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Jun 1, 2007 8:28 pm

[quote=BteamBomber]What do you do when there are fewer than 100 businesses within 20 miles of your town?  Many of these business owners are low net worth clients with not much potential.  I have my office in a working class community of commuters, most work at plants in the city miles away.  I've had some success through rollovers but am almost forced to work exclusively residentially.  Any suggestions Judge?[/quote]

cold call business outside your area. focus on a niche market or large company.

Jun 1, 2007 8:44 pm

[quote=Vin Diesel]

cold call business outside your area. focus on a niche market or large company.



[/quote]



How do you know anything about this? I thought bank brokers didn’t have to prospect??? Maybe you are an expert at knowing about things you have never done. You and Parachute are 6 or 8 of a kind.
Jun 1, 2007 9:24 pm

[quote=Oldproducer] [quote=Vin Diesel]

cold call business outside your area. focus on a niche market or large company.


[/quote]

How do you know anything about this? I thought bank brokers didn't have to prospect??? Maybe you are an expert at knowing about things you have never done. You and Parachute are 6 or 8 of a kind.[/quote]

i worked at a wirehouse for 5yrs. built a big book, then blew-up a book. so i know what it takes to raise assets at a wirehouse. i just don't have the energy to build a book all over again. and ive become accustomed to an expensive lifestyle.

Jun 1, 2007 9:24 pm

[quote=Vin Diesel]

[quote=BteamBomber]What do you do when there are fewer than 100 businesses within 20 miles of your town?  Many of these business owners are low net worth clients with not much potential.  I have my office in a working class community of commuters, most work at plants in the city miles away.  I've had some success through rollovers but am almost forced to work exclusively residentially.  Any suggestions Judge?[/quote]

cold call business outside your area. focus on a niche market or large company.

[/quote]

Don't you mean "wait for one of the tellers to give you a nod because someone deposited over $2,000 in their checking account then approach them and ask them why they're keeping such a high balance in their checking account and would they like to look at some other options"?

Jun 1, 2007 9:35 pm

[quote=Bobby Hull][quote=Vin Diesel]

[quote=BteamBomber]What do you do when there are fewer than 100 businesses within 20 miles of your town?  Many of these business owners are low net worth clients with not much potential.  I have my office in a working class community of commuters, most work at plants in the city miles away.  I've had some success through rollovers but am almost forced to work exclusively residentially.  Any suggestions Judge?[/quote]

cold call business outside your area. focus on a niche market or large company.

[/quote]

Don't you mean "wait for one of the tellers to give you a nod because someone deposited over $2,000 in their checking account then approach them and ask them why they're keeping such a high balance in their checking account and would they like to look at some other options"?

[/quote]

lol!  

Jun 1, 2007 9:58 pm

[quote=Vin Diesel][quote=Bobby Hull][quote=Vin Diesel]

[quote=BteamBomber]What do you do when there are fewer than 100 businesses within 20 miles of your town?  Many of these business owners are low net worth clients with not much potential.  I have my office in a working class community of commuters, most work at plants in the city miles away.  I've had some success through rollovers but am almost forced to work exclusively residentially.  Any suggestions Judge?[/quote]

cold call business outside your area. focus on a niche market or large company.

[/quote]

Don't you mean "wait for one of the tellers to give you a nod because someone deposited over $2,000 in their checking account then approach them and ask them why they're keeping such a high balance in their checking account and would they like to look at some other options"?

[/quote]

lol!  

[/quote]

I didn't know you bank kids knew how to laugh.

Jun 1, 2007 10:27 pm

[quote=Bobby Hull][quote=Vin Diesel][quote=Bobby Hull][quote=Vin Diesel]

[quote=BteamBomber]What do you do when there are fewer than 100 businesses within 20 miles of your town?  Many of these business owners are low net worth clients with not much potential.  I have my office in a working class community of commuters, most work at plants in the city miles away.  I've had some success through rollovers but am almost forced to work exclusively residentially.  Any suggestions Judge?[/quote]

cold call business outside your area. focus on a niche market or large company.

[/quote]

Don't you mean "wait for one of the tellers to give you a nod because someone deposited over $2,000 in their checking account then approach them and ask them why they're keeping such a high balance in their checking account and would they like to look at some other options"?

[/quote]

lol!  

[/quote]

I didn't know you bank kids knew how to laugh.

