Cold Calling Road to10 Million AUM. Journey Begins 4/30/12

Apr 29, 2012 10:06 pm

Received my number at a Major Wirehouse back in January.  Definitely inspired by posts of the Judge and Bond Guy.  Congrats to Long Shot and All the Way as they are well on their way to building a great book of business.

After 3 months of my ramp-up period I have mixed results regarding production.  I have moved over assets from family/ friends network to keep me ahead of my hurdles so far.  The majority of my prospecting during the day has been from cold calling residentials regarding retirement planning/ distribution strategy.  I feel like I have been getting in front of qualified people and seeing statements.  However, I feel that my prospect pipeline is low and I am not getting as many appointments I need.  In a typical day, I feel that if I make 300 dials to residentials my contact average is 28 per day.  I need to step up my daily contacts while forming a repeatable sales process to achieve the "full mass"

It seems like the minimum contacts you need per day is 50.  What I would like to do is really focus on making these contact numbers every day by mixing in business owners and residentials.  For the business owners I will lead with a Municipal Bond Fund that is yielding over 7%.  From there, I will get the conversation rolling regarding investments and ask about IRA's, outside brokerage accounts, job transition etc.  If interested I will qualify for 50K as the muni bond minimum investment.  I will stay with the retirement distribution strategy opener for the residentials.  I purchased a lead list for the residentials, age 55-70, 250K+ investable.

Daily Goals:

In the Office by 7AM.  Dialing by 745AM.

50 Contacts per day comes first.

2 days a week call residentials from 6PM-8PM.  Most likely Tuesday and Wednesdays.

Weekly Goals:

Minimum of 200 contacts per week which results in  20 prospects and 2 accounts of over 50K.

Monthly Goals:

800 contacts per month.  80 prospects in pipeline.  8 accounts which will range from 400K-800K AUM per month.

Essentially, I took this gameplan and these numbers from the Judge 2007 post.  It's a great post about a gameplan of "needing to make it with a 6 month window."  It essentially calls for making 300 contacts a week with a mutual fund you know inside and out and qualifying for 50K.  I'm lucky my back is not against the wall, however, I really want to step up my production and get assets in from STRANGERS.

Any feedback and questions are appreciated.  I will be posting Daily Contatcs, Prospects Added,  Meetings Booked (with statements).  Hopefully the accountability will push me on the Off-Days in addition to getting some good discussion going

Apr 30, 2012 12:06 am

Murdoc,

Great post, wellcome on-board.....your game plan is solid.....post activities and go for it...will be following your posts. No doubt you will do great.....stick to your pan and the rest will fall into place.....excellent post

All The Way

Apr 30, 2012 8:35 pm

Your new plan is night and day better than your old one that didn’t work. Prospect with a product you believe in and pound it with laser focus. Be the disqualifier when you call. And, leave the asset allocation yo-yo meetings to your wire managers.

May 1, 2012 1:29 am

Day 1 in the books.  Long day as I had  a doctor appointment in the morning.  Got to the phones by 11AM and hammered away late.

Contacts: 50

Prospects: 2

Meetings Booked: 0

 A couple more prospects would have been nice, but oh well out of my control.

Found a nice prospect that has over 500K investable, led with the Munis...got good discussion going.  Agreed to email information, said to call in two weeks.

Any thoughts on their sales process from initial call, to information set, to followup call ask for meeting?  I usually ask for a meeting on the first call if there is decent dialogue.  Usually they  resort to being "too busy to meet", yet would like to see the information  After an initial email/hard copy is sent, at what point are you following up to ask for the appointment.

All the way and King Bobby- appreciate the kind words. 

May 1, 2012 12:07 pm

Murdoc,

You're off to a flying start, keep them contacts going, very inspiring your thread......keep dialing and posting, will be checking in on your posts daily.

All The Way

May 1, 2012 1:38 pm

Murdoc,

Very nice Day 1.  Looking forward to reading you posts and hearing of your (assured) successes.

I'm starting month 4 of production... similar situation, Murdoc- had some quick clients to get me off the ground, but now need a steady pipeline of prospects to convert to clients.  Cold calling is the only logical choice (insert posts of Bond Guy and Judge).  Been at it for 1 1/2 months and having small successes (2 accounts around 100k).

