Why does the cold-call rejection hurt so much?
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You know, I thought originally that would bother me. But now that I've "lived it" for a year or so, it's actually pretty refreshing to know that every conversion, every person you meet, could end up making me money. Plus, I love what I do, so I don't mind talking about it...even if I'm "off the clock."[/quote] your friends and family and even yourself will hate you if you're "always on." some guys chose that road, but it's no life. we work so that we can live...once you live to work, you're toast! you can have fun an make a good living is this biz. just stay away from the primerica loons[quote=jkl1v1n6]That’s the part of this job I do not like. You ALWAYS have to be on!
Ice and Huskies;
I've been living it for about 8 years now. I applaud you for your way of thinking! It's not that I don't like what I do. It's more the fact that I am always looking for the "money". For example: I have friends that have lost their jobs. I try to be sympathetic and I am, but I'm sitting there thinking, sucks for you but its' a rollover for me. So I gather the assets, I tell them that we should sit down and talk about what to do with their 401(k). I know I'm helping them, they know I'm helping them with their situation. Oh and by the way who else do you know that has been let go. I'm pretty laid back so I am not always on but if I'm golfing with buddies and they mention people got let go or divorced or someone parents died my mind immediately goes to I need to find out who they are. I may not ask them right then and there but that's where the mind goes, then I end up hitting a slice into the next state. It's really hurting my golf game! Just a little brevity back into the post. Getting to heavy there on a Friday. BTW I need to go see if that interior designer is done with my office. I'm gonna owe him like $800,000 for his work. Later!I agree with ICE…
I enjoy what I do.. And in the indy world I can choose who I work with, so I have a smaller number of clients, but more assets, and my clients are closer to being friends then they are clients... I get invited to weddings, birthday parties, etc... I don't mind talking to my clients.. as for friends and family... they need help just like everyone else...why worry about making a decision about your advisor and worry if he is looking out for you, then someone you have known a while.. I landed a 401k plan ($12mil assets) because I helped a friend rebalance his 401K,(it sucked, all putnam).. He had better allocation and eventually better choices, I improved the companies plan and choices and got them compliant.. everyone wins...I've been using the Gaddock 7 Cold-calling rules, as well as the mindset recommended by some of the posts, with better results. I'm forgetting 1 or 2 when on some of the calls, but overall my mindset is better and the people are responding better.
why the f do u think a bunch of losers like us can make mid six figs?
cold calling does suck
its the worst thing ever
calling MF strangers that hate ur guts
this biz is hard. u got to want it bad.
ive made a ton of money over the years
would i do it over again?
no it sucks. my advice to u rooks? quit.
money doesnt make u happy [
You obviously haven't spent it on the right things then...why the f do u think a bunch of losers like us can make mid six figs?
cold calling does suck
its the worst thing ever
calling MF strangers that hate ur guts
this biz is hard. u got to want it bad.
ive made a ton of money over the years
would i do it over again?
no it sucks. my advice to u rooks? quit.
money doesnt make u happy [
i make about 500 calls a day. and when i first started it was hard, but after the first 200 F-U’s you stop caring. it starts to become funny.
500? Woah! Everyday?
What kinda contacts/appointment numbers do you get out of 500 calls?Interesting thread.
