Door Knocking Question

Pull a gun

I figured annoying the hell out of them selling investments door to door was pretty close to it

When you ask, just be simple: 'When I see a good investment (pause),maybe a tax free investment, can I let you know about it.'
OK.
‘Your phone is …’'

Yeah, that’s probably financial, but you don’t want to hamstring yourself.
If they don’t give you a number, look it up in the phone book.

Thats pretty much what I’m saying…I just think they’ve gave it out to other Jones guys in the past and know whats coming if they give it too me.  Actually a few have said just that…

I thought about grabbing a few from the phone book if they were not on the DNK list if I’m short for eval/grad.  If your not familiar with Jones you door knock for 7-8 weeks then they bring you back for a week of call sessions.  You have to have a specific number to go back.  But I’d really just like to get them on my own…

I’m in the pre-employment door knocking phase and have spent about 2.5 hrs door knocking and have completed 21 surverys. All but 2 gave me their numbers. Why? I’m not cute-i know that much!

Try this "Here is a brochure about Edward Jones and our Investment Philosophy [hand them the EDJ and You], on the back you will find my name and number if you have any questions [once they say okay] what number will you be calling me from if you were to have any questions?[after you say this look down at your pad and start the number for them if they don’t start right away] Okay thank you very much, when I come across good investment opportunity I will be sure to let you know.

thanks for the replies…eyetattoo that will work for me in a few weeks, right now I’m not even allowed to write my name and number on the Jones brochure.

You are allowed to have them write your name and number…I would hand them the brochure with a pen and ask them to jot down my name/number in case they had any questions…and on with the rest of the script.  Still worked just as well.

I hate the “if I come across a good investment line”. Like anyone other than muni buyers wants to be called about investments? Change it up. Say you run " educational workshops or seminars periodically - give them some ideas (use your judgement based on their situation) - saving for education, tax planning, retirement planning, maximizing your 401K, whatever. Not that you HAVE to do any of these. But tell people that you call and personally invite people. They might be more receptive. But don’t use the old “good investment” line.

Couldn’t agree more with B24.  I know many are taught to say that, but it always struck me as sending the message that the value you add is that you occasionally stumble across a good idea, or perhaps step IN one, but outside of those occasions you really don’t have much to offer.    Sounds so wonderfully random.

Only place this seems appropriate to me is if your business really is built on pitching periodic “hot tips.”  Some have made a fine living doing that.  Is that your plan?  If so, how will you actually do that, on a consistent basis?

The point is your prospecting approach should bear some semblance to how you actually intend to add value, or it will simply lead you down a dead end street.

I’ve had good success with something like “I don’t carry much information with me, other than this brochure, but I’d love to send some some additional information about EDJ and what I do for my clients.  So, I’ll make sure you get something from me in the near future.  What’s the phone number I should follow up with?”

Great information here.  I’ll definately have to check back on this in a a couple months when I’m out doing this.  I was wondering the same thing myself. 

Spiff,
Thats a great intro into asking for the number I’m going to try that t/m…I just need to find something I feel comfortable saying.  It’s like you guys said the “if something comes across my desk” line makes me feel like a total d bag when I say that.

Another one I like to use is to ask about their 401K.  Right now a good one is “how’s everyone at work reacting to their 401K dropping so much?  Does the plan administrator provide a lot of education for the participamts?  Reeeeeaallly?  That’s too bad.  Well, you know, I come and speak to a lot of groups either at their workplace or at an outside site about how to maximize their 401K plans.  You should think about it.  Let me call you in a week or two and we can discuss something a little more specific.  People love to be able to get some direction on their 401K.  I just look over the plan options and give you my thoughts on that and investing in general.  Best part, it’s all free.  Should I call you at home or at work?”

Let me defend the 'When I see a good investment … ’ line.
When you’ve asked that opened ended question and gotten zilch, when you’ve praised their roses and gotten zilch, when the door is being closed on you, throw out that question. It works more often than not.
It works especially for retirees. They know the score. They know you’re there to eventually sell them something. Most retirees have experience with that. Most of them have been called by brokers, but not lately. They probably miss that conversations.
I’ve had little old ladies bark at me, 'I only want preferreds!'
It won’t work with people under 50. ‘Huh. What? An investment? But I have a 401k. I’m all set. I put money in a 401k so I’m all set.’

