Yeah, face to face cold calls is what I do most. I think some of the areas where it really doesn't work is in the city, where office buildings have higher security.I've heard of AFLAC agents going door to door in office parks and doing well. I went door to door introducing my benefits company for short while but in the end I found the phone to be the better option.
I also heard a story of a life insurance agent once that would go door to door in office parks. The story goes he would walk right into the office, go to the secretary and tell her he needed to make a short announcement to the employees. Then he would walk into the main cubicle area, where I guess there were a bunch of people, and say "I've got the cheapest rates on term life insurance in the country if anyone's interested!" Supposedly, it worked. However, I did not see it first hand so maybe it's a life insurance salesman urban legend.
I heard another story about a guy who would go door to door in new neighborhoods using the old mortgage insurance pitch. Supposedly, he did well.
I sold newspaper subscriptions door to door for a couple of years in college. It was a lot of fun. We were all 20 years old or so and made a lot of money - and got into a lot of trouble, especially with the girls at Hooters where we met everyday before work! Those were the days...
I don't mean to veer the thread too much, but is there any success with door-to-door doorknob hangers (with brochures and business card, etc)?