Cold Calling Homes
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I know the “thing to do” right now is call biz owners…I am wanting to branch out and start calling some homes during the day…
Does anybody have any tips/advice when calling homes, as opposed to calling biz owners?
Call lots and lots and lots and be ready for the rare occasion when someone actually answers the phone. I have a coworker who has never called a business and is opening accounts via just calling homes. He is lucky to get one person for every 20 dials. Do not be surprised to dial 500 a day if only residences.
i know its easy to get access to business phone numbers…
where do you guys get your somewhat qualified home numbers?I was primarily a residential cold caller. I just got frustrated calling businesses and dealing with gatekeepers. For me, the sweet spot was calling after lunch to mid afternoon to older people (55+). That’s when they’d usually be home and not too busy to talk. Mornings weren’t too bad either. I had very little success at night; sure more people would pick up the phone, but they were almost never in the mood to talk.
And yes, when I was calling, it would take 400+ dials to make the contact numbers I needed which was 50. I found that even though it took so many dials to get to people, I was still reaching more people than calling on businesses. With businesses, someone would always answer, that someone was usually the secretary. Also, for me at least, people at home were less likely to hang up than business owners were. This may be because I've never called too much in the younger demographic. I tried briefly to call the 35-50 crowd with no results, so I stuck to the more senior demographic. You can get the lists from just about any list service, they'll categorize by income, age, whatever you want. I always just got mine from our firm's list service because I didn't have to pay for that.shadow…you echo my exact thoughts with regards to calling business owners. Someone is most always there to pick up, but it is getting through to the owner that is tough, and when I do get through…they are busy working, so few want to start a meaningful conversation…
that is why I started this thread to get feedback like this from those who have called homes. I think I could deal with dialing more tnumbers o get a contact, especially if that contact was more likely to talk with me... I am going to look into trying to get some home numbers and pursue that route... Does anyone think it is a issue with regard to calling homes if I am at a wirehouse and trying to bring in larger accounts?a few quick questions for you home callers:
-when the wife picks up and the husband is not home, what do you do?
-do you leave a message on their answering machine?
- This John Smithers at Smithers investments, may I speak with Mr. Jones. --Mr. Jones can't come to the phone right now. -Is this Mrs. Jones? -- Yes it is - Tell me, Mrs. Jones, do you make the ivestment decisions for your family, or would that be Mr. Jones? The other option is just go forward with your pitch and let the mrs stop you if she's not the one who handles it.a few quick questions for you home callers:
-when the wife picks up and the husband is not home, what do you do?
-do you leave a message on their answering machine?
No feeling like taking 5 minutes to get a secretary to finally put you through and then wait on hold a few more minutes to have the business owner tell you 3 seconds into your pitch “not interested” and hang up. That’s why I started calling more residences.
FWIW, I work at a wirehouse and was told by my training advisor to call on more homes. I think this perception that you can only land larger accounts by calling on businesses is somewhat bogus. A lot of business owners are leveraged to the limit and don't have that much investable; so maybe for an insurance focused person they're good candidates, but not for someone looking for AUM. I've landed several $1MM + accounts calling on residences, and those clients have lead to many good referrals also for over $1MM+. Having said that, my largest client by far is a business owner. But he didn't come through a cold call, and if I had tried calling someone like that, I would have never ever gotten through. [quote=Boomer]shadow...you echo my exact thoughts with regards to calling business owners. Someone is most always there to pick up, but it is getting through to the owner that is tough, and when I do get through...they are busy working, so few want to start a meaningful conversation... that is why I started this thread to get feedback like this from those who have called homes. I think I could deal with dialing more tnumbers o get a contact, especially if that contact was more likely to talk with me... I am going to look into trying to get some home numbers and pursue that route... Does anyone think it is a issue with regard to calling homes if I am at a wirehouse and trying to bring in larger accounts?[/quote]Tell the business owner that you are visiting a client near their business and you’d like to pop in and introduce yourself. Say that’ll take less than 15 minutes. Introduce yourself and stick to the 15 minutes NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY. I have found once you get them talking, they warm up and don’t want to let you leave. Stick to the promised time, though, and you’ll have a reason to see them again. Set a second appointment right then.
people who sell amway don’t count as business owners. otherwise, i can’t see too many second appointments unless you plan on joining the pyramid.
sorry, but that makes no sense. OF COURSE a good rep can get a second appt on a good % of people that the rep is talking to face to face. Face to face is key–quickly develope a good rapport
Called on a business owner and set the appointment ( VA with principal protection). After going through my spiel at the appointment, out of the blue he asked if I carried life insurance to which I replied yes, he was looking for a better quote on 2.5 mil, had a health condition. Took the ap, got him approved, $25,000 net commission, he pays semiannually. Just another example of doing whatever it takes to get your foot in the door and positioning yourself to be competitive(indi). Oh yeah, taking over 2 mil in his corporate retirement plan to a safe harbor 401(k) so he can can tribute more and cut his tax bill. Still haven’t gotten back to that VA yet.
Stok[quote=stokwiz]Called on a business owner and set the appointment ( VA with principal protection). After going through my spiel at the appointment, out of the blue he asked if I carried life insurance to which I replied yes, he was looking for a better quote on 2.5 mil, had a health condition. Took the ap, got him approved, $25,000 net commission, he pays semiannually. Just another example of doing whatever it takes to get your foot in the door and positioning yourself to be competitive(indi). Oh yeah, taking over 2 mil in his corporate retirement plan to a safe harbor 401(k) so he can can tribute more and cut his tax bill. Still haven’t gotten back to that VA yet.
Stok[/quote] Great example Stok! Trainees, the message is, just make the calls. Business, homes, it doesn't matter. You will find success by being persistent.