Echoing Murdoc's need to better transition the "good vibes cold call" to the appointment. All ideas appreciated.

Keep up the good work!  I'll be following your posts.

Best,

LtC

May 2, 2012 12:47 am

DAY 2 in the books.  Got the 50 contacts in.  Only 1 prospect today.

Tough day, a lot of work.  Just focusing on the inputs.  Not a lot to report, back to the phones tomorrow.

May 2, 2012 6:37 pm

Inspiring stuff Murdoc.  Keep it up and good things should happen.  I plan on following your progress.  Good luck!

May 3, 2012 1:34 am

Just Wrapped up Day 3.  Fell a hair short on the 50 contacts.  However was able to qualify 5 propspects each with 100K for Muni.  Happy the numbers fell into place today after a dry one yesterday

Contacts: 47

Prospects Added: 5

Not sure what the results will bring, but I have never added to the pipeline this much in this short time. 

May 4, 2012 12:21 am

Looking Good for the Weekly Goal of 200.  Made 50 contacts today with 2 prospects. 

Tomorrow I am going to make some calls in the morning, wrap up some Admin, be out in this nice weather by 2PM.  Will post tomorrow with the Final Week 1 Numbers.

Contacts: 50

Prospects: 2

Meetings: 0

May 4, 2012 4:35 pm

Just finished up this mornings calls.  Was able to add 1 new prospect on 15 contacts

Weekly Numbers

Contacts: 200+

Prospects: 11

Appointments: 0

Going to make callbacks on Tue and Wednesday to get the appointments with statements.  If I do not get a hold of them on Tue/ Wed I will try again on Thursday to get them on the phone.  Going to get a handle on managaing the pipeline and being able to peg one way or another.

Same strategy for next week, lets get another 200 and add to the pipeline...the rest should start to work out

May 4, 2012 9:01 pm

Murdoc,

That's a good week. Now....focuss on getting them in for the meetings, Call backs are key, there's some dead wood in there, find it and gt it off your call back list. There;s a meeting or 2 or 3 in there, find them....there's good prospects in there, find out what they are looking for and drip.

Also, work this coming week on booking1-2 meetings straight off the bat on the cold calls....you can do it and your activities this week show it. Book the meetings.........keep it up....well done!!!

All The Way

May 5, 2012 7:07 am
Murdoc:

Day 1 in the books.  Long day as I had  a doctor appointment in the morning.  Got to the phones by 11AM and hammered away late.

Contacts: 50

Prospects: 2

Meetings Booked: 0

 A couple more prospects would have been nice, but oh well out of my control.

Found a nice prospect that has over 500K investable, led with the Munis…got good discussion going.  Agreed to email information, said to call in two weeks.

 

Any thoughts on their sales process from initial call, to information set, to followup call ask for meeting?  I usually ask for a meeting on the first call if there is decent dialogue.  Usually they  resort to being “too busy to meet”, yet would like to see the information  After an initial email/hard copy is sent, at what point are you following up to ask for the appointment.

All the way and King Bobby- appreciate the kind words. 

I’ll second what All The Way said. Don’t wait too long and on the second call you should be going for the business, if you didn’t on the first. (Or appointment of course) If it’s a product out of inventory, let them know it’s not going to last. Now or never… If its something like a fund, ask them what they think of the yield or returns and then give them options. (share class etc) Let them decide, then tell them your process for doing business.

If it’s not a yes, find out if it’s a component of the product (maturity, rating, starts with the letter R) or if it’s the asset class in general and find what they want. Have a list a questions available to steer you in the right direction. Doubful you’ll need to look at them, but it’ll put your mind at ease. Any other answer, send them on their way and find somebody that will be a yes. Statements are nice, but don’t get too carried away as most people have zero interest in this, plenty of time to reveiw statements and go after other things after they’re in your camp and trust you more. KB

May 7, 2012 9:45 pm

Week 2 Underway:

Week 2/4  Day 1:

Contatcs: 50 

Propspects: 2

All the Way and King Bobby- Thank you for the insights.  WIll make the following adjustment for this week

After the initial interest on the first call, I will be working in the meeting script, "Great Mr/Mrs.____, what I would like to do is setup a time to see how we can incorporate the Bond Fund into your overall strategy."

