Cold Call Idea
Came across this quote, thinking of using it on cold calls. What do you guys think?
"Introduction, blah, blah, blah. Mr. Prospect, Vince Lombardi once said, 'The best offense is a good defense'. How has your investment defense done as of late?"“It’s done poorly, thanks for reminding me. And who the F is Vince Lombardi?”
CLICK Too gimmicky and the answers are the same for a lot of people out there. You need to tell them how your defense plan will further their goals and portfolio...in ten seconds.Screams used car or insurance salesman to me.<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
I just came up with the following and I would love feedback.
“How do you feel about the recent stock market?”
(let them purge)
“How have your investments held up?”
(let them purge)
“Do you wish there was more that you could be doing?”
(yes)
“Can you block off 15-minutes to meet and discuss in person? If you like what I have to offer then we’ll talk longer. If not then hopefully you’ll feel a bit more comfortable knowing that you at least explored other options.”
--WM
WM,
I like the last line; that, alone, works. Leave the rest out since we already know the answers to those questions.Snags- it sounds fine to me.
Here's an idea- test it Call using that approach for at least one session. Track your results and then compare them to your averages using other approaches. With this info in hand you can decide for yourself how effective it is. Personally, I like it because it's not the same tired canned "we are experts not sales people" approach used by most. Eff that ,we are sales people and unless those expert types can figure out how to live on 30 to 40% less income they are gone by this time next year. You'll get hang ups and flippant responses, but you may also get some leads as well. Those leads will keep you here. And if it doesn't work, well, time well spent trying something new and then on to the next new thing. Lastly, a big mistake in this biz is finding something that works and then changing it. This is right out out of the Bill Good handbook, don't change what's working. Good luck, come back to us with the numbers- good or bad[quote=WealthManager]
Screams used car or insurance salesman to me.<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
I just came up with the following and I would love feedback.
“How do you feel about the recent stock market?”
(let them purge)
“How have your investments held up?”
(let them purge)
“Do you wish there was more that you could be doing?”
(yes)
“Can you block off 15-minutes to meet and discuss in person? If you like what I have to offer then we’ll talk longer. If not then hopefully you’ll feel a bit more comfortable knowing that you at least explored other options.”
--WM
[/quote] Are you happy with your portfolio's performance? Are you happy with your advisor? Looking for two no's and then go for it. That said, I'll offer you the same advice as I offered to snags-test it. Compare your results to what you usually do. If you haven't cold called before I look for two or three leads per hour, but results will vary. Even one lead an hour could work if it's solid and enough calls are made. I read a WSJ article about ten years ago where the reporter followed a SB trainee for a couple of days. Part of the program was extensive cold calling for five hours a day. The reporter opined that the trainee was getting only one lead per hour despite making hundreds of calls during the session. She couldn't see how the trainee could survive on such a low response rate. So lets do the numbers: 5 leads a day=25per week=1250 per year. Half drop out on the second call. That leaves 625. Close 20% and that gives you 130 new households a year. At 100k average that would be $13,000,000 in new money. At 50k average it gives you $6,500,000 in new money. OK, you get the picture. Do that for five years, adding a few other marketing channels and all of sudden you have a business to manage. It could work to a greater or lesser degree, but it will work. And that reporter was sooo wrong!Do you guys brush your cold call lists against DNC lists?
I recently purchased a list and then had complaince all over my rear saying I had to use the gryphon system to make sure I do my part to brush against the DNC list. Gets redundant and tiresome after awhile.[quote=anabuhabkuss]Do you guys brush your cold call lists against DNC lists?
I recently purchased a list and then had complaince all over my rear saying I had to use the gryphon system to make sure I do my part to brush against the DNC list. Gets redundant and tiresome after awhile. [/quote] Yes, I paid $150 or $200 for SafeCaller or SafeList. It was a one time fee. I log onto donotcall.gov and download the DNC numbers, takes about 3 minutes. Then I scrub my excel sheet, takes about 2 seconds. Then I don't call. That's the part I need to fix...Damn, thanks Snags. I need to do this. Do you upload your list onto that website to scrub or am I misunderstanding the process?
[quote=snaggletooth][quote=anabuhabkuss]Do you guys brush your cold call lists against DNC lists?
I recently purchased a list and then had complaince all over my rear saying I had to use the gryphon system to make sure I do my part to brush against the DNC list. Gets redundant and tiresome after awhile. [/quote] Yes, I paid $150 or $200 for SafeCaller or SafeList. It was a one time fee. I log onto donotcall.gov and download the DNC numbers, takes about 3 minutes. Then I scrub my excel sheet, takes about 2 seconds. Then I don't call. That's the part I need to fix...[/quote] Snags your choice is to make the calls, find another channel, or move on to another career. I know the phone weighs one hundred pounds but it's the way to a better life. read Bill Good, become the rejector instead of the rejectee. Find something that will get you on the phone. Once you've built up a pipeline it will become easier. With money coming in the front door it always is. Is there someone at your firm who cold calls? if so ask to spend a few days with that person. Bob Dunwoody went from failure to a million dollar producer doing just that. Actually, he went and spent time with several of his firm's top producers. That firm was Paine Webber. He listened, took notes, asked questions and took more notes. He then cloned exactly what these people were doing. He found that many of these guys worked in a similar way, even if their styles and products differed.Misunderstanding it. You buy the program which you download onto your computer. You download the DNC numbers from the website. Then you upload your excel file into the program. The program automatically finds the DNC numbers you downloaded and scrubs the list. You only have to do this process once a month. The program keeps a record of all lists you've scrubbed in case you come across someone that wants to sue you.Damn, thanks Snags. I need to do this. Do you upload your list onto that website to scrub or am I misunderstanding the process?
Snags, you don't need a gimmick or speech..just be Snags.
Call, tell them who you are, what you do and WHY you're calling. I just say I have no idea if they work with a licensed financial advisor...and then let the conversation move forward. I try to get permission to call down the road with a good Tax free bond rate. IF they say no...make a note and move on. If they say yes...bingo ...there is a quarterly call in your pipeline. If you're trying to "come up" with a scripted sales call...you will not feel like doing the calls. IF in turn, you're wanting to know if they work with someone (we all do), the conversation is less about product and more about fact finding. Don't script it...just be interested in the other person on the line and see if you can help them. At this stage of the game, we, you, shouldn't have to script anything.Thanks, Snags.
