments for teams and managers to close deals.
- Social Justice, 26%
Raised over $5000 for the environmental social justice non-profit and advanced community connections.
- Customer Service, 8%
Combine customer service and marketing skills to solicit donations to minimize deforestation - Provide education and information about environmental challenges
- Leadership, 7%
Team Management and inspiring leadership Talking with and educating the public about environment Assiduously raising donations throughout the city
- New Windows, 5%
Convinced homeowners to schedule appointments for a free estimate for new windows, roofing, and/or siding.
- Environmental Issues, 4%
Canvassed in local neighborhoods and collected letters from citizens concerned about environmental issues involving urban sprawl and clean drinking water.
"door sales," "social justice," and "customer service" are among the most common skills that canvassers use at work. You can find even more canvasser responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a canvasser to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." Additionally, a canvasser resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "assisted in training new canvassers to develop their communication skills. "
Compassion. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling canvasser duties is compassion. The role rewards competence in this skill because "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." According to a canvasser resume, here's how canvassers can utilize compassion in their job responsibilities: "required customer service skills and maintain a compassionate tone. "
Organizational skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of canvassers is organizational skills. This skill is critical to many everyday canvasser duties, as "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "organized press conferences and a statewide rally with over 140 organizational (environmental. "
Problem-solving skills. For certain canvasser responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a canvasser rely on this skill, as "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what canvassers do: "educated the public about environment related serious problems and real solutions to use solar power as an alternate energy. "
Time-management skills. Another crucial skill for a canvasser to carry out their responsibilities is "time-management skills." A big part of what canvassers relies on this skill, since "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." How this skill relates to canvasser duties can be seen in an example from a canvasser resume snippet: "worked in fast-paced sales environment requiring excellent time management skills to complete multiple contracts before deadlines. "
Interpersonal skills. While "interpersonal skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to canvasser responsibilities. Much of what a canvasser does relies on this skill, seeing as "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of canvassers: "maintained sales using innovative interpersonal skills and knowledge provided effective customer service via telephone"
The three companies that hire the most canvassers are:
- DaBella25 canvassers jobs
- Ion Solar20 canvassers jobs
- Phoenix American Financial Services8 canvassers jobs
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Compare different canvassers
Canvasser vs. Street vendor
An appointment setter supports the sales operations of an organization. Appointment setters call potential clients and set an appointment for them to speak with a salesperson. They use their telemarketing skills to connect leads to the company's staff. Most of their time is spent on the telephone and computer to assist customers with questions and make appointments. They should be useful in managing their responsibilities to reach their goals every workday. Therefore, they need to have strong communication and management skills.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, canvasser responsibilities require skills like "door sales," "social justice," "leadership," and "new windows." Meanwhile a typical street vendor has skills in areas such as "sales presentations," "delivery schedules," "social security," and "ice cream." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, street vendors reach higher levels of education than canvassers. Street vendors are 6.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Canvasser vs. Appointment setter
A vendor's role is to sell goods and services to individuals, business entities, and stores. It is their responsibility to maintain the supply flow of products, coordinate with business partners, and maintain positive relationships with customers to strengthen the client base. As a vendor, it is vital to ensure that the products adhere to quality standards, monitor inventory, and implement deliveries to various stores. There are also instances where a vendor must advertise products on different platforms to improve brand awareness and boost sales.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real canvasser resumes. While canvasser responsibilities can utilize skills like "door sales," "social justice," "leadership," and "new windows," appointment setters use skills like "windows," "telephone calls," "inbound calls," and "cold calls."
On average, appointment setters earn a lower salary than canvassers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, appointment setters earn the most pay in the media industry with an average salary of $33,524. Whereas canvassers have higher pay in the non profits industry, with an average salary of $45,460.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Appointment setters tend to reach similar levels of education than canvassers. In fact, they're 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Canvasser vs. Door to door sales person
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, canvassers are more likely to have skills like "door sales," "social justice," "leadership," and "new windows." But a door to door sales person is more likely to have skills like "product samples," "door-to-door sales," "security systems," and "lawn care."
Doors to doors sales person typically earn similar educational levels compared to canvassers. Specifically, they're 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Canvasser vs. Vendor
Types of canvasser
Updated January 8, 2025
