Skip navigation

Essential Cold Calling Techniques

or Register to post new content in the forum

101 RepliesJump to last post

 

Comments

  • Allowed HTML tags: <em> <strong> <blockquote> <br> <p>

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Feb 6, 2009 3:07 pm

So Hedge give us your complete script, I would like to try it vs what I am using now if it is working so well…

Feb 6, 2009 7:31 pm
hedge212:

[quote=B24][quote=hedge212][quote=schlemoc]I’m looking forward to the addition to this script since I am unfamiliar with cold calling.  I always called people who I had an idea of their needs.

  Cold calling IMO, is an essential part of the business. I've seen, and landed MONSTER clients from cold calling.  [/quote]   Said the man that works for a lead list company.....[/quote]   haha...  ...   That's so off, but hilarious.  Said the man who's seen and landed MONSTER clients from cold calling..[/quote]   I'll call your landing a "MONSTER client from cold calling", and raise you dropping off a monster from eating some warm mashed potatoes last night.
Feb 6, 2009 7:41 pm
SometimesNowhere:

[quote=hedge212][quote=B24][quote=hedge212][quote=schlemoc]I’m looking forward to the addition to this script since I am unfamiliar with cold calling.  I always called people who I had an idea of their needs.

  Cold calling IMO, is an essential part of the business. I've seen, and landed MONSTER clients from cold calling.  [/quote]   Said the man that works for a lead list company.....[/quote]   haha...  ...   That's so off, but hilarious.  Said the man who's seen and landed MONSTER clients from cold calling..[/quote]   I'll call your landing a "MONSTER client from cold calling", and raise you dropping off a monster from eating some warm mashed potatoes last night.[/quote]
Feb 6, 2009 7:44 pm
SometimesNowhere:

[quote=hedge212][quote=B24][quote=hedge212][quote=schlemoc]I’m looking forward to the addition to this script since I am unfamiliar with cold calling.  I always called people who I had an idea of their needs.

  Cold calling IMO, is an essential part of the business. I've seen, and landed MONSTER clients from cold calling.  [/quote]   Said the man that works for a lead list company.....[/quote]   haha...  ...   That's so off, but hilarious.  Said the man who's seen and landed MONSTER clients from cold calling..[/quote]   I'll call your landing a "MONSTER client from cold calling", and raise you dropping off a monster from eating some warm mashed potatoes last night.[/quote]   What??  Your mind is like a parachute jr, if it doesn't open it doesn't work... 
Feb 8, 2009 5:57 pm

I agree with Hedge- cold calling works and will continue to work forever. There is a reason why wirehouses do not greet the average public like “Talk to Chuck” or Fidelity on every street corner in the city welcoming Tom, Dick and Harry. The wirehouses give off a prestigious image- which is GREAT; however, those prospects with decent lump-sum pensions and large 401(k) Rollovers who have never spoken with an advisor would be more than intimidated to “walk-in” to a wirehouse and ask to speak with an FA. The call will break that ice if you filter and find these prospects.

  The problem today is- no one is doing ANYTHING with regards to decision making- it seems everyone is sitting the sidelines waiting for a official "OK" from somebody-anybody who states you can work with an unfamiliar person again and open the doors to trust.   Anyone agree or disagree?? Feedback?   Built my entire book from cold calling- have enormous success in today's market acquiring prospects, but the decision making has never been more slow or at a point of avoidance like we are witnessing today.   Thoughts?        
Feb 9, 2009 3:13 am

[quote=whosthis]The wirehouses give off a prestigious image- which is GREAT; however, those prospects with decent lump-sum pensions and large 401(k) Rollovers who have never spoken with an advisor would be more than intimidated to “walk-in” to a wirehouse and ask to speak with an FA. The call will break that ice if you filter and find these prospects.