I think everyone does this. I did this for quite a while, built a list, ran it through the DNC and then didn’t call it. Then I repeated the cycle. Then I realized I wasted a whole lot of time building these lists, I might as well destroy them(call the crap out of them).
I started calling and got good results, then stopped calling.. However due to my most recent situation I am getting back on the horse tomorrow morning.Here is what I am using now any thought
"Has your advisor talked to you about portfolio rehabilitation during this volatile market?"
“I am finding that most client’s portfolios due to market conditions are not what they resemble last time they were evaluated.”
“Lets sit down and make sure your portfolio is line with your current situation”
Are you happy with your portfolio’s performance?
Are you happy with your advisor?
Looking for two no’s and then go for it.
That said, I’ll offer you the same advice as I offered to snags-test it.
Compare your results to what you usually do. If you haven’t cold called before I look for two or three leads per hour, but results will vary. Even one lead an hour could work if it’s solid and enough calls are made.
I read a WSJ article about ten years ago where the reporter followed a SB trainee for a couple of days. Part of the program was extensive cold calling for five hours a day. The reporter opined that the trainee was getting only one lead per hour despite making hundreds of calls during the session. She couldn’t see how the trainee could survive on such a low response rate. So lets do the numbers: 5 leads a day=25per week=1250 per year. Half drop out on the second call. That leaves 625. Close 20% and that gives you 130 new households a year. At 100k average that would be $13,000,000 in new money. At 50k average it gives you $6,500,000 in new money. OK, you get the picture. Do that for five years, adding a few other marketing channels and all of sudden you have a business to manage. It could work to a greater or lesser degree, but it will work. And that reporter was sooo wrong!
One of the better post I have read this past year… Just wanted to revive the idea, after all the holidays will be gone soon and the cold calling days must continue(That and I hate the Mutual Fund Store topic)
Agree the cold days of January will be an excellent time to cold call.
Rest up and get ready! The best is yet to come! 2009 will be a fantastic year to build a fabulous business! Just pick up that phone!Catching up on some CE requirements now, while waiting for my new list to arrive. Thought I would take care of some of this admin stuff, before the holidays leave and I calling all day and night
The name of the game is number of dials/time on the phone. The more dials equals more contacts. more contacts equals more prospects. More prospects equals mre clients. And more clients equals more assets under management. More assets under management equals higher income. it’s that simple. How much energy do you have? (asking everyone generically). It amazes me how many trainees make something like 20 calls a day and call it good. OK, what are you doing with the other eleven hours of your day? To succeed fill the day with activity.
I have something i call Pitch, presso , prospect. They are activities that can be done in person or as i usually do, with a phone. Pitch all your prospects. Anything with a closing quesiton that moves them closer to a decision is considered a pitch. Ask for a meeting/ask for permission to send info/close on a product sale- all pitches that move the prospect closer to a decision or has them make a decision. personally i like finding something that fits and asking them to buy it. That seperates the fence sitters pretty quickly. Presso. Again, i like to do campaigns. Finding a new strategy or product that will fit a large group of clients is where i live. Find it, and present it. And then present it again and then again-all day long. Bonds fit here ,as do MBS, Cds. and stocks. Mutual funds work here as do annuities. Find it, research it, present it. To count as a presentation you must ask for the order. Ok, you've made all your calls to prospects and clients now what? Time to prospect. keep dialing until the clock runs out. Lots of unhappy people out there. People unhappy with their current advisor. The bad news is two or three hundred of them are your clients! The good news is that 100,000,000 are someone elses client. See? The numbers are working in our favor.Chris Gardner’s goal was 200 calls/day… He turned out ok. Anyone actually doing more than this?
[quote=chief123]Chris Gardner’s goal was 200 calls/day… He turned out ok. Anyone actually doing more than this?[/quote]
When I was a rookie, it was more like 400+/day. I had a few days north of 700.
Agree
Here's my $.02: Analyzed my business for 2008 today as part of planning 09. One thing is crystal clear. Cold calling still works. It worked last year and it worked this year. You can say it ain't so, and I'm fine with that. More for me. -Average account this year was 120k -70% of business this year came from referrals. About half of that is referrals that came from people who opened first accounts on cold calls a year ago or so. -25% of new business came from cold calling (including a monster referral from someone I cold called who is not yet a client) -3% came from structured networking (Membership based, not open networking) -2% came from seminars -Expos yielded nothing. -8 Seminars took about 200 hours to pull off. It cost a lot and it's time consuming in terms of resources, prep and activity levels needed. When weighing the cost benefit, it's clear that the accounts coming in from it aren't worth the effort when picking up the phone and just asking people if they have interest can generate that much business. 200 hours of dials would have yielded more 10,000 more calls would have been 702 more appointments and a closing ratio of .22 would have been 15 mil or 3x the assets I brought in. I'm confident of that. Yes, I find it takes 98 calls to an appointment. -Cold calling takes only 2-3 hours a day making 100 - 150 calls. You can stand, sit, slouch or pace around. You can wear a suit and dress shoes or dress down and take off your shoes. No one knows but the broker in the next room and they are busy trying to figure out why you are successful. (tell them it's your bare feet, not the cold calling you do!) - Use a good script (have ways to handle common objections handy) control your time when making calls and follow up, follow up, follow up. Record yourself if you can. You will improve tenfold. If you say you are going to mail something - mail it. Make sure you double back at least 1/10 of the amount of calls you make forward. Ie -Making first calls is good - but you need to go back and make second and third contacts. Make notes on how many contacts you have made with people. It takes 2-3 times as many as you think. I find 6 is a good number though for a good prospect, there is no cap. Expos leave you being chased by all the people who want to try and do business with you. IE - you become someone else's lead and your voice mail and e-mail will be bogged down with sales pitches from others. My b-plan for 2009 then is done. 10 million in new assets 40,000 cold calls 48 networking events 6 seminars - with existing groups, referral sources and ask wholesalers for support No Expos As Babe Ruth said "You just can't beat the person who never gives up"How are you able to call more than 200 per day without running out of people or recalling people who didn’t answer? Or is that what you do?
