"Inefficient" is totally correct. Anyone who has done any doorknocking knows how inefficient it is. It is like telemarketing: a game of numbers. You bang on this many doors or make that many phone calls and you get this percentage of positive responses. People who have done it for awhile usually figure out that being an ass with a prospect doesn't pay off. Unfortunately, a large number of the folks doing charity collecting, religious information dissemination, or candy selling, etc. are not professionals or haven't done this regularly. They are learning as they go - often at your expense. But it also costs them something. It is VERY difficult to not take a refusal (no matter how polite; no matter how rude) personally. It can eat at you. It can demoralize you. It can sometimes really hurt. My heart goes out to those poor "gluttons for punishment". I have done a little door-to-door and a little telemarketing. Most recently I had a part time job as a telemarketer. I quit because I just couldn't bring myself to twist the truth to sell the overpriced crap I was offering. While my sympathy exists for them, I still have no compunction about slamming a door or hanging up on someone who doesn't hear "No." the first time.