If the feedback is positive I will try to set the appointment.  If no, then I will confirm the mailing info they wish to share.

Callbacks will start tomorrow to start working the pipeline.  Will post results and feedback. 

May 7, 2012 10:23 pm

Murdoc,

Sounds good.....as long as you get back to them sooner than later, and re-verify if they are the real thing.......myself...had a super day on the phones, booked 3 meetings  off the bat on the 1st cold call.

Lately, had been going through a dry patch on Monday's...so kind of compensates and brings the numbers back in line.

Murdoc...keep us posted on Tuesday's calls.....you got a winning plan on the go.....keep at it....

All The Way

May 8, 2012 11:02 pm

Mixed Day today with the Contacts and the Callbacks.  Running a little low with the energy,  Overall was able to grind through and keep the ball moving toward the weekly goal of 200 contacts.  Going to a baseball game with a client tonight...fell short of the 50.


Contacts: 25

New Propsects:  1

My existing pipeline had about 45 prospects dating back from January.  Took a hard look at the prospect pipeline and was able to eliminate some dead wood.  On the positive side, I was able to take 3 old prospects and pitch the muni at them.  They did seem interested and asked to see the summary, however, were hesitant about sitting face to face.  I sent them the email and put them back on next weeks callbacks.

Week 1 of the Campaign yielded 11 prospects to the pipeline.  I was able to eliminate 4 of them.  The remaining seven were unreachable or placed on a drip strategy.  Those that were placed on a drip strategy were requalified for money and a timeline of within 60 days.

This post is a little scattered so bear with me.  I will post a Week 2 and an overall summary by Saturday.

NOTES FROM CALLBACKS

Definitely received some good feedback from the prospects I talked to one week ago.  They remembered name and knew reason why I was following up.  The old prospects seemed more annoyed.  Definitely need to follow up with any new prospect within a few days to keep momentum. 

Meetings are relatively tough right now.  Still plenty of time this week.  Really going to focus on asking for commitment on the 1st call.  Simply sending the information is not "good enough".  Sending the summary should be a last option to keep the prospect saying "Yes"

Remainder of the Week

Get to the 200 by Saturday

Retry any missed prospects on Thursday to gain traction.

May 9, 2012 7:53 am
Murdoc:

On the positive side, I was able to take 3 old prospects and pitch the muni at them. They did seem interested and asked to see the summary, however, were hesitant about sitting face to face; I sent them the email and put them back on next weeks callbacks

Why do you need to sit face to face to sell a muni?

Also, if they want to buy, I sure wouldn’t wait a week.

May 9, 2012 11:25 am

Bobby

Can't close over the phone need to be in person.  Selling the muni is fine but prefer to get an idea of entire asset picture

May 10, 2012 12:35 am

[quote=Murdoc]

Bobby

Can't close over the phone need to be in person.  Selling the muni is fine but prefer to get an idea of entire asset picture

[/quote]

Can't close over the phone? I know that is not a firm policy if you are at a wirehouse. You can email paperwork that they can mail back with a check or drop off at yours, or a more convenient, office. Call them back tomorrow if you haven't already. Tell them the bonds are moving and ask if they want $50k. If not, why not? Find out what they want and are looking for? No money now, when will they have a CD due or a bonus from work? Get them as a client then work on the rest. Trying to move a boulder can be hard. But if you keep chipping and moving chunks, you will eventually have moved it all. Of course you want it all, but you cold called them. It's hard to get people to move all their money to a guy they just met. But if they have a CD that they just rolled over at .5% and you are offering something better, they will be willing to buy.
May 10, 2012 12:51 am

Murdoc,

Just read Hacksaw's reply and it makes a lot of sense. Sometimes it's seems a bit of a challenge to open on the phone. I used to do it years ago in England. All on the phone. If they are intrested, just ask for the business, along the lines of "you've done this before, right?". Soon enough you'll know if they are comfortable opening the account by phone, or if not, then book'em for a meeting in your office......or.....off the list they go.....or drip......no other outcomes.