[quote=Hank Moody]
[quote=chief123]Chris Gardner’s goal was 200 calls/day… He turned out ok. Anyone actually doing more than this?[/quote]
When I was a rookie, it was more like 400+/day. I had a few days north of 700.
[/quote]
Did you also walk 5 miles to school through 3 feet of snow?
Those types of numbers are legit. I used to pound out over 300 a day. I worked with a guy that did over 400 day. It's not easy. From the stories I've heard, it would be more fun if those old bullpen days of the 80's and 90's was how it was today...[quote=Hank Moody] [quote=chief123]Chris Gardner’s goal was 200 calls/day… He turned out ok. Anyone actually doing more than this?[/quote]
When I was a rookie, it was more like 400+/day. I had a few days north of 700.
[/quote]
Did you also walk 5 miles to school through 3 feet of snow?
[quote=voltmoie]
[quote=Hank Moody]
[quote=chief123]Chris Gardner’s goal was 200 calls/day… He turned out ok. Anyone actually doing more than this?[/quote]
When I was a rookie, it was more like 400+/day. I had a few days north of 700.
[/quote]
Did you also walk 5 miles to school through 3 feet of snow?
[/quote]
Most pikers can’t relate to numbers like this.
When cold calling how far out(in terms of miles) are you typically going from your office?
[quote=chief123]How are you able to call more than 200 per day without running out of people or recalling people who didn't answer? Or is that what you do?[/quote] [quote=chief123]I agree also, I run $25 million with average account size of $180K.. mostly in fee based and alternative investments. Essentially I am getting about 1.15% on all assets so gross $287K with an above average payout.When cold calling how far out(in terms of miles) are you typically going from your office?
It seems that this is the most logical way to go. I have around 125 clients and don't really need any more other than to cover dips in markets and clients dying..[/quote] I don't get it. You're asking some very basic questions about cold calling for someone running $25 million in assets.
That because I don’t do it that often, I buy a list here and there, but never committed the time to actually do it religiously. So I am asking what people have done who have used this method and who are successful doing so.
My business has plateaued a little recently and I am not going back to my original way of prospecting(doorknocking and seminars) so I was looking to add an additional avenue, on a full time basis.
Well if you have a list of however many names and numbers, you might call dial the same number 4 or 5 times before you get ahold of them. Or they might never pick up. Sometimes you might get lucky and have the wife or kids give you their work or cell number.
If you have multiple lists, you can cycle through them and they should last you awhile. As far as your cold calling radius question, I would say you should extend your range as far as you need to. I could spend my entire life cold calling just within a 5 or 10 mile radius and never need to go further. Sometimes I would call those obscure places because the only people they would ever hear from are bank people or Jones people. Even then, most likely they aren't hearing from them either.Thanks. Sorry for all the beginner questions, but my old methods are no longer producing the results I expect( I no longer have time to doorknock all day long or at night) and (my seminars aren’t producing the number of prospects and clients I have come to expect and now the seminar is not generating enough for the money I am putting into it).
I have cold called a little bit, but not really a campaign where I do it for 3 months to check the results.
Here is what seems to work for me recently.
THROW OUT THE SCRIPT and be super casual like you are talking to a buddy "Hey Robert, this is X with Y. How's it goin!" Warmly like you are talking to a friend. Usually the person seems to get a bit put off guard and usually respond with either "good, how are you?" or "what can I do for you" or "yes". I usually say something like, "I am a financial advisor and I know a lot of investors' portfolios have gotten crushed over the last year and I wanted to give you a call to see how you were doing." From there they will either say they are doing fine or that they are doing about as well as everyone else. Continue to ask them questions until they warm up to you. Let them talk. "Great, what is your plan for 2009?" "When do you plan on getting back into the market?" "How do you evaluate which investments to buy?" "Do you have a financial plan?" Listen to what they say and reflect back to them. "So you are not comfortable with investing right now because of the uncertainty, that is certainly understandable." Keep it natural, not like an interrogation but like a conversation where you are genuinely interested in talking to them. Eventually, they will turn the conversation and ask you a question. They will ask you something like, "What do you think the market will do in 2009." Answer their question considering what you have learned about them. Once they start asking your opinion, that is great. This is a good time to politely excuse yourself from the conversation and leave them wanting more. "Hey, it sounds like I may be able to make some suggestions to improve (whatever financial problem they talked to you about). I don't want to take up any more of your time today since I was just calling to introduce myself and I am sure you are busy. Let's schedule some time next week at X time at your office. How does your schedule look?" I recently learned this skill through trial and error. This has worked a lot better for me than trying to do the quick scripted pitch where you do all the talking. Too bad nobody in my office could have taught this approach to me when I first started! Not sure why they have to have trainees reinvent the wheel through trial and error. Nobody in my office does any cold calling so I had to figure this out myself. Makes you wonder how the experienced people became successful even though they don't know how to cold call.[quote=Akkula]
Here is what seems to work for me recently.
THROW OUT THE SCRIPT and be super casual like you are talking to a buddy "Hey Robert, this is X with Y. How's it goin!" Warmly like you are talking to a friend. Usually the person seems to get a bit put off guard and usually respond with either "good, how are you?" or "what can I do for you" or "yes". I usually say something like, "I am a financial advisor and I know a lot of investors' portfolios have gotten crushed over the last year and I wanted to give you a call to see how you were doing." From there they will either say they are doing fine or that they are doing about as well as everyone else. Continue to ask them questions until they warm up to you. Let them talk. "Great, what is your plan for 2009?" "When do you plan on getting back into the market?" "How do you evaluate which investments to buy?" "Do you have a financial plan?" Listen to what they say and reflect back to them. "So you are not comfortable with investing right now because of the uncertainty, that is certainly understandable." Keep it natural, not like an interrogation but like a conversation where you are genuinely interested in talking to them. Eventually, they will turn the conversation and ask you a question. They will ask you something like, "What do you think the market will do in 2009." Answer their question considering what you have learned about them. Once they start asking your opinion, that is great. This is a good time to politely excuse yourself from the conversation and leave them wanting more. "Hey, it sounds like I may be able to make some suggestions to improve (whatever financial problem they talked to you about). I don't want to take up any more of your time today since I was just calling to introduce myself and I am sure you are busy. Let's schedule some time next week at X time at your office. How does your schedule look?" I recently learned this skill through trial and error. This has worked a lot better for me than trying to do the quick scripted pitch where you do all the talking. Too bad nobody in my office could have taught this approach to me when I first started! Not sure why they have to have trainees reinvent the wheel through trial and error. Nobody in my office does any cold calling so I had to figure this out myself. Makes you wonder how the experienced people became successful even though they don't know how to cold call. [/quote]Wow! You came up with this all by yourself?