[/quote]

what can i say, it's friday and im leaving for happy hour

Jun 1, 2007 10:33 pm

[quote=Vin Diesel][quote=Bobby Hull][quote=Vin Diesel][quote=Bobby Hull][quote=Vin Diesel]

[quote=BteamBomber]What do you do when there are fewer than 100 businesses within 20 miles of your town?  Many of these business owners are low net worth clients with not much potential.  I have my office in a working class community of commuters, most work at plants in the city miles away.  I've had some success through rollovers but am almost forced to work exclusively residentially.  Any suggestions Judge?[/quote]

cold call business outside your area. focus on a niche market or large company.

[/quote]

Don't you mean "wait for one of the tellers to give you a nod because someone deposited over $2,000 in their checking account then approach them and ask them why they're keeping such a high balance in their checking account and would they like to look at some other options"?

[/quote]

lol!  

[/quote]

I didn't know you bank kids knew how to laugh.

[/quote]

what can i say, it's friday and im leaving for happy hour

[/quote]

Don't drink and drive. You might hit a bump and spill your drink.

Jun 2, 2007 4:08 pm

Alot of these companies have automated directories now, btw.  So you call the main line, go to the "Search by [first/last] name" option and just tap #.

Happy dialing!

Jun 3, 2007 4:31 am

Judge,

Great post and thanks for the direction. For you or any of the vets who may have an opinion I have this question.
If the company you are calling is a small to medium company, and there is no corporate directory available online or in general - how do you go about getting to the head honchos? When you dial in, how do you know who to ask for?

Jun 3, 2007 4:59 am

Another question to Judge or other vets on the board.

When Judge says: "You should be looking to speak with a minimum of 50 new people a day..." are these people that I should consider real prospects or are they just people that pickup on the many dials I make? I don't want to cheat myself on these calls and consider someone apart of this 50 minimum when in reality they are junk.

Jun 3, 2007 11:25 am

Before you make (any) calls, you should have a list of people that includes their name/number/address/company at the very least.  If you are utilizing the yellow pages and asking to "speak with the owner" the book should be thrown at you.  When I say corporate directories, I mean large established companies that have thousands' of employess.  If you are cold calling small businesses, you should really be looking to speak with the owner. They should be in the best position to invest and they can always refer you to some of their interested employees after they become a client of yours'.

With regard to your other question, a "contact" is considered completed when you actually speak to the intended person.  Doesn't matter how long the call lasted.

Jun 3, 2007 11:39 pm

If you prospect properly, you will have the following infomration prior to making a call: name, direct dial (to get past gatekeepers), firm, and address. If you get it done properly you should also have age and approximate income. Think about all that stuff Al Granum taught to the life insurance industry in his book Building a Financial Services Clientleavailable at nationalunderwriter.com

Jun 4, 2007 3:37 pm

Go to your library and tell the reference librarian that you would like a list of local businesses with the owner's name and phone number.

My local library has a book that lists all the businesses in the state, subdivided by city.  Not all the listings have an owners name so I skip those because there are probably 80% that do have it.

Also, your local library might have a membership with referenceusa.com.  Ask the reference librarian if she is familiar with it and whether or not you can access it from your office computer.  You may need a library card.

Jun 9, 2007 5:04 pm

Questions regarding how to acquire corporate directories of large companies without paying a service has been asked several times on this thread…

Jun 9, 2007 8:32 pm

If the judge says you want to speak with 50 people a day, does he mean actually speak with them or dial 50 people a day? Because the law of numbers basically says taht to talk to 50 people per day would require you dial 500 people per day.

Jun 9, 2007 9:15 pm

BigRed, you are incorrect.   This is a good approximation of my phoning numbers:

40 cold calls = 6 reached = 2 set
4 calls to referrals =3 reached = 2 set

Moral of the story: Learn to prospect and phoning won't have to be a big part of your day.

Jun 10, 2007 2:55 am

Those numbers are very high. I haven’t began cold calling yet, but some of my-coworkers say it never works. One guy did a couple hundred with no success. I would project the numbers of cold call to client as less than 1%. But then again, I wouldn’t know…

Jun 10, 2007 3:11 am

Closer, of course, it is less than 1%.  Otherwise, you could make 500 calls a day and pick up 5 new clients.  After a week, you'd have 25 new clients and after a year have 1,250.  That would be one hell of a year!

I call to get an appointment, not to get a client.

Jun 10, 2007 3:25 am

[quote=Closer]One guy did a couple hundred with no success.[/quote]

Someone who is truly successful at cold calling with probably be making a couple hundred calls A DAY when they are starting out…not just making that first 200 and then deciding it doesn’t work.