You are working hard, have done well, seems receptive to trying things new.....that's wonderfull.....now......focuss on either opening the account on the phone or booking a meeting.....get good at that.....man....you'll be a Monster.....just keep trying to get better, next calls, open or book....go for broke champ.

There are tons of tips on this on the site.........good luck, really enjoy your posts.

All The Way

May 10, 2012 1:32 pm

Slacking a little from the Contacts, tough day with no new prospects.

Contacts: 35

Prospects: 0

Need to get in a solid 50 today to have a good shot at finishing the 200 for the week.  Time to get in front of these people.  Have a meeting today with an old cold call prospect- wish me luck.

A lot to take in from Hacksaws comments.  Definitely will take his suggestions to create that urgency. 

All the Way- you summed it up, get the account or get the meeting...go for broke

May 10, 2012 6:42 pm

Murdoc,

Keep up the good work.  Tough days come and go, but always remeber those days that you started with 30 dials, had 10+ contacts and a prospect or two!  It all evens out.

Agree with the comments of AtW and Hacksaw and you summed it up...

Go For Broke! (Possible young/rookie-broker mantra?)

Best,

LtC

May 12, 2012 7:14 pm

Been a busy week between proposals and meetings.  Some good and some bad, really need to organize and eliminate distractions to prioritize the 200 contacts.

Week 2 TOTALS

Contacts: 140

New Prospects: 7

Overall TOTALS

Contacts:363

Prospects: 18

Had 2 meetings this week, one from a referral and one from an older cold call.  Keeping fingers crossed.  Going to recharge for the upcoming week to hit that 200.  It takes a lot of energy to grind through the numbers to do it, but pretty much knew that going into this business.

Callbacks set for Tuesday and Wenesday.  Really working in for asking for the meeting or the order.

Great posts popping up all around on the previous threads.  Good luck to you guys this week 

May 14, 2012 10:59 pm

Just wrapped up a dry one

Contacts: 40

Prospects: 0

Hitting the callbacks tomorrow.  Time to grab a meeting from the pipeline.

May 15, 2012 2:29 pm

Murdoc,  Whats your dial to contact ratio so far?

May 15, 2012 6:16 pm

10:1 for residential

7:1 for business.

Usually can do 40-50 contacts with 300 dials

May 16, 2012 12:00 am

Just finished up.  Good progress with the callbacks.  Had a lady that said she wanted to meet in 2 weeks!  Couldnt lock her into a date.  Tenatively set up a time at her office.  Feels iffy, so call it a 0.5 Meeting.  Anyways, callbacks are getting stronger.

Got very good traction today with businesses 12-2:30, and Residentials from 5:30-7pm.

Anyone having luck with Saturdays.  Been doing 10-1pm.  Thoughts or experiences.

Contacts: 40

Prospects: 2

May 17, 2012 12:08 am

I think that this is the last saturday that I think will work with the summer but I have had pretty good luck. 

May 17, 2012 12:43 pm

Contacts: 40

Prospects: 1

Slow grind this week.  Hitting the second round of callbacks today

May 21, 2012 2:19 pm

Been a few days since the last post.  Here are the Week 3 Totals

Contacts: 166

Prospects: 4

Been using a list that is being overly-called on.  Time to find another list I suppose??

No real traction on the callbacks on Thursday and Friday.  One prospect asked to be called back on a very specific set of criteria for an individual bond.  Qualified him for 100K

TOTALS

Contacts: 500+

Prospects: 22

Meetings: 1

Thoughts:

Trying to hit 40 contacts  for Monday-Thursday.  50 contacts just seems a little of a stretch at this point, been falling behind in running proposals and other admin work.  I definitely need to tighten up the schedule and time management.  However, I want to shoot at realistic goals it feels here.  Or maybe I should just suck it up, drink more coffee and nail the 50!

Get in here early, hit the phone, ask for the meeting, ask for the order.  Pretty simple game I suppose.  Looking forward to a good 4th week

May 21, 2012 3:05 pm

I go for 25 contacts per day and 2 people added to my pipeline. I go for the order on the phone and if they don't want an order, I ask if I can send them some ideas on how they can increase their income (tax free) and add them to my pipline. If you're pitching muni bonds, what is the purpose of the first meeting? to meet you? I'll meet them when i bring out the paperwork and pick up the check.