Wow! You came up with this all by yourself?
[/quote] Hey troll, what substance have you actually added to this discussion? You are pretty good with the one liners as you have shown on this thread, maybe you can try to string a few helpful sentences together if you are capable. This will be my last comment to you so I we don't get too far off course on this thread. Don't feed the troll.
[quote=Akkula]
[/quote]Wow! You came up with this all by yourself?
[/quote] Hey troll, what substance have you actually added to this discussion? You are pretty good with the one liners as you have shown on this thread, maybe you can try to string a few helpful sentences together if you are capable. This will be my last comment to you so I we don't get too far off course on this thread. Don't feed the troll. [/quote]
Don't take yourself so seriously. Nobody else does.
[quote=Akkula]
Here is what seems to work for me recently.
THROW OUT THE SCRIPT and be super casual like you are talking to a buddy "Hey Robert, this is X with Y. How's it goin!" Warmly like you are talking to a friend. Usually the person seems to get a bit put off guard and usually respond with either "good, how are you?" or "what can I do for you" or "yes". I usually say something like, "I am a financial advisor and I know a lot of investors' portfolios have gotten crushed over the last year and I wanted to give you a call to see how you were doing." From there they will either say they are doing fine or that they are doing about as well as everyone else. Continue to ask them questions until they warm up to you. Let them talk. "Great, what is your plan for 2009?" "When do you plan on getting back into the market?" "How do you evaluate which investments to buy?" "Do you have a financial plan?" Listen to what they say and reflect back to them. "So you are not comfortable with investing right now because of the uncertainty, that is certainly understandable." Keep it natural, not like an interrogation but like a conversation where you are genuinely interested in talking to them. Eventually, they will turn the conversation and ask you a question. They will ask you something like, "What do you think the market will do in 2009." Answer their question considering what you have learned about them. Once they start asking your opinion, that is great. This is a good time to politely excuse yourself from the conversation and leave them wanting more. "Hey, it sounds like I may be able to make some suggestions to improve (whatever financial problem they talked to you about). I don't want to take up any more of your time today since I was just calling to introduce myself and I am sure you are busy. Let's schedule some time next week at X time at your office. How does your schedule look?" I recently learned this skill through trial and error. This has worked a lot better for me than trying to do the quick scripted pitch where you do all the talking. Too bad nobody in my office could have taught this approach to me when I first started! Not sure why they have to have trainees reinvent the wheel through trial and error. Nobody in my office does any cold calling so I had to figure this out myself. Makes you wonder how the experienced people became successful even though they don't know how to cold call. [/quote] hey, i think this is fantastic. you've tailored this strategy to play to your own strengths. when i started back in 2000, i did something similar to this, but focused it around tax free bonds. i kept it really conversational. i asked, they spoke. they asked, i closed . i did this for 3-4 years, and gathered over 25MM in assets. I was #1 out of 79 trainees, and I did this using the same relaxed, engaging approach you are talking about. way to go. note: Hank Moody is most likely a very low producing FA, who is probably failing out of the business. he's a negative loser. go read his posts. he's a joke.Thanks AKKLUA
I am starting calling program after the first of the year. The reason there is such an need out there. With the wires blowing up!People will be searching.AKKLUA, I like the approach and have a similar relaxed approach to calling. Do you guys really use the DNC list? Everyone is on it…how do you make contacts? I make 100 cold calls per day and get between 20-25 contacts per day. I think it’s all about contacts, not number of dials. Actually speak to 25 people per day, and the rest will cure it’s self. My daily schedule is below, please give feedback.
I live in the Seattle area, all times are PST. 7-9am Admin work, emails, catch up on market, product to discuss 9-11am Cold calls, takes 2 hours to get 100 dials and 25 contacts 11am-1pm Follow up calls, try to set appointments for next day 1-5pm Client meetings, prospect meetings, follow up calls to set appointments (my goal is to have 2 afternoon appointments everyday, doesn't always happen though) I always meet at their house first. My line for getting appointments is "I am usually out meeting with clients in the afternoon, would it be alright if I stopped by to shake your hand and drop off a few ideas that have worked for some of my clients, next time I'm in your neighborhood? They ususally say that would be fine, I call a few days later to let them know I'll be in their neighborhood...I don't really have anything scheduled, but most people/retirees can spare 10 or 15 minutes so they say sure come on by... I've been averaging 5 prospect meetings per week, brought in about $6mm in the past 10 months and opened up 85 accounts, all on cold calls....every client has come via cold call. Can't wait for a referral, I consider that "free" business. Thoughts?We don’t get paid for degree of difficulty.
In the past 10 months, you have had 200 appointments and have gotten no referrals. The problem is that you say that you can't wait for a referral, but that is exactly what you are doing. You can get lots of them, but you aren't asking. It's a heck of a lot easier working with referrals. Since you are calling for introductory meetings, you should be able to keep 5 appointments a day and not 5 a week! Part of your problem is that you have someone on the phone who tells you that it would be ok if you stop by when you are in the area, but instead of scheduling an appointment, you call back in the future. Your time is too valuable for this. When they say that they'll meet when you are in the area, respond, "Great. I'll be there on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. Which works better for you?"[quote=anonymous]We don’t get paid for degree of difficulty.
In the past 10 months, you have had 200 appointments and have gotten no referrals. The problem is that you say that you can't wait for a referral, but that is exactly what you are doing. You can get lots of them, but you aren't asking. It's a heck of a lot easier working with referrals. Since you are calling for introductory meetings, you should be able to keep 5 appointments a day and not 5 a week! Part of your problem is that you have someone on the phone who tells you that it would be ok if you stop by when you are in the area, but instead of scheduling an appointment, you call back in the future. Your time is too valuable for this. When they say that they'll meet when you are in the area, respond, "Great. I'll be there on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. Which works better for you?" [/quote]How is it that YOU, a guy who spends all day scripting lengthy posts on the internet, feel like YOU can criticize a guy with a system that brings in $600m/month?
anonymous: with all due respect, there is no way in hell anyone is getting in front of 5 people per day. Referrals are difficult to come by when my clients balanced funds are down 25-30%…keep in mind, since I went back into production, every statement my clients have received has been lower than the previous. Not the type of experience my clients feel they should share with their friends/family.