  The problem today is- no one is doing ANYTHING with regards to decision making- it seems everyone is sitting the sidelines waiting for a official "OK" from somebody-anybody who states you can work with an unfamiliar person again and open the doors to trust.   Anyone agree or disagree?? Feedback?   Built my entire book from cold calling- have enormous success in today's market acquiring prospects, but the decision making has never been more slow or at a point of avoidance like we are witnessing today.   Thoughts?     [/quote]   I love that first part.  Wirehouses have a prestigous image.  Yeah - that is precisely why you are getting resistance from new prospects.  There is no wirehouse out there that isn't in jeopardy of completely folding.   Chuck and Fidelity ain't got to worry about that.   Cold calling works.  Kinda like walking is a good way to get from NY to LA.  It's worked for years and will always work - only you have to be as dumb as Forrest Gump to do it.
Feb 9, 2009 5:41 am

[quote=brandnewadvisor][quote=whosthis]The wirehouses give off a prestigious image- which is GREAT; however, those prospects with decent lump-sum pensions and large 401(k) Rollovers who have never spoken with an advisor would be more than intimidated to “walk-in” to a wirehouse and ask to speak with an FA. The call will break that ice if you filter and find these prospects.

  The problem today is- no one is doing ANYTHING with regards to decision making- it seems everyone is sitting the sidelines waiting for a official "OK" from somebody-anybody who states you can work with an unfamiliar person again and open the doors to trust.   Anyone agree or disagree?? Feedback?   Built my entire book from cold calling- have enormous success in today's market acquiring prospects, but the decision making has never been more slow or at a point of avoidance like we are witnessing today.   Thoughts?     [/quote]   I love that first part.  Wirehouses have a prestigous image.  Yeah - that is precisely why you are getting resistance from new prospects.  There is no wirehouse out there that isn't in jeopardy of completely folding.   Chuck and Fidelity ain't got to worry about that.   Cold calling works.  Kinda like walking is a good way to get from NY to LA.  It's worked for years and will always work - only you have to be as dumb as Forrest Gump to do it.[/quote]   It sounds like you're affraid to pick up the phone.  How would you suggest a rookie meet new prospects if they have no clients?  It always sounds good to build a business off referrals, personal introductions, networking, seminars....but it's all BS if you're starting from scratch.  Those methods of business building are best used after you actually have a business.    The bottom line is rookies have to pick up the phone and introduce themselves to people they don't know.  Don't hate.
Feb 9, 2009 4:09 pm

[quote=Baba Booey][quote=brandnewadvisor][quote=whosthis]The wirehouses give off a prestigious image- which is GREAT; however, those prospects with decent lump-sum pensions and large 401(k) Rollovers who have never spoken with an advisor would be more than intimidated to “walk-in” to a wirehouse and ask to speak with an FA. The call will break that ice if you filter and find these prospects.

  The problem today is- no one is doing ANYTHING with regards to decision making- it seems everyone is sitting the sidelines waiting for a official "OK" from somebody-anybody who states you can work with an unfamiliar person again and open the doors to trust.   Anyone agree or disagree?? Feedback?   Built my entire book from cold calling- have enormous success in today's market acquiring prospects, but the decision making has never been more slow or at a point of avoidance like we are witnessing today.   Thoughts?     [/quote]   I love that first part.  Wirehouses have a prestigous image.  Yeah - that is precisely why you are getting resistance from new prospects.  There is no wirehouse out there that isn't in jeopardy of completely folding.   Chuck and Fidelity ain't got to worry about that.   Cold calling works.  Kinda like walking is a good way to get from NY to LA.  It's worked for years and will always work - only you have to be as dumb as Forrest Gump to do it.[/quote]   It sounds like you're affraid to pick up the phone.  How would you suggest a rookie meet new prospects if they have no clients?  It always sounds good to build a business off referrals, personal introductions, networking, seminars....but it's all BS if you're starting from scratch.  Those methods of business building are best used after you actually have a business.    The bottom line is rookies have to pick up the phone and introduce themselves to people they don't know.  Don't hate.[/quote]   I couldn't agree more bababooey..  It's essential to get on the phone to  build a business in the beginning.  Like you said, I don't see many alternatives in the beginning.     For the beginner search the posts and topics, there's tons of great ideas for prospecting and cold calling.   Look how far Chris Gardner from Pursuit of Happyness has come from cold calling.  "Tell him cold calling doesn't work".  People who make idiotic replies, saying cold calling don't work, are smurfs in the business, who project out there own weak insecurities, and inner conflict onto posts and topics, because they don't have what it takes, and try and make themselves feel better, by putting other peoples advice and experiences down..   Again, to quote the Pursuit of Happyness  " People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you, you can't do it".  "You want something; go out and get it, period". If that means cold calling make it happen.  Here, I posted the link to that segment in the movie...    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_yW3152Ffc&feature=related   My advice if you wanna be successful in the business, stand on the shoulders of giants. Be very wary, taking advice from rookies in the business, or brandnewadvisors..  
Feb 9, 2009 11:59 pm