While i was in training, about a month before I was to be registered, my BOM sent the three trainees in his office to a seminar put on by a guy who had a can't fail system of cold calling. The guy was new to this industry and told us his system was developed working with Dean Witter brokers in Walnut Creek California. He told us that those brokers were knocking the ball out of the park. His name; Bill Good. He later wrote a book about his system. I used Bill's system to open a lot of accounts. As posted, the key to cold calling is Qualifying. We are looking for candidates to join our practice. This is a very select group. Not only must they be interested in what we have to offer, they must be financially qualified. And for us old guys, one more rule now that we can afford it, no jerks. If you're an asshole as far as I'M concerned you can keep your account at Merril Lynch. Life is just too short. What i'm offering those whom i call Is an opportunity to receive the very best advice and service available. I am the rejector, not the rejectee. If one is foolish enough not to be interested in what I offer, I blow them off the phone quickly and politely with "Thank you very much!" And then i dispatch them into the electronic haze as i click over to dial the next number. Some rules: Always qualify for money Never burn the list-always be polite Don't waste time trying to create interest Set time to call aside and make sure nothing interupts you. make as many dials as possible per hour Minimum contacts per day-50 a contact is reaching the intended target learn these words- Thank you very much! Utter them at the first sign of disinterest or disrespect. And you are being sincere in this in that you are thanking that person for being up front with you and not wasting your time. This is a key to not burning the list. If you are polite you can call back. Ok, the guy wasn't interested on the first call, but now, six weeks later on you second go thru with the list, he has a CD coming due next week and he's interested in your CD offer. Call the list every six to eight weeks.[quote=BondGuy]Interesting thread.
While i was in training, about a month before I was to be registered, my BOM sent the three trainees in his office to a seminar put on by a guy who had a can't fail system of cold calling. The guy was new to this industry and told us his system was developed working with Dean Witter brokers in Walnut Creek California. He told us that those brokers were knocking the ball out of the park. His name; Bill Good. He later wrote a book about his system. I used Bill's system to open a lot of accounts. As posted, the key to cold calling is Qualifying. We are looking for candidates to join our practice. This is a very select group. Not only must they be interested in what we have to offer, they must be financially qualified. And for us old guys, one more rule now that we can afford it, no jerks. If you're an asshole as far as I'M concerned you can keep your account at Merril Lynch. Life is just too short. What i'm offering those whom i call Is an opportunity to receive the very best advice and service available. I am the rejector, not the rejectee. If one is foolish enough not to be interested in what I offer, I blow them off the phone quickly and politely with "Thank you very much!" And then i dispatch them into the electronic haze as i click over to dial the next number. Some rules: Always qualify for money Never burn the list-always be polite Don't waste time trying to create interest Set time to call aside and make sure nothing interupts you. make as many dials as possible per hour Minimum contacts per day-50 a contact is reaching the intended target learn these words- Thank you very much! Utter them at the first sign of disinterest or disrespect. And you are being sincere in this in that you are thanking that person for being up front with you and not wasting your time. This is a key to not burning the list. If you are polite you can call back. Ok, the guy wasn't interested on the first call, but now, six weeks later on you second go thru with the list, he has a CD coming due next week and he's interested in your CD offer. Call the list every six to eight weeks. [/quote] Awesome post, BondGuy! Thanks!Yep. This is definitely getting printed-out and going up on the wall.
Thanks BondGuy!Hey BondGuy and whomever else wants to chime in,
Doesn't Bill Good say that one should only move forward with those prospects that are already eagerly awaiting your offering and, in a sense, just waiting for someone to call or talk to them about it? He calls these red cherries if I'm not mistaken. For anyone with hesitation, no matter how little, you say "Thank-you-very-much!" and move on, isn't that right? He apparently disapproves of trying to actually sell anything at all, right? I read some of his Hot Prospects book because it seemed to be fairly well received in this industry. I'm just not sure I'm convinced that no selling is better than some selling. Don't get me wrong...I hate the aggressive, hard-nosed, back-handed selling techniques employed in most sales oriented industries with their strong closes, various ways to answer objections, psychological manipulation, etc. etc. etc. I had sold cars once upon a time, so I've seen the kind of crap people try to pull. I never agreed with it which is why car sales never really agreed with me. However, if it really is as simple as "Call as many people as you can...ditch the ones who aren't "pre-sold"...ring up the ones who are....rinse and repeat", then don't you think that EVERYONE would be successful? Now, I understand that this is somewhat oversimplified, but the point remains that if the job requires no sales skills to speak of, then why do the B/D's need us? They could simply hire $9/hour clerks to fill out paperwork and accept checks. OK, so maybe you couldn't convince someone to go through the trouble for licensing and such for $9/hour, but you know what I mean. And by us, I really mean all of you because I'm not licensed yet. I'm beginning training this Monday which is why I'm so interested in discussions regarding successful sales and prospecting methods. Do Bill Good's methods work for you? Am I misinterpreting something? Any other recommended reading? Maybe I'm way off-base. Tell me what you think.[quote=Fud Box]
However, if it really is as simple as "Call as many people as you can...ditch the ones who aren't "pre-sold"...ring up the ones who are....rinse and repeat", then don't you think that EVERYONE would be successful? .[/quote] Because it's very difficult work. Unless you have a network system to get referrals, you have to make hundreds of those calls or doorknocks every day. It sounds easy enough, but it's dull, boring, aggravating, deadening work. Very few people are hard wired to do it.Box, You're way off base. Honestly, reading your post and it's hard to believe we're talking about the same book.
