EJ Cold Walk
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I’ve got 6 Ed Jones offices within 1.5 miles of my house. I can guarantee you most are not walking door to door or mailing the houses close to their offices.
"I've got 6 Ed Jones offices within 1.5 miles of my house."
That is such a joke...
I pass 7 on the way to work, three of them on the same road within a mile of each other. Worst part is, the city I live in isn’t that big!
[quote=blarmston]
"I've got 6 Ed Jones offices within 1.5 miles of my house."
That is such a joke...
[/quote]
I doubt it is a joke. There are three offices within my small town of 22,000 people. Now, they are 5 brokers, or whatever you call them at Jones. It's kind of stupid. All of the current brokers who run each office took over another broker's practice. The other two people are goodnight's, or again, whatever you call them. CAn't wait to open an office there and shut them down. I am not Indy, so I have to build my practice up before I approach management about an office.
Excuse my typo’s above (as I know someone will say something), it’s Friday, and I’ve had a long week.
Do you have any clients that own new car dealerships? If so, ask them about
"flooding the floor". They hire more salespeople than they really need. The
result is that the salespeople cut each others’ throats, basically making
minimal money, the dealer sells more units and doesn’t have to pay anyone
any sales bonuses.
When I got out of college I interviewed with EJ. They brought up the door walking thing. I basically said I want to be an Advisor not a Jehova’s Witness. They proceeded to tell me I wasn’t EJ material.
[quote=hoopfan]When I got out of college I interviewed with EJ. They brought up the door walking thing. I basically said I want to be an Advisor not a Jehova's Witness. They proceeded to tell me I wasn't EJ material.[/quote]
[quote=hoopfan] When I got out of college I interviewed with EJ. They
brought up the door walking thing. I basically said I want to be an Advisor
not a Jehova’s Witness. They proceeded to tell me I wasn’t EJ material.[/
QUOTE]
I would have liked to be there to see that!
Good one, Hoop!
[quote=blarmston]
"I’ve got 6 Ed Jones offices within 1.5 miles of my
house."
That is such a joke…
[/quote]A friend of mine works in a Merrill office with 42 other brokers.
6 brokers on one block, 42 in one office…hhmmmmm…
Half those brokers in his office fail out within a year.
[quote=Broker24] [quote=blarmston]
"I’ve got 6 Ed Jones offices
within 1.5 miles of my
house."
That is such a joke…
[/quote]A friend of mine works in a Merrill office with 42 other brokers.
6 brokers on one block, 42 in one office…hhmmmmm…
Half those brokers in his office fail out within a year.[/quote]
And what of the remaining 21, who are making it in the lofty regions of
Mother Merrill? They’ll be leaving the six Jonsers in the dust.
The Jones office down the street has had 4 brokers in five years. Not too
impressive, m’boy.
Jones way of prospecting works well. I don’t understand why
people think it is such a big deal. Face to face is a great way
to meet many people. I don’t do much residential, but smaller
business owners are everywhere, always open, and always willing to tell
you about their business if you walk through their door.
My only problem with Jones is the 2nd and succeeding “calls,” where
they want(ed) me to call these same people and propose a 30 year
bond.
A question for you guys who cold walk. Without even knowing this was a method employed by EJ, I put this as part of my marketing plan. I go live next week as a broker with a rep # and I plan on using this method. Question: When out cold walking what do you,
1. Wear
2. Bring with you i.e. marketing materials, product info
3. What is your goal? i.e. an introduction or something more? I wouldn't expect more than a introduction in the first meeting but I don't want to short change this situation.
thanks in advance for the replies.
[quote=707SE]
A question for you guys who cold walk. Without even knowing this was a method employed by EJ, I put this as part of my marketing plan. I go live next week as a broker with a rep # and I plan on using this method. Question: When out cold walking what do you,
1. Wear
2. Bring with you i.e. marketing materials, product info
3. What is your goal? i.e. an introduction or something more? I wouldn't expect more than a introduction in the first meeting but I don't want to short change this situation.
thanks in advance for the replies.
[/quote]Most of the guys I know who do this successfully wear comfortable shoes and dress only slightly less casually than they would for an important meeting.
Travel light. Most of them carry business cards and at most a one-page flyer that serves as a useful leave behind.
The goal would from what I understand usually be simply to gain an introduction and perhaps set up a meeting/get a phone number for later follow up. There are others on these boards who can provide first hand information...but hopefully at least this is a good start for you.
Ideally when you are doorknock you wear what you normally wear into the office. But at 85 degrees in May, the sweat stained shirt and tie become a distraction. My rule of thumb is if it's warm, I wear a polo shirt (with EDJ on it somewhere). If it's cool enough I'll stick to the shirt and tie.
I take four things with me. Business cards, a flyer of some kind, note cards I created to keep track of who I meet, and a bottle of water. The note cards are my own creation. On the front is all the info I'm looking for, ie name, address, age, phone, occupation, broker they work with, what they're interested in, etc. The back is blank and I keep short notes. Most of them say "not interested" or "w/ Smith the Jones broker".
My goal at this point is to find out who they are, who they invest with, and maybe what they like to invest in. If I can get a phone number, great. If not I'll look it up. It's really very basic. Tell the people who you are, where your office is and then converse with them.
The same concept applies to either residential or businesses. You'll get some strange looks at both, but keep at it and it WILL work.
The beauty of the Jones system is that once we get them to tell us their phone number at their doorstep, we can call them regardless of DNC. In that way, we have access to leads that cold callers can’t get through to. We can cross reference to the DNC list if someone doesn’t give a number outright. I like being the only person that is ever making calls to DNC people because they gave me permission. I’d have to say that my potential success rate with them is pretty good. Instead of only dealing with used up lists of people that get called everyday by someone.
[quote=drewski803]So what do you do when that great convo lands on a DNC number?[/quote]
Don't call, would be my guess. You can still go visit people in person (until they tell you to stay away) and send literature in the mail. You can also ask if you have permission to call them when face to face. Many times people will say yes even if they are on the DNC.
Door knocking/cold walking worked quite well for me when I was transitioning to Jones. Its a low key and friendly way to introduce yourself and meet with people. I never ever tried to sell anyone on the doorstep. I was more interested in meeting and hopefully setting appointments in my office.
Thanks for sharing this information fellas.
I was talking to my BM this afternoon after reading this post. We were brainstorming prospecting ideas and I said, "what do you think about cold walking, i.e. going from door to door to prospect?" He frowned and said, "Nah, not how you want to go about this business."
I'm a bit torn because I'm trying to do as he says. He's a really smart guy and has been successful in this business and peripheral interest as well. This to me seems like a effective means to go about getting clients but I'm inclined to go with the guy who's made it in my area.
I'll probably eventually take a morning and do it, but for now - I'll exhaust other ideas before I get to this.