Cold calling is great for the uncreative mind.



People who cold call are hard-working and intelligent, just uncreative. There are myriad of ways to build a book of business.



To each his own I say. Although I still think knocking on doors is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen, done or heard of as far as business building.



“Um, excuse me, but I’m building a business in the area and I’m out to meet my neighbors. Won’t you be, won’t you be… please won’t you be… my neighbor,”

Feb 10, 2009 1:42 am

Could you tell me again how it doesn't take creativity to capture a prospect's attention when they are about to hang up on you, and turn them into a client? I respectfully disagree.

It takes creativity and it takes skill.    If there is one thing it ain't, it ain't luck when someone builds their business cold calling.   
Feb 10, 2009 2:01 am

Where in my post did I say that it did not take skill, or that it was luck building a business cold calling?



I believe what I said was that people who cold-called were hard-working and intelligent.



Listen, I’ve cold-called and built a part of my business doing it. The Bill Good way. You write a script, if they are not interested, YOU get THEM off of the phone.



Very little creativity. Almost none. It is a numbers game. It is a VERY uncreative process.



Please walk me through the creative process as it relates to cold calling. I’m pretty sure that somebody who cold calls and tries to get creative on every call will soon find themselves unemployed.



Feb 10, 2009 4:26 am

Who cares about creativity.  It’s about opening accounts, bottom line.  I’m the most boring MFer around, but it works.

Feb 10, 2009 5:41 am

Moraen… what are your other methods??

Feb 10, 2009 1:58 pm

I’m sure some of these have been re-hashed over and over. But here goes:



There are two worlds: the broker world and RIA world.



I will point out some methods in each that work other than cold calling.



Broker world - find attorneys and CPAs (not CPAs and attorneys with established practices). Try to find recent graduates who are also looking to grow their businesses. This can be difficult as most attorneys and CPAs don’t know the first thing about marketing.   Before you try to flame, notice I said “most” not all.



Get a will from them, or send a friend or family member to get a will from them - this builds trust. And makes them want to do a good job too.



- Become and expert on anything. I don’t care what it is. Helping divorced men deal with the amount of alimony they are paying, helping divorced women deal with managing finances. Helping newlyweds merge their finances. Something that does not necessarily have anything to do with investments. TELL people this is what you are good at. The more obscure, the better. You don’t want to be like everybody else.



- Ask your friends to come to seminars. If they are young that’s great. Ask them to bring a grandparent or parent to a seminar. Grandparents love spending time with their grandkids. They probably don’t get to do it often when the grandkids are grown up. Instant access to the older crowd. If you have ten friends bring grandparents, that’s a lot of old people at a seminar.



- Find people you work well with and capitalize on it. I work well with professional women, so the majority of my clients are professional women. You may work best with biker guys, or plumbers. What do you have a background in? Did you used to work for a general contractor in college? Talk to them. Go ask if you can help out on the weekends. Tell them, “you miss getting your hands dirty”. If you’ve never worked, what about your fraternity? Or bong smoking group? Does someone know someone in a band?



- If you have no friends, no family and have never worked - cold call.



RIA world - All of the above, but you can also write articles.



- Blog on websites



- Create a neat, FINRA - compliant, interactive website



- Use social networking sites and Twitter to drive traffic to your media (articles, podcasts, etc.)