I wasted three months going on meetings and getting no where.

May 22, 2012 1:09 am

"One prospect asked to be called back on a very specific set of criteria for an individual bond. Qualified him for 100K"
Find it. Call your bond desk. Give them the parameters and tell them you have someone who wants $100k of it. They will tell you if it’s available. If not, get the guys name and call him every week for a month asking him to check.

May 24, 2012 1:17 am

Updating on the Week 4 so far M-W

Contacts: 103

Prospects: 9

Just set a meeting for next week!  Booked Meetings are now at 2 for this month.  Prospect is working with another broker, looking for other investment ideas (yield, downside protection, etc).  Felt good on the phone, building the pipeline, getting the meeting was a nice bonus.  On to moving some assets soon.  Will keep you posted with week end reults 

May 29, 2012 11:05 pm

Finished With Week 4.

Contacts: 150

Prospects: 11

Just started a short week to kick off the next 4 week cycle.

Contacts:41

Prospects: 2

Have a nice meeting setup for tomorrow, will get an idea of the total assets uncovered.  Generated a total of 33 prospects for the first 4 weeks, of those 25 are still in the pipeline.  Still working on those for meetings/next steps

May 30, 2012 7:50 pm

Hey great work madoc, just wanted to ask you a few quick questions.

1) What is your pitch? Muni's or Portfolio reviews etc.

2) Are you calling businesses, or residentials?

3) If you're calling residents where did you get your lists

I know these questions may be too much to answer and you might not want to reveal some of your sources which is understandable, but what ever you're willing to share Id appreciate it.

May 30, 2012 11:23 pm

Just finished up today with a great meeting.  Walked through some strategies on the equity and fixed income side.  Munis was the opener to the conversation.  Prospect is working with 4 other brokers, loves the multiple angles on investment strategies. 

End result: asked for $1MM proposal...wish me luck.  Hopefully pounding these phones for the past 4 weeks really pays off.

Todays

Contacts: 25

Prospects: 1

Harkkam:  Some insights for you from getting my number in January 2012.

1)  I use retirement planning and munis for residentials and businesses respectively.  Most businesses owners are in a hurry, show them yield (greed) get the hook.  What is earning 0.2% interest at Savings and Loan and what is coming due in a CD??  Now we are talking

I think retirement planning is solid for a list of 59+.  However, I have found it tough to sell urgency.  If I'm lucky I am finding someone who is retiring this year.  I'll go through the retirement plan, lets say 500K.  Then they will say "Ok this looks good, I'll think this over and decide in December when I do leave."  My response "This analysis is based on the beginning of this year.  Why arent we doing this right now, its now April, you need to do this anyways."

Response:  "I want to sit on it a little longer I still might be working till ____"

In the end its a great account, has annuity potential in there, etc etc.  However, you still need a ton of PC's in the meantime.  What can I get my hands on in the 60-90 day window TOPS...thank you wirehouse structure

2)  I think there is success in contacting both residentials and businesses.  To hit the high contact goals you see on this message board, you need to be calling businesses.  It literally takes me most of my day calling from 8-6pm to get 50 contacts.  I think residentials in the numbers of 25-30 is a more accurate goal to shoot for.  Comments welcome on these numbers.  That Mystery Advisor script I think is pretty solid, that was posted on your thread.  A lot of it can be consolidated but I like the angles it has.

3)  Residentials I would buy lead lists.  Use the specific criteria you want with age, investable assets, zip code.  Make sure they have good refund policies and call the shit out of it.  I've been able to get almost a free list because of Bad Numbers Do not Calls, firms clients, etc  There are plenty of good references of list brokers on the site.

I think there are plenty of free sources for businesses.  Corporate Directories are gold...trying to get my hands on a couple.