[quote=bjacobus]anonymous: with all due respect, there is no way in hell anyone is getting in front of 5 people per day. Referrals are difficult to come by when my clients balanced funds are down 25-30%…keep in mind, since I went back into production, every statement my clients have received has been lower than the previous. Not the type of experience my clients feel they should share with their friends/family.[/quote]
Anonymous is more of a thinker than a doer and he hasn’t earned your respect.
[quote=bjacobus] AKKLUA, I like the approach and have a similar relaxed approach to calling. Do you guys really use the DNC list? Everyone is on it…how do you make contacts? I make 100 cold calls per day and get between 20-25 contacts per day. I think it’s all about contacts, not number of dials. Actually speak to 25 people per day, and the rest will cure it’s self. My daily schedule is below, please give feedback.
I live in the Seattle area, all times are PST.
7-9am Admin work, emails, catch up on market, product to discuss
9-11am Cold calls, takes 2 hours to get 100 dials and 25 contacts
11am-1pm Follow up calls, try to set appointments for next day
1-5pm Client meetings, prospect meetings, follow up calls to set appointments (my goal is to have 2 afternoon appointments everyday, doesn’t always happen though) I always meet at their house first.
My line for getting appointments is "I am usually out meeting with clients in the afternoon, would it be alright if I stopped by to shake your hand and drop off a few ideas that have worked for some of my clients, next time I’m in your neighborhood? They ususally say that would be fine, I call a few days later to let them know I’ll be in their neighborhood…I don’t really have anything scheduled, but most people/retirees can spare 10 or 15 minutes so they say sure come on by…
I’ve been averaging 5 prospect meetings per week, brought in about $6mm in the past 10 months and opened up 85 accounts, all on cold calls…every client has come via cold call. Can’t wait for a referral, I consider that “free” business.
Thoughts?[/quote]
I think it looks like a solid plan and judging by your results as Hank pointed out $600K/month average is a pretty good way to start the business.
I have a few questions regarding your schedule(not criticisms, since I am trying to form a new schedule revolved around cold calling). I notice you call from 9-11am: Who are you calling? Business or Residential?
You mention you are out from 1-5pm: on appts or setting follow up calls(or these cold calls also or second contacts?) It would seem to me that if you don’t have the appointments it would be a good time to get back on the phone(say from 4-6pm??)
Is there a reason you block off that time period (1-5pm) the way you do?
Good questions. I call residential only. I have never had success calling people at work, they’re busy and don’t like to be solicited. But I’m sure that’s more my hang up than anything else, I just have had much better success calling residential.
My goal is to be out of the office seeing people every afternoon, doesn't always happen but that is my goal. When I am in the office in the afternoons I am either cold calling, making follow ups, or preparring for meetings. I block off 1-5pm everyday for appointments because I like to be home with my family, and quite frankly, I lose steam at about 5pm. I get up and go run at 5:00am, so by 5pm my motivation to pick up the phone is completely gone. However, if I can get an appointment with a client who has over $50k...I'll pretty much take it at any time. For me, I'm a morning guy, my most productive hours on the phone are from 9-1pm.[quote=bjacobus]AKKLUA, I like the approach and have a similar relaxed approach to calling. Do you guys really use the DNC list? Everyone is on it…how do you make contacts? I make 100 cold calls per day and get between 20-25 contacts per day. I think it’s all about contacts, not number of dials. Actually speak to 25 people per day, and the rest will cure it’s self. My daily schedule is below, please give feedback.
Thoughts?[/quote Are you saying you don't scrub your numbers against the DNC? I think there is some post on here about some rep who did that at AGE or WACH, and they got canned for violating the list.[quote=bjacobus]
My line for getting appointments is "I am usually out meeting with clients in the afternoon, would it be alright if I stopped by to shake your hand and drop off a few ideas that have worked for some of my clients, next time I'm in your neighborhood? [/quote] I will give this a shot. My biggest weakness right now is closing the appointment on the cold call. I do like your non threatening line that you use. I generally only call on businesses. How do you get an effective list to use for residential? I can scrub numbers on the DNC pretty effectively but I would prefer to use a pre-srubbed list if I am going to call residential. Also, do you all work at a wirehouses? I am wondering if my target market is a bit more limited than some of yours on the types of clients I can work with. I would love to hear any more good ideas! If you can get 25 contacts in 100 calls, I need to do what you are doing!I hope that you have read at least a few of my posts so that you see that my intent is to be helpful. First of all, if you believe that there is no chance that you could get in front of 5 people a day, you will prove yourself to be correct. You tell me. What is possible? As for not getting referrals, are you sure that the problem is not in your head? Are all of your clients blaming you for the loss in their portfolios? Do some of them understand that the problem is the market and not you? Have some of them lost less money because they are working with you? I'm betting that you aren't getting referrals for the simple reason that you aren't asking. Am I correct? At some point, everyone of these clients were happy with you or they wouldn't have given you their business. When they opened the account, they were happy with you and you didn't lose any of their money. They would have given you referrals if you had asked. The bottom line is that if you want referrals, ask. You will get them. By the way, I think that bringing in $6,000,000 of assets in 10 months while only keeping 1 appointment a day is phenomenal. You are averaging $30,000 in assets per kept meeting. If you were keeping 3 appointments a day, with your numbers, you would be bringing in $1,800,000 of assets a month. Your numbers don't really add up to me. Maybe I don't understand something. First of all, you are getting 25 contacts in 2 hours of calling. I've been at this a long time and I don't think that I've ever gotten 12 contacts in an hour. My typical phoning session lasts about 45 minutes. My normal numbers for cold calls are 40 dials, 5-6 reaches, and 2 appointments set. I use a low-pressure approach like you do. If you are truly reaching 25 people, you should be able to turn this into 5-10 appointments. You are turning this into less than 1 appointment. It sounds like you are contacting people, but aren't bothering to ask for an appointment. Here's my point. You obviously have good sales skills. If you simply call people and ask for an appointment, you can easily triple the number of people who you are seeing and triple your income. If you then ask these people for referrals, before they have the chance to become unhappy with you, you will get referrals. It sounds to me like you can be a superstar in this business, but first you have to get rid of your self limiting pre-conceived notions.anonymous: with all due respect, there is no way in hell anyone is getting in front of 5 people per day. Referrals are difficult to come by when my clients balanced funds are down 25-30%…keep in mind, since I went back into production, every statement my clients have received has been lower than the previous. Not the type of experience my clients feel they should share with their friends/family.
