Went doorknocking for EDJ interview today
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I actually enjoyed it. It was fun. I was going to go into a different town and do it, but I decided against it and just stuck here locally, and I must say I really liked getting to talk to the locals and hear there stories.
The only thing that stinks is right now the only office I am going to be able to get is in Louisville, and I really don’t want to be in a metro area. I guess I can still go in hoping that an office will open up on my side of the river. I don’t know what the chances of that are, though.
At what point in the process, if you are going into a new office, does it become a definite, that that will be your office? Is that six months, a year, or what?
I am not with Edward Jones so not sure what you mean you went door knocking for an interview. Were you actually doing prospecting, or just seeing what its all about?? I’m guessing they make you do this to see if you like door knocking…
Yes. They have you go out and do surveys with 7 questions about the town, what they like best, could change, what businesses they frequent, etc. They do this before your final face to face interview.
I am not with Edward Jones so not sure what you mean you went door knocking for an interview. Were you actually doing prospecting, or just seeing what its all about?? I’m guessing they make you do this to see if you like door knocking…
After you jump through "ALL" the EJ hoops (could take forever or may never happen...just depends how hard you work and how well you can accept rejection). There should be a list of them on your laptop. And I'm sure there are more hoops to jump through now than when I worked under their flag.I actually enjoyed it. It was fun. I was going to go into a different town and do it, but I decided against it and just stuck here locally, and I must say I really liked getting to talk to the locals and hear there stories.
The only thing that stinks is right now the only office I am going to be able to get is in Louisville, and I really don’t want to be in a metro area. I guess I can still go in hoping that an office will open up on my side of the river. I don’t know what the chances of that are, though.
At what point in the process, if you are going into a new office, does it become a definite, that that will be your office? Is that six months, a year, or what?
OH...you haven't even been offically hired yet. I presume you haven't even started studying for your S7 yet. If not, you have a bunch more hoops to jump through before you start thinking about a new office. Work hard and you will get there, but take it one step at a time.Yes. They have you go out and do surveys with 7 questions about the town, what they like best, could change, what businesses they frequent, etc. They do this before your final face to face interview.
Did any of your prospects ask about collar spreads?
Funny, sounds like you were soliciting business? Which is illegal if you are not licensed, which I don't think U R? Who did U tell your targets you were and what you were doing? At least Amerirpize makes you have a 'senior' salesman present when you bring in your relatives to buy their crap.First of all, I am licensed, just 6 and 63 right now, though. Second, it is not soliciting business. You tell the people you are talking to that you are opening a business in town and wanted to ask a few questions. As stated previously, the questions are about the town, what they like best, would change about it, etc. Completely unrelated to anything having to do with financial services.
I thought it went pretty well. 33 door knocks. 16 answers, only one declined to answer questions and only four declined to give their phone #, which seem pretty good to me.
I’m gonna go out and do it again tomorrow for a bit. I committed to getting 25 surveys completed, and if I get another 15 tomorrow, I’ll have 30 for the interview.
You sound like a Go-Getter! Keep that attitude going and maintain it.......you'll do well. Good Luck!First of all, I am licensed, just 6 and 63 right now, though. Second, it is not soliciting business. You tell the people you are talking to that you are opening a business in town and wanted to ask a few questions. As stated previously, the questions are about the town, what they like best, would change about it, etc. Completely unrelated to anything having to do with financial services.
I thought it went pretty well. 33 door knocks. 16 answers, only one declined to answer questions and only four declined to give their phone #, which seem pretty good to me.
I’m gonna go out and do it again tomorrow for a bit. I committed to getting 25 surveys completed, and if I get another 15 tomorrow, I’ll have 30 for the interview.
[quote=Dianna912]First of all, I am licensed, just 6 and 63 right now, though. Second, it is not soliciting business. You tell the people you are talking to that you are opening a business in town and wanted to ask a few questions. As stated previously, the questions are about the town, what they like best, would change about it, etc. Completely unrelated to anything having to do with financial services. I thought it went pretty well. 33 door knocks. 16 answers, only one declined to answer questions and only four declined to give their phone #, which seem pretty good to me. I’m gonna go out and do it again tomorrow for a bit. I committed to getting 25 surveys completed, and if I get another 15 tomorrow, I’ll have 30 for the interview.
You sound like a Go-Getter! Keep that attitude going and maintain it…you’ll do well.
Good Luck!
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Thank you! I appreciate that.
It’s fun when you are doing it to land a job that you think you want. It is NOT fun when you HAVE to do it. That said, it does work but it’s time-consuming.