Appreciate the comments and help i have received since end of April.  Looking forward to some big numbers for this month

May 31, 2012 12:43 am

Hey Murdoc.  Sounds like you are on the money.  I am a rookie too, and I do nothing but call and a few referrals are starting to pay off.  I am at 700% of my hurdles right now and starting to build a fee based foundation moving forward.  Good luck!

Aug 28, 2016 8:50 am

built a 500k practice and raised 32 million in 3 years… PM me for advice I live and breath this, and nothing I would rather do than help others succeed. As long as your not in my market!

Sep 1, 2016 1:05 pm

Murdoc, great post. I started with a national wirehouse a few weeks ago and have been hitting the phones hard however not having the success you have had. My lead list is similar to yours in age and investable assets for residentials. My biggest roadblock so far has been the dreaded “I have a financial advisor already. Not interested…click” My approach has been retirement planning and offering a second opinion. I have not tried leading with a product for residentials however I’ve had better success with the business owners being more open to listening. Any advice would be great.

Jun 4, 2017 10:42 pm

mama1212 wrote:

built a 500k practice and raised 32 million in 3 years... PM me for advice I live and breath this, and nothing I would rather do than help others succeed. As long as your not in my market!

@mama1212 How can we connect? I want to talk. Shoot me a message

Jun 14, 2017 1:53 pm

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Jun 14, 2017 2:00 pm

This is the newly Exxon Mobil Loan Company base in USA, they give out loans at 2% interest rate. Are you tired of seeking loans and Mortgages, have you been turned down constantly By your banks and other financial institutions, We offer any form of loan to individuals and corporate bodies at low interest rate. If you are interested in taking a loan, feel free to contact us today, we promise to offer you the best services ever. Just give us a try, because a trial will convince you. What are your Financial needs?

Do you need a business loan?

Do you need a personal loan?

Do you want to buy a car?

Do you want to refinance?

Do you need a mortgage loan?

Do you need a huge capital to start off your business proposal or expansion? Have you lost hope and you think there is no way out, and your financial burdens still persists?

Contact us via [email protected]

Oct 23, 2019 4:24 pm
Murdoc wrote:
Just finished up today with a great meeting. Walked through some strategies on the equity and fixed income side. Munis was the opener to the conversation. Prospect is working with 4 other brokers, loves the multiple angles on investment strategies.
End result: asked for $1MM proposal...wish me luck. Hopefully pounding these phones for the past 4 weeks really pays off.
Todays
Contacts: 25
Prospects: 1
Harkkam: Some insights for you from getting my number in January 2012.
1) I use retirement planning and munis for residentials and businesses respectively. Most businesses owners are in a hurry, show them yield (greed) get the hook. What is earning 0.2% interest at Savings and Loan and what is coming due in a CD?? Now we are talking
I think retirement planning is solid for a list of 59+. However, I have found it tough to sell urgency. If I'm lucky I am finding someone who is retiring this year. I'll go through the retirement plan, lets say 500K. Then they will say "Ok this looks good, I'll think this over and decide in December when I do leave." My response "This analysis is based on the beginning of this year. Why arent we doing this right now, its now April, you need to do this anyways."
Response: "I want to sit on it a little longer I still might be working till ____"
In the end its a great account, has annuity potential in there, etc etc. However, you still need a ton of PC's in the meantime. What can I get my hands on in the 60-90 day window TOPS...thank you wirehouse structure
2) I think there is success in contacting both residentials and businesses. To hit the high contact goals you see on this message board, you need to be calling businesses. It literally takes me most of my day calling from 8-6pm to get 50 contacts. I think residentials in the numbers of 25-30 is a more accurate goal to shoot for. Comments welcome on these numbers. That Mystery Advisor script I think is pretty solid, that was posted on your thread. A lot of it can be consolidated but I like the angles it has.
3) Residentials I would buy lead lists. Use the specific criteria you want with age, investable assets, zip code. Make sure they have good refund policies and call the shit out of it. I've been able to get almost a free list because of Bad Numbers Do not Calls, firms clients, etc There are plenty of good references of list brokers on the site.
I think there are plenty of free sources for businesses. Corporate Directories are gold...trying to get my hands on a couple.
Appreciate the comments and help i have received since end of April. Looking forward to some big numbers for this month
Are you still in the business? How're things going?!