I hope that you have read at least a few of my posts so that you see that my intent is to be helpful. First of all, if you believe that there is no chance that you could get in front of 5 people a day, you will prove yourself to be correct. You tell me. What is possible? As for not getting referrals, are you sure that the problem is not in your head? Are all of your clients blaming you for the loss in their portfolios? Do some of them understand that the problem is the market and not you? Have some of them lost less money because they are working with you? I'm betting that you aren't getting referrals for the simple reason that you aren't asking. Am I correct? At some point, everyone of these clients were happy with you or they wouldn't have given you their business. When they opened the account, they were happy with you and you didn't lose any of their money. They would have given you referrals if you had asked. The bottom line is that if you want referrals, ask. You will get them. By the way, I think that bringing in $6,000,000 of assets in 10 months while only keeping 1 appointment a day is phenomenal. You are averaging $30,000 in assets per kept meeting. If you were keeping 3 appointments a day, with your numbers, you would be bringing in $1,800,000 of assets a month. Your numbers don't really add up to me. Maybe I don't understand something. First of all, you are getting 25 contacts in 2 hours of calling. I've been at this a long time and I don't think that I've ever gotten 12 contacts in an hour. My typical phoning session lasts about 45 minutes. My normal numbers for cold calls are 40 dials, 5-6 reaches, and 2 appointments set. I use a low-pressure approach like you do. If you are truly reaching 25 people, you should be able to turn this into 5-10 appointments. You are turning this into less than 1 appointment. It sounds like you are contacting people, but aren't bothering to ask for an appointment. Here's my point. You obviously have good sales skills. If you simply call people and ask for an appointment, you can easily triple the number of people who you are seeing and triple your income. If you then ask these people for referrals, before they have the chance to become unhappy with you, you will get referrals. It sounds to me like you can be a superstar in this business, but first you have to get rid of your self limiting pre-conceived notions. [/quote][quote=bjacobus]anonymous: with all due respect, there is no way in hell anyone is getting in front of 5 people per day. Referrals are difficult to come by when my clients balanced funds are down 25-30%…keep in mind, since I went back into production, every statement my clients have received has been lower than the previous. Not the type of experience my clients feel they should share with their friends/family.
Big fat liar.
anonymous: I love your optimism, I could and should press harder for an appointment on initial contact. Maybe it's the area I live in, I don't know, but I get a hold of a lot of people. Thanks for your help.
Squash: You decide about scrubbing, disregard what I said about scrubbing the list.
How do you build your list? I have tried tried to build lists, but the problem I face is that (a) 90%+ of people in my market are on the DNC list, and (b) unless they are over 65 or so, most of them are working during the day. So I am left with tose that are not working and not on the DNC list. Pretty small list. Could just be my market (suburban, not near any major urban center).
Where do your current clients live? What streets what part of town? Then build a list and go drop something off after market hours(4-6pm) that way you don’t have to worry about the DNC(you could get a phone number) and also they should be home from work.
By going later it also doesn't look like you have nothing to do during the day. Call the areas around you too. That way if you add in 3-5 areas you increase the number of people you can call. I typically find that 12-15% of qualified people are not on the do not call list, but if you broaden that out to a local perimeter(depending on you area) that could be 2-3K people..[quote=bjacobus]
9-11am Cold calls, takes 2 hours to get 100 dials and 25 contacts
11am-1pm Follow up calls, try to set appointments for next day
1-5pm Client meetings, prospect meetings, follow up calls to set appointments (my goal is to have 2 afternoon appointments everyday, doesn’t always happen though) I always meet at their house first.
[/quote]
Does anyone else have a schedule they use and would like to share, that revolves around cold calling. I am thinking just starting out with a new campaign, the bottom half of this schedule wouldn’t work.
Any ideas?
8-2 See people or fight to see them.
It's pretty simple. If you aren't with a client, you need to be on the phone or cold walking.How many calls could you make in that 6 hour period (600)
I've never made more than 100 calls in a day. It's been years since I've made more than 40. I, like most people, hate calling. If I have appointments, I can't sit on the phone for 6 hours.
In order for me to have to be on the phone all day, all of my appointments would need to cancel. Because I hate being on the phone, when I'm making calls in the morning, I try to make an appointment for the same day.
Keep in mind that I'm not a wirehouse rep so virtually everyone I call is a qualified prospect. If I'm making cold calls, I only call business owners, CPAs, and attorneys.
If I do have a day where everything goes wrong and I have no appointments, I'll make 40 dials and do a lot of cold walking. I don't have it in me to do much more calling than that.
What I find is that it takes me about 40 dials to keep a full calendar. However, it probably would take me 100 dials/day to get a full calendar if I didn't have one.
Anon, what kind of business do you run? It sounds more like insurance based. Is that correct?
Insurance (Life, DI, LTCi, health) is a huge part of my practice. However, I don’t think that it’s correct to call it insurance based. It’s actually financial plan implementation based.
I try to do a complete fact finder and do whatever it takes to get the prospect to take the necessary actions to accomplish their goals. What the insurance allows me to do is to not have to really pre-qualify prospects. Virtually everyone who I call is a decent prospect. I only cold call attorneys, cpas and business owners. Many of these people would be terrible prospects if I focused on being an asset gatherer.Chief;
300 in 6 hours is reasonable. My max was 450 in a day.
50 an hour is about right. Look - bottom line is that it's not easy to start - your "closing ratio" on booking appointments, etc will be lower than you like. You will make mistakes, you'll kick yourself and you'll think you stink at cold calling.