Yeah the first few days are fun!
Come back on here in 8 months, when your paycheck is 2k, the pyramid of partnership is in full swing kicking you in the head and taking 65% so you can have your own "office" and some new jag off comes into town and gets a 25mil goodnight and starts teaching you how to do your job, my suggestion is run to the nearest decent bank and get 35%payout with help and no BSWhat would you classify as a decent bank? BAC? Wachovia? USB?
Diana - your first day of doorknocking was a success. However, I would caution you against being over optimistic about it until you've actually asked someone at the doorstep about their advisor. Or a biz owner about his non-existent retirement plan. It's a bit different. You'll have some great conversations, but expect a lot more pushback than just a simple survey asking general business questions. With that said, ignore Ron. You're headed in the right direction. Some of the posts we've seen on here about working for banks doesn't paint them in a much better light than they do EDJ. I'm a little biased, but I think you're headed in the right direction. Jones is a great company with some flaws. The same can be said for many other firms. Sounds like you're on your way to getting hired. Good luck.Diana,
First Congratulation on your first step, hopefully you went out today with the same success. Keep on doing what you have to do and keep a positive attitude and you will be fine. I have been a bit too negative on this site lately. So has everyone else. My only advice to you is STOP READING AND POSTING ON THIS SITE NOW! The market sucks and we've all been in it a while now and it is showing in our attitudes on this site. This place will only give you negative thoughts and you need only positive thoughts. So, keep on working hard, maintain a positive attitude and you will be successful!I remember those interview doorknocks. That was brutal! Never knocking on a strangers door before that moment, and being completely freaked out. Six months later it was second nature. And I hated it SOOO much!
Goodluck out there.When I did my survey exercise it took about 4 hours (and some change), knocked on right at 100 doors (including a few businesses), and made 25 contacts. Had some great convo's, and also had one guy yell at me through the door, "I don't want whatever you're selling!!!". Yeah, wouldn't even open the door! Why'd he even get off the couch? I feel like I benefited from a somewhat more "difficult" doorknocking exercise in making an informed decision. I also realized that as "difficult" as I thought it was...I'll have to at least double it once I AM selling something.
I figured that if I got 25 quality contacts where I had a meaningful discussion and got permission to contact them, then I would spend about 4 hours a day just talking to quality contacts. Ideally. That's just 10 minutes per person (250 minutes). If half the doors you knock have nobody home, and half the ones that ARE home don't want to talk to you, and half the ones that don't blow you off simply aren't interested and/or not willing to give contact info, then you have to knock on 200 doors to get 25 quality contacts. That leaves 175 doors knocked. If you knock, wait a few seconds, then walk to the next door, it could take you from 30 seconds to a minute to go from one door to the next. At 45 sec, that's a little over 2 hours. So you'll spend six hours minimum, every single day, to get your leads. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, the word on the street from the newer FA's in my region is that it's closer to 9 hours a day during the week (not including other tasks like appointments, etc.) and 4-6 hours on Saturday. Apparently working on Saturday is a big deal...at least in my region. Once you get your 25 contacts...then the fun begins...you gotta close the deal!!!! According to Jones, it takes an average of six separate contacts in order to build the relationship necessary to earn a potential client's business. After a month of doorknocking, you should have about 625 contacts in the pipeline. The critical activities say to call them at least every other week, so by extension you'll be making about 25 phone calls a day in addition to your doorknocking. That's just after a couple weeks. After a few months you'll be following up with about 2000 people every 14 days. Assume by this point that maybe you closed some, disqualified some, etc. then let's say it's 1500 phone calls every 12 work days. Well now you're making 125 follow up calls a day in addition to a minimum of 6-9 hours of door knocking a day. And you do this every day for at least 2-3 years. After a few years it supposedly gets easier. Anyway...I don't want to sound negative. I just want to paint a slightly different picture for you. Once you build a pipeline...you're going to be busting your ass...no if's and's or but's. My estimations above are more like uneducated guesstimations based on some assumptions, so it's likely to be flawed, but nonetheless it paints a different picture of the nature of the work for a newby. The truth is that it's probably even more difficult than I think it is. Nevertheless, I go to KYC in a couple weeks, so I'll see how hard it really is soon enough! Best of luck to you!Don’t even think about the word ‘office’ until you get near your can-sell. You are about 20 steps ahead of what you need to be thinking about. If you are basing your decision as to whether to work for Jones or not on the fact that you may or may not have an office, assume you won’t.
The only reason I am asking that question is because I do not want to work in Louisville, and right now that’s the only market available.