- Write a book, write an article (once again, become and expert)



- Create brochures that brand your business



- Sponsor a road race. Give t-shirts out at a road race. Any kind of event.



- Volunteer to help people who are having trouble with their finances (bankruptcy, debt, etc.) This gets you in front of some people who are NOT having trouble with their finances and they look at you as a huge help and a nice person.



- Write a newsletter



- Volunteer at hospitals to help families that are having difficulty paying their medical bills (usually terminally ill patients).



- Be controversial



- Be controversial, but true to your own thoughts and feelings. Find something you don’t like about the industry and set out to change it… could be anything. This separates you from “the rest of them”.



- I hear people complain about Suze Orman and some of the other people who are using mass media - don’t get left out. Make a creative podcast that allows you to make an impact.



Once again, I am not all of that creative. These are things I thought of in ten minutes. You can’t tell me that people who can come up with some colorful posts on this board can’t be creative enough to find alternative methods of engaging prospects.



I will reiterate - cold calling works. It’s not for me and I have generated much more business from utilizing relationships and skills I’ve gained in other places in my life.



Think about it.

Feb 10, 2009 3:29 pm

After reading that I think I’m gonna stick to cold calling.

Feb 10, 2009 3:38 pm

Of course you will. And that’s fine. I never said that my techniques are for everybody. But neither is cold calling.



And I’ve only used about half of those.



What I’m saying is that there are alternatives to cold calling. But people don’t want to use them. Hell, I would assume that half the people on this board have taken a marketing class at some point in their lives.



I’ll stick to what works for me, you stick with what works for you. All I’m offering is a little insight into how I work.



My methods have allowed me to grow my business with very little effort. And the things I do are fun.



For example: I gave away five coffee mugs at a road race for Autism speaks. Spoke with two trust attorneys. This was two weeks ago. Since then, we’ve begun work on three special needs trusts.



I spent two hours three miles from my house. I gave away five coffee mugs and now I will be earning close to $20k in fees. Not a bad two hours. I could have spent that time on the phone and POSSIBLY got some business. Spinning my wheels, boring myself to death.



Whatever works for you. Just don’t tell everybody that they HAVE to do it your way.

Feb 10, 2009 5:00 pm

How did you pick which five people to give the mugs to? Or were there only five people at the race?

Feb 10, 2009 5:58 pm

Why would an RIA have to create a “FINRA-compliant” website?

Feb 10, 2009 6:51 pm
BondGuy:

How did you pick which five people to give the mugs to? Or were there only five people at the race?

  Thats hilarious.....  ...  lol....
Feb 10, 2009 7:07 pm
Moraen:

Of course you will. And that’s fine. I never said that my techniques are for everybody. But neither is cold calling.

And I’ve only used about half of those.

What I’m saying is that there are alternatives to cold calling. But people don’t want to use them. Hell, I would assume that half the people on this board have taken a marketing class at some point in their lives.

I’ll stick to what works for me, you stick with what works for you. All I’m offering is a little insight into how I work.

My methods have allowed me to grow my business with very little effort. And the things I do are fun.

For example: I gave away five coffee mugs at a road race for Autism speaks. Spoke with two trust attorneys. This was two weeks ago. Since then, we’ve begun work on three special needs trusts.

I spent two hours three miles from my house. I gave away five coffee mugs and now I will be earning close to $20k in fees. Not a bad two hours. I could have spent that time on the phone and POSSIBLY got some business. Spinning my wheels, boring myself to death.

Whatever works for you. Just don’t tell everybody that they HAVE to do it your way.

    Nobodys saying that cold calling is the only way moraen..  I think the post is for those who cold call and would like to learn some different techniques for their arsenal.    I'm sorry brother, but to say that "cold calling is for the uncreative mind" is just downright idiotic. Cold calling is one of , if not the hardest ways to prospect, although it has the potential to yield you the highest returns in the least amount of time and $$$.  To really master cold calling, takes an incredible amount of creativity.    The quickest way from A-Z is a straight line...  FROM MY EXPERIENCE , cold calling has been that straight line.  Especially for rookies in the business.