Anyone Making A Living Coldcalling?

[OrlandoSEO]

Nothing like starting things off with a lie. If someone is willing to lie about something so little, what are they going to do when its important? I agree, you should sound like you are calling to help, but why resort to lying?

Woe to someone who would sell his integrity and credibility for such a small price.

First of all, I see your point about dishonesty. Now that I got that out of the way. If you are providing a legitimate product that is going to help someone. I see nothing wrong with using best practices to get a decision maker on the phone or find out if they are a company that is a real prospect and can use your service. Im not saying sell encyclopedia door to door to old people.

The fact is that many people now have a wall up when they hear someone calling they don't know. One of the best things to do is to call and simply say you are doing a survey of (whoever you target marketing is) and you would like to ask a few questions about their business. Instantly you get a much better success rate. Your first call is not about selling anyways. It's about qualifying them as a prospect and seeing if they need your services. The next goal is to get an appointment. Only after all that do you attempt to approach sales.

This brings me back to my main point. Simply saying I got your number from so and so breaks that wall down a bit. This may just be me but that is hardly selling your soul to the devil. Selling something people do not want or do not need is a far greater offense.

 

[Broker007]

To add; sales is not a numbers game. If selling health insurance was a numbers came the failure rate would be 2% not 98%.

Thank you for killing that ridiculous phrase. Very well put my friend.

 

[VolAgent]

This brings me back to my main point. Simply saying I got your number from so and so breaks that wall down a bit. This may just be me but that is hardly selling your soul to the devil. Selling something people do not want or do not need is a far greater offense.

I will certainly agree that this particular lie is far from the worst one out there. But eventually you will get caught and lose all credibility for it. Why not do it honestly, get the referrals and introductions from clients and COI?

Also, businesses aren't stupid. They are already getting tired of the survey. Most see it for what it is, a way to get in for a sale. Let's not make them get the same way about referrals.

 

[OrlandoSEO]

Nothing like starting things off with a lie. If someone is willing to lie about something so little, what are they going to do when its important? I agree, you should sound like you are calling to help, but why resort to lying?

Woe to someone who would sell his integrity and credibility for such a small price.

First of all, I see your point about dishonesty. Now that I got that out of the way. If you are providing a legitimate product that is going to help someone. I see nothing wrong with using best practices to get a decision maker on the phone or find out if they are a company that is a real prospect and can use your service. Im not saying sell encyclopedia door to door to old people.

The fact is that many people now have a wall up when they hear someone calling they don't know. One of the best things to do is to call and simply say you are doing a survey of (whoever you target marketing is) and you would like to ask a few questions about their business. Instantly you get a much better success rate. Your first call is not about selling anyways. It's about qualifying them as a prospect and seeing if they need your services. The next goal is to get an appointment. Only after all that do you attempt to approach sales.

This brings me back to my main point. Simply saying I got your number from so and so breaks that wall down a bit. This may just be me but that is hardly selling your soul to the devil. Selling something people do not want or do not need is a far greater offense.

 

[arnguy]

I believe so!

 

[PowerPlayer]

The Secret to Exponentially Growing Your Leads

The trick is to call people who are already looking for what you have to offer. (ie, they responded to your letter, answered your classified ad, clicked on an e-ad, filled out a survery, etc. This will sharpen your ratios.

Once you land 1 good appointment, you have to milk that relationship and get lots of referrals. Referrals are difficult for many people especially when they have done nothing more than the other guy who could have protected them last week.

And this is where you make yourself different. You have to sit down and think of some way to make yourself different in the home so that people want to refer you to their friends.

Come up with a personal story to weave into your insurance presentation. Get them to hug you before you walk out the door. When that happens your referral list grows exponentially!

 

[somarco]

milk that relationship and get lots of referrals

That's an odd way of phrasing it.

I don't "milk" my clients for anything. Perhaps that is why they freely offer referrals.

 

[alphawave2k]

If you are a dairy farmer you are allowed to milk your cows (the 4 legged ones)...however if you have 2 legged ones that you prefer, go for it.
If you are an insurance sales professional, I am sharing what I've heard from very successful folks in this field. You ask for the referral before, after and during the sale. And then you ask whenever you speak with your client. You obviously need not be obnoxious and apply a truckload of charm when you do it (my thought here..I know brilliant!)...I'm still learning this part, as I have not graduated from Charm school yet. Seriously though, "ask and you shall receive"...the opposite is almost always true. I find it hard to believe that people will give you referrals on their own...I'm not saying you won't get some...but you will maximize your "milk" when you squeeze every tit. Hey I'm up to 4 posts y'all

 

[somarco]

I find it hard to believe that people will give you referrals on their own..

I really don't care if you believe it or not. When you do your job right, the referrals come, and you don't have to beg.

 

[somarco]

I find it hard to believe that people will give you referrals on their own..

I really don't care if you believe it or not. When you do your job right, the referrals come, and you don't have to beg.