I think all these ideas are great and I would like to add my two cents.  Though I have not started as an advisor yet, I have been in sales for a while.  I believe there is no one line that will get everyones phone number.  One of the keys to “closing the sale” is to get a good read on your prospect and then choose the right “close” for that specific person.  The more “closes” you have the better.  I found it very helpful when I started to write down a bunch of them and then study them until they came naturally to me and didn’t sound like a pitch.  If you sound nervous or unsure asking they will naturally put up their defences and not want to give out their phone #'s.  You can either practice in front of live prospects as you go door to door or on your own time by yourself before you get in front of them.

[quote=buyandhold] Let me defend the 'When I see a good investment … ’ line. :)When you’ve asked that opened ended question and gotten zilch, when you’ve praised their roses and gotten zilch, when the door is being closed on you, throw out that question. It works more often than not.It works especially for retirees. They know the score. They know you’re there to eventually sell them something. Most retirees have experience with that. Most of them have been called by brokers, but not lately. They probably miss that conversations.I’ve had little old ladies bark at me, 'I only want preferreds!'It won’t work with people under 50. ‘Huh. What? An investment? But I have a 401k. I’m all set. I put money in a 401k so I’m all set.’

[/quote]



BH, good points. There are plenty in the retiree category that look only for indivdual securities. They believe in buy-and-hold long term stocks (they are buying “ownership” in companies for the profits). They like qulaity bonds. They love Muni’s. They are interested in maintaining their wealth and getting a fair return. So from that persepctive, and in that situation, this may work well. I happen to be an an area without lots of retirees. I have a lot of baby-boomers, the 50-60 year olds that are still working or have retired from their “first” career and are now free-lancing/consulting.

thanks for the replies…eyetattoo that will work for me in a few weeks, right now I’m not even allowed to write my name and number on the Jones brochure.

Apex, good point. Jones MUST tell you not to write your information down for compliance purposes. It’s the only way they can get away allowing non-licensed people out there talking. But they don’t say it too loud.

Make the door knocking about them.  I tell people that,  "I am out talking to people in the neighborhood because I am opening an office down the road and I know that a lot of people have concerns about what they have been seeing on the news regarding the market.  How do you feel with what is going on? (wait for their response, empathize with their response) then tell them that you would like to send them some information about the market (or a newsletter), write down their address then ask for their number - don't look up, just hold your pen to the paper and wait.  Most of the time they will just give it to you, if they ask why, tell them that when you move into your office you would like to let them know you are there and you can keep them informed and answer any questions they have about the market then ask for their number again). 

what about door knocking in  a community or area where there have been 4 brokers in 5 years? They have been already door knocked and they see you as desperate? any suggestions? They have heard “the line”(bs) from Jones before?

Before I answer any of your questions, how big of a community/area did the 4 brokers door knock?  Was it a community of 1000, 10,000 or 100,000?

It is a community of about 4500, more of a rurual area…the actual town is pretty small

azure,

I heard a replay of a guy who moved to Seg 3 in 8 months. He attributed it to ditching the standard EDJ doorknocking routine and using his own (more honest?) doorknocking approach.

He felt the standard EDJ dialog is deceptive since you’re supposed to get their phone number so you can call and pitch them a corp bond/muni bond/Pepsi stock/etc. His approach was to engage them in insightful conversation and then leave them with the expectation that he would call with 1. a suitable investment OR 2. to set up an appointment.

He felt that this was not only a more honest approach, but more effective in that the people were more receptive when he called.

[quote=Eyetattoo]Try this "Here is a brochure about Edward Jones and our Investment Philosophy [hand them the EDJ and You], on the back you will find my name and number if you have any questions [once they say okay] what number will you be calling me from if you were to have any questions?[after you say this look down at your pad and start the number for them if they don’t start right away] Okay thank you very much, when I come across good investment opportunity I will be sure to let you know.

Any suggestions on how to smoothly ask for the number other than the junk they give us in training.

[quote=OS]

Have a leather binder/folder with a notepad in it. Open it as you’re asking for their number and let a few pictures of little kids fall out, then say, “Oops, sorry about that. Those are my babies, I keep their pictures in here to remind me to keep working hard. May I have your number please?”[/quote]



LOL

Nothing like reviving a 3 yr old topic but I'm in a similar spot.  I have an area that is been door knocked to death by every realtor, tree trimmer, gardner, painter, and of course religious organization in town.   People are actually very polite but they just do not give their number out on priniciple.  I am getting around 20% of the good 1st contacts to give me numbers...so as you can imagine I am spending a lot of time for very little results.  I am getting a little freaked about getting the adequate amount of numbers.

Just ask them if you can follow up with an idea via phone or person next time you’re in the neighborhood. Then get their number from whitepage. com

p.s. If anyone asks, it was your idea not mine