Bill, doesn't support a one call close- that is calling someone pitching them and closing on the first call. His system is Call/mail/call. Call them, find interest, mail something to them ,and then call them back. On that second call anything goes as determined by the situation. You can ask questions, close for an appointment, or close on a product sale. It's your choice.
There are two types of leads. Those who have money now and those who have money coming due later. A large part of the system is cultivating those who don't have money today, putting yourself in the lead position for when the money is ready to move. Bill, also advocates calling old leads, or for those who aren't opening many accounts, to find something-stock,bond, mutual fund, whatever, pick up a pile of these leads and start pitching them to buy the product. A presentation isn't considered complete unless a closing question has been asked. So this is a call'em and close'em exercise. Amazingly accounts will be opened by doing this. They key to the cold calling is not to waste time trying to develope interest. By doing this, believing the person called when they say I'm not interested, allows you to maximize the number of calls made thus increasing the probability that interested prospects will be reached. That versus trying to convince an uninterested person that they should have an interest. The system is numbers based. The more people you contact the more prospects you will find. Determining no interest comes with practice as much can be read into how a person says they're not interested. From the obvious to the subtle, all nuances Bill discusses. That said, there is nothing wrong with calling people up and asking them to buy something from you or asking for an appointment on the first call. Just not Bill's system.That was a great response! Thank you for the clarification. It definitely appears that I didn't get the message that Bill was trying to convey. I guess I'll go ahead and finish the book now.
The book I was reading was Hot Prospects. Is that the book which you referenced in your original post? Any other books you recommend?No, Bill’s first book is Prospecting Your Way To Sales Success. it’s all in there.
I am taking my 66 on thursday and assuming I pass then I start work on monday… I cannot wait to get on the phone!!!
Right, Bill’s book is great. I bought “Hot Prospects” today at B&N on Rittenhouse Sq. Wish I had this 18ms ago when I started in production–I can see how this book can work with David Mullen’s book-use this (BG) for the prospecting part over the phone, and use Mullen’s system for positioning oneself as a strong #2 behind the prospect’s existing advisor. (Meaning, leaning more towards the appointment once you have a red cherry).
Nick Murray’s, “Excellent Investment Advisor” is a very easy read, and has some great information it. May be something to look into.
You are confusing prospecting and selling. Two different things. While you are prospecting, your 10 second pitch should dangle *something* the client might find attractive or interesting, so in that sense there's a smidgen of selling in there. But in prospecting, you are merely looking to find people that have thought to themselves recently that they could use some financial advice or a new FA. If the prospect has not been mulling it over before you call him, it is unlikely he will express interest, let alone turn into a customer. There is no point in believing you can convert disinterest into interest. On the other hand, people that have been thinking about it are information sponges; they will not hesitate to express their interest. If you call up and offer to teach them what they desire to know, you will turn them into a customer.Doesn’t Bill Good say that one should only move forward with those prospects that are already eagerly awaiting your offering …He apparently disapproves of trying to actually sell anything at all, right?