Reality check: You will be correct that you stink at cold calling. That's because you do stink when you start. You are nervous and not skilled at it. You will cringe a little inside when an 8 year old hangs up on you instead of getting daddy to the phone. You will think you will never open an account when someone says you should get a real job. You will shrink a little inside when someone says "Yeah- you are a financial advisor and I'm Mickey Mouse." You'll internalize all of this and learn how to respond better the next time. As you evolve, the skills evolve. As you become a better cold caller, what will happen is this: ~When the 8 year old hangs up - you learn to call that number at a different time of day. ~When the person who says you should get a job says that you will learn to dodge the blow, weave a bit and respond by saying you have a job and you've love to talk them about it. Then you can tell them you only make a few calls a month because you really believe what you have to share is important. ~When the person tells you they are Mickey Mouse you can use that as an opportunity to tell them about your professional background as the CFO of a Fortune 500, or about your MBA and PhD in Economics or about this great test you took called the Series 7 and then you can ask them what kind of retirement plan Disney offers and they'll laugh and start talking to you. It might take 20 calls for some people to get good - or 20,000 for others to get more skilled at calling. But if you never call - you will never know how many it will take to get better. Skills like listening more than you talk, sensing the mind set or mood of the person you are talking too, etc..it all comes with time and effort. It's not simple. It's like swinging at a baseball or throwing free throws. There is a lot of nuance and skills several areas to become good at before you start to really get "good" at cold calling. Even then - the best batting averages aren't anywhere near 100% are they?Then, what happens as you do it is you start to stink less. That is when the magic of it happens. You lose the self consciousness and although you will, from time to time make a mistake, wish you hadn't said something, wish you had something, etc. you will become much more adept at reading the mind set of the people you are calling, and reacting to their instinctive reactions, and you will become deft at overcoming objections they throw out.
Kickin A and Taking Names
[quote=chief123] [quote=bjacobus]
9-11am Cold calls, takes 2 hours to get 100 dials and 25 contacts
11am-1pm Follow up calls, try to set appointments for next day
1-5pm Client meetings, prospect meetings, follow up calls to set appointments (my goal is to have 2 afternoon appointments everyday, doesn't always happen though) I always meet at their house first.
[/quote]
Does anyone else have a schedule they use and would like to share, that revolves around cold calling. I am thinking just starting out with a new campaign, the bottom half of this schedule wouldn't work.
Any ideas?[/quote] "Put the Big Rocks in First" - Dr. Stephen R. Covey I'm starting the day off with my prospecting & cold walking before going into the office. I then identify which "admin" work needs to be done during daylight hours and what can be done in "after hours". (Hint: "Daylight Admin" is stuff that requires the assistance of other people or other companies to get done.) Once my "daylight admin" work is done, it's time to hit the phones on the people I cold-walked in the previous few days. So: 8-11 - Cold-walking/prospecting 11-1:30 "Daylight Admin" 1:30 - 4:00 - Phoning 4:00 - ? = "After Hours" admin Get a blackberry and check the market while you walk. Emails? Determine each email if it's a "daylight admin" or an "After Hours" admin email and categorize it and work on it at the appropriate time. All admin work should be done at appropriate times - and first thing in the morning is NOT NECESSARILY the best time. Product to discuss? Ever thought about planning the night before? That's part of "after hours" admin work. 11am - 1pm is a tougher time to get people on the phone because most people like to EAT. So, do the same and get some of your "daylight admin" stuff done during this time. Who knows? You might even get a call BACK from the prospecting you did in the morning! Just my thoughts on how I would work better than the schedule outlined above.
11-1:30 “Daylight Admin”
This is one of the reasons that it is critical to hire staff as soon as possible. There are "daylight admin" duties that must take place. The time spent on these duties can crush a rep. Unless your time is worth less than $20/hour, someone must be hired to do this or you are hurting your income.[quote=anonymous]11-1:30 “Daylight Admin”
This is one of the reasons that it is critical to hire staff as soon as possible. There are "daylight admin" duties that must take place. The time spent on these duties can crush a rep. Unless your time is worth less than $20/hour, someone must be hired to do this or you are hurting your income.[/quote] I find it hard to believe that someone has that much admin that you would need to hire someone to do it. I have friend who claims he spends his afternoons doing admin because cold calling doesn't work(EDJ guy, so he doorknocks after 4pm but doesn't actually do it) but whenever I stop by(I eat lunch by his office once a week) he is reading some magazine or looking at creating portfolios.. Admin is an bs excuse. How much admin is there once the account is set up?As far as scheduling goes… here is mine
M: 7-8 bs, news, account updates 8-11 Cold calling 12-1 lunch, mail, errands 1-4 cold calling T,W,TH 7-8 bs, news, account updates 8-11 cold calling 12-1 lunch,mail,errands 1-3 Cold calling 4-5 market overview, account issues, msgs 5-7 cold calling Friday is similar except I drop off items(an idea, stocks, reits, asset allocation) to people who are on the DNC or who I couldn't get a hold of in the afternoon Saturday- 1.Call the people who I dropped items off to(if they aren't on the DNC or I got a phone number) 2. Call everyone else on my list who didnt' answer 3. Get ready for monday. I find it stupid to block off my day for appointments, because most of mine take place on saturday, or evening times. So I will rotate my coldcalling if someone is able to meet during the day, or I will push them to wed or friday(afternoons, when I am out anyway).. I have been told that during the day and in the afternoon is a bad time to call (no one home, waste of time, waste of list...etc) but what else am I going to do? Build the "GREATEST PORTFOLIO EVER" for clients or prospects I don't have yet?(Tried that years ago, it doesn't work)[quote=Squash1][quote=anonymous]11-1:30 “Daylight Admin”
This is one of the reasons that it is critical to hire staff as soon as possible. There are "daylight admin" duties that must take place. The time spent on these duties can crush a rep. Unless your time is worth less than $20/hour, someone must be hired to do this or you are hurting your income.[/quote] I find it hard to believe that someone has that much admin that you would need to hire someone to do it. I have friend who claims he spends his afternoons doing admin because cold calling doesn't work(EDJ guy, so he doorknocks after 4pm but doesn't actually do it) but whenever I stop by(I eat lunch by his office once a week) he is reading some magazine or looking at creating portfolios.. Admin is an bs excuse. How much admin is there once the account is set up? [/quote] First, I completely agree with you. There's not much admin after the account is set up... if all you're doing is selling investment accounts. If you're selling insurance-related services, the work BEGINS when you take the application. There's LOTS of admin work after that to get the damn thing issued. If you do anything for a larger company for employee benefits - that's a LOT of admin for very little pay. But it may be a sacrifice that's worthwhile for future planning opportunities. So, it depends on what you're doing and who you're doing it for. So I also agree that you should get help on these kinds of things as soon as you're able.I don’t do a lot of insurance(think it’s a waste of time and expensive), the only large company items I do is run 401K plans(mostly through fidelity and if they don’t have enough assets then hartford) but most of that stuff is automatic.
