Jones' Survey
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I performed my survey yesterday and overall it went well. I found that of those people that declined to participate, did not want to give their first names as asked on the survey. For all the Jonsers who door knock, how do you overcome a prospect who doesn't want to reveal any personal information?
You move on. Trust me, there are plenty of fish in the pond. Don’t get trapped into focusing on individuals at this stage of the game. Get as many people as possible that will talk to you or express interest in your services, as quickly as possible. The first 6 months is a sprint, not a marathon. If you can get a healthy pipeline going, you can turn it into a marathon.
Try this (it’s easier once you get your business cards)…“well it was nice to meet you. If there is ever something I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to call me.” Give them something and move on. But please, please, don’t try to convince people to want to do business with you that are clearly not interested. That just shows desperation, and you look like a fool.
I have the survey coming up in a few weeks (I hope). What was it like and how long did it take?
It took me nearly six hours to get 22 participants (residents and businesses) to fully complete the survey. About the same amount declined. Don’t count those who are not home or don’t speak english. One hour of that was spent with a 75 year old woman who invited me inside her home and told me her entire life story. That was ok except for the two cats who kept rubbing my leg. My advice is to do more than the minimum that Jones asks you to do. You want to get a good idea of what it takes to achieve the recommend amount of daily contacts.
[quote=lambda]
I performed my survey yesterday and overall it went well. I found that of those people that declined to participate, did not want to give their first names as asked on the survey. For all the Jonsers who door knock, how do you overcome a prospect who doesn't want to reveal any personal information?
[/quote] Target the area you want to survey; for example: Jones Street, South Avenue, and Smith Street. Then go to your public library and ask for the city directory. It contains, by street, a list of names of those who live at each address. Get the most recent directory you can find. Keep in mind it won't be 100% accurate, but it will be accurate most of the time. Copy those names and addresses, then as you go to each house, greet each person by their name. You may find a better reception, if you first greet the prospect by name. (Be sure to have a back-up line, if the person at the door isn't the same name as on your list.) By the way, you can buy these city directories, on paper and on disk. But they tend to be pricey. Polk Directory is the only one I can think of. Also, just out of curiousity, what kind of questions does the survey contain? For example, do you invest for growth, income, etc.? Just general investment questions? In addition, you might consider adding one or two of your own questions to the survey, to get a better picture of the prospect's market outlook. For example, it would be good to know if the prospect has a negative outlook on the stock market, as that would suggest that they may be a good candidate for bonds or some other principal-protected investment. Good luck!The surveys are simply to determine if the candidate has the ba!!s to doorknock. It is a generic survey about opening a business in the area… “Hi I’m B24, I’m opening a new business in the area. What do you think of this area? How long have you lived here? What do you like about it? What do you not like? etc…”.
Since you are not even hired yet, you can’t discuss anything financial (you don’t even talk about Jones yet).
Thanks for the response, Broker24.The surveys are simply to determine if the candidate has the ba!!s to doorknock. It is a generic survey about opening a business in the area… “Hi I’m B24, I’m opening a new business in the area. What do you think of this area? How long have you lived here? What do you like about it? What do you not like? etc…”.
Since you are not even hired yet, you can’t discuss anything financial (you don’t even talk about Jones yet).
Dober - the survery is part of the hiring process. You have to complete it before the final face to face interview. After going through all that door knocking I have a new found respect for prospecting and all the blood and sweat (literally) it takes.
The whole city directory thing, while good for prospecting, is unnecessary for the surveying. The questions are very general and noninvasive and most people should be willing to answer them. It’s merely an exercise designed to give you a feel of the process so that you can answer questions about it in your f2f interview.