“I find it hard to believe that someone has that much admin that you would need to hire someone to do it.”
Is it a safe assumption that you don't have very many clients? Either that or you don't make much money. I'm not trying to be critical. It's just that if you do have a lot of clients, the admin work adds up. If you make a decent buck, it's easy to see that even if the admin work doesn't take that many hours, it still pays to have someone to do it. It's a pretty simple equation. The time spent on admin work is time that can be spent on money producing activities. The time spent on money making activities pays us handsomely. Do yourself a favor, divide your income by the number of kept appointments. How much money do you make per appointment? (I'm not looking for a response.) You should be able to see that hiring help will pay for itself by just keeping a couple of more appoinments a week. In fact, the difference is much bigger. The reason is that every new client means more money this year AND more money in every year in the future along with more referrals. The other part of the equation is simply about quality of life. If someone just averages 1 hour of admin work a day, wouldn't it be nice to work an hour less every day?"I don’t do a lot of insurance(think it’s a waste of time and expensive), "
Can you please clarify this? Is it a waste of your time and expensive for you? Is it a waste of your client's time and expensive for them? Do you recommend that client's don't protect themselves? Do you just ignore the subject because it's not how you make your money? Do you tell your clients that it's important, but it's not something that you do, so you send them elsewhere?I don't have a lot of clients, around 150, but assets equalling $46million. Gross Production last year of $450K, so nowhere near the top of this forum, but enough for me(average 76% net).
I refer all my insurance to a local guy who refers all his investment clients to me. So by it's a waste of time and expensive, I meant for me, I focus on the investments(which require very little paperwork after the initial plan) and I refer the insurance to another guy, and insurance is his only focus.
If I was to do insurance, it would be a pain, because of the excess paperwork, and having to go outside of my b/d to get it done(So yes expensive because I would have to hire someone to fulltime to keep up with that type of stuff, which isn't worth it to me.)
I know the income from insurance could boost my income and production and cover the extra person, but then I lose a great referral source, so it would net out at about the same I am doing now or less)
Squash, I think that you are doing it in a smart way. A buddy of mine is on the insurance side of the same deal. He makes a lot of money from the insurance sales that he gets. His investment guy gathers a lot of extra assets. They are both very happy about it. Doing just one thing cuts down on lots of the complication of the business.
[quote=anonymous]"I don’t do a lot of insurance(think it’s a waste of time and expensive), "
Can you please clarify this? Is it a waste of your time and expensive for you? Is it a waste of your client's time and expensive for them? Do you recommend that client's don't protect themselves? Do you just ignore the subject because it's not how you make your money? Do you tell your clients that it's important, but it's not something that you do, so you send them elsewhere?[/quote]I don't sell food, even though people need it. I don't even tell my clients that it's important to eat. Am I a bad person?
That is awesome…
"Am I a bad person? "
Bobby/Hank, Based upon your history of posts hereand your site combined with getting kicked off of the Top Gun site for your continued racist comments, I think that it would be fair to assume that you are probably a bad person regardless of your food recommendations.[quote=anonymous]"Am I a bad person? "
Bobby/Hank, Based upon your history of posts hereand your site combined with getting kicked off of the Top Gun site for your continued racist comments, I think that it would be fair to assume that you are probably a bad person regardless of your food recommendations.[/quote]
Probably so. How are things in California?
[quote=bjacobus]
My line for getting appointments is "I am usually out meeting with clients in the afternoon, would it be alright if I stopped by to shake your hand and drop off a few ideas that have worked for some of my clients, next time I'm in your neighborhood? They ususally say that would be fine, [/quote] Based on my experience, this line is money to close the appointment Also, thanks Anon for suggesting to close the appointment over the phone. After you chit chat with them about the markets or whatever, you say something like: "I am usually out meeting with clients in the afternoon, would it be alright if I stopped by to introduce myself and drop off a few ideas that have worked for some of my clients, next time I'm in your neighborhood?" (prospect) Sure you can stop by some time.... "Great, are you going to be around tomorrow at 2?" I think a close like this works because it is pretty casual up front and it is an easy way to say "yes" but you follow through by asking for an actual commitment. I call mostly businesses and business people and this works well with them too.Works like a charm. Good feedback on setting an acutal time. After reading this post I realized that I am actually giving the prospect another opportunity to say no, and creating another call to them from me...which I may not be able to get in touch with them.
From now on I am going to tweak the line to say, I was planning on being out there on Tuesday...instead of "can I call you next time I'm in your neighborhood." Much more efficient.[quote=Baba Booey]
Works like a charm. Good feedback on setting an acutal time. After reading this post I realized that I am actually giving the prospect another opportunity to say no, and creating another call to them from me…which I may not be able to get in touch with them.
From now on I am going to tweak the line to say, I was planning on being out there on Tuesday...instead of "can I call you next time I'm in your neighborhood." Much more efficient.[/quote]Fascinating.
Again. Thank you Hank.
I want to break into the biz. I’ve been planning on doing it after college which I’m graduating from in a few months. I’ve done sales for a few years, but this past year I’ve been cold calling prospects for car dealerships soliciting them to purchase a new car.
At first I hated it but now its not too bad. I make between 500 to 700+ calls a day, depending on my shift. I typically get about 10 to 20% of the people on the phone and the rest are voicemails. Out of that percentage I get anywhere from 1 to 8 appointments a day. And lately my appointments have sold on average 7 cars a month for various dealerships. Do you’ll think this will be valuable experience?
It seems to me based on this forum that cold calling is more efficient than door knocking.
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