Cold Door Knocking - Help with My Approach, Please.

[RobInMich]

I'm a newbie in the field; been doing it for about 8 weeks and I'm really having a tough time. I primarily sell final expense, but am able to sell med sups as well. The company I work for handles lead generation mailers for us. We just have to buy the leads and run them. We do home visits only -- no calling first. Some agents do VERY well with this system -- I, however, am struggling. In the 8 weeks I've been selling, I've only sold 10 policies and I'm barely making ends meet.

So -- instead of continuing with the paid leads and debiting myself into bankruptcy, I'm looking for some free ways to prospect. Considering doing some cold door knocking. I've been reading this forum for a couple weeks and have found it to be a FANTASTIC resource for information.

After reading several threads on the topic from start to finish, I've come up with this spiel for leading off at the door. Let me know if it's too wordy, not catchy enough, etc, and any improvements that could be made to my approach. This is for cold door knocking in a specific neighborhood. No lead cards will be used, so I need it to be a good attention getter.

"Hi. My name is Robert Schember with First Financial Insurance Group. I'm a local life insurance agent and I'm just trying to introduce myself to the community. We've actually found that most people are overpaying for their life insurance benefits, especially if it was purchased within the last 5 years or purchased through the mail. Do you have just a few moments so I can introduce myself better and show you how I may be able to help you fix your current coverage?"

A [yes] answer would get me in the door where I could continue my presentation, offer a review, pet the cat, praise the children, comment on the cleanliness of the house ('Wow, there's hardly any cockroaches at all!'), present options for purchase, and hopefully close the sale.

A [no] answer would lead me to say...
"I'd love to set an appointment with you then when you do have some time available to discuss how I could protect your family with the right type of insurance. Would Wednesday at 1pm or Thursday at 4pm work best for you?" --> Appointment set.

Another no at that point and I would be on my way to the next house...

Also, I'm feeling pretty reluctant about walking the neighborhood and knocking randomly on strangers doors. I'm sure I'll be able to suck up my fear and do it, but are there any pro tips, other than 'just do it and it gets easier', to help a newbie overcome the reluctance?

 

[Newby]

It's a little too wordy. You need to engage them sooner and have a two way conversation.

Hi, I'm Billy Baddas and I represent Gold Farm Insurance Company. I'm looking for seniors over age 50 who would love to have some additional life insurance coverage if they could qualify at a very attractive rate.

Would that describe you or anyone in your household?

Then let them talk. They will tell you if they are a prospect and what you need to do to sell them if you just listen.

Door knocking is just like scratching lottery tickets. If you knock on the right door at the right time they were just about to mail a reply card in and buy some insurance.

Most doors are a little less interested.

 

[RobInMich]

It's a little too wordy. You need to engage them sooner and have a two way conversation.

What if I shorten it like so?

"Hi. My name is Robert Schember and I represent First Financial Insurance Group. We've found that most people are overpaying for their life insurance benefits. Do you have just a few moments so I can show you how I may be able to help you fix your current coverage?"

I may use this, or I may use yours verbatim. Yours is very quick and to the point.

Now, as far as a viable method of prospecting, if I'm out there pounding pavement 10-5:30 every day, should I expect a decent number of apps? I'm really only looking for 3 to 4 a week to pay my bills. Also, I suck at closing (I'm working on that with my field manager though) so take that into consideration.

I'm hoping to try this starting Tuesday. Mondays are office meeting days for me, and unfortunately the office is 90 miles from my home where I work. I may be able to sneak an hour of two in Monday evening, but not absolutely sure. Once I get rolling, results will be posted here regularly, as well as changes I make as I go along. Eager to try both scripts.

 

[P&cmi]

Hi. Im in MI too. Metro Detriot. Are you close?

 

[RobInMich]

Hi. Im in MI too. Metro Detriot. Are you close?

Home office is in Carleton, just south of the Metro airport on I-275. I've been working the Metro area for the past couple weeks, but I'd like to focus my efforts on the Flint area, closer to home.

 

[Newby]

The reason I like mine over yours is that it's MUCH easier to find people who really have been thinking about buying more life insurance than it is to convince someone that you just cold knocked that they have a bad deal on their life insurance and you really just dropped by to help them.

People are in denial. If you start trying to convince them they made bad purchase decisions without knowing ANYTHING about what they have, you are just a huckster pitchman (in their mind) and they will give you nothing but resistance.

It's easier to ask if they want to buy more. Once they tell you they don't need it because they just bought a new policy from LH....THEN you can mention how you just compared another LH policy and that one was higher priced. Because now you have something to work with rather than just fishing.

 

[RonRoberts]

I'm a newbie in the field; been doing it for about 8 weeks and I'm really having a tough time. I primarily sell final expense, but am able to sell med sups as well. The company I work for handles lead generation mailers for us. We just have to buy the leads and run them. We do home visits only -- no calling first. Some agents do VERY well with this system -- I, however, am struggling. In the 8 weeks I've been selling, I've only sold 10 policies and I'm barely making ends meet.

So -- instead of continuing with the paid leads and debiting myself into bankruptcy, I'm looking for some free ways to prospect. Considering doing some cold door knocking. I've been reading this forum for a couple weeks and have found it to be a FANTASTIC resource for information.

After reading several threads on the topic from start to finish, I've come up with this spiel for leading off at the door. Let me know if it's too wordy, not catchy enough, etc, and any improvements that could be made to my approach. This is for cold door knocking in a specific neighborhood. No lead cards will be used, so I need it to be a good attention getter.

"Hi. My name is Robert Schember with First Financial Insurance Group. I'm a local life insurance agent and I'm just trying to introduce myself to the community. We've actually found that most people are overpaying for their life insurance benefits, especially if it was purchased within the last 5 years or purchased through the mail. Do you have just a few moments so I can introduce myself better and show you how I may be able to help you fix your current coverage?"

A [yes] answer would get me in the door where I could continue my presentation, offer a review, pet the cat, praise the children, comment on the cleanliness of the house ('Wow, there's hardly any cockroaches at all!'), present options for purchase, and hopefully close the sale.

A [no] answer would lead me to say...
"I'd love to set an appointment with you then when you do have some time available to discuss how I could protect your family with the right type of insurance. Would Wednesday at 1pm or Thursday at 4pm work best for you?" --> Appointment set.

Another no at that point and I would be on my way to the next house...

Also, I'm feeling pretty reluctant about walking the neighborhood and knocking randomly on strangers doors. I'm sure I'll be able to suck up my fear and do it, but are there any pro tips, other than 'just do it and it gets easier', to help a newbie overcome the reluctance?

"FFIG is a company with a grounded management team: All of our senior managers have been field agents, so all of our decisions are made by people who have done the job on the most basic level. None of our decisions “look good on paper”, all of them are real-world applicable. What this means to you is that your career is supported by people who know what it takes to make you successful".

With only selling 10 policies after buying leads for 8 weeks it seems like your "grounded management team" would have gotten off their butts and rode with you for additional appointments to better help you with your close ratio. I definitely will say you have guts and glory to start cold door knocking. I have a few questions for you:

1. Is your management team not available to ride with you and assist you in your presentation and closing techniques?

2. How many appointments have you successfully and physically went since you started buying leads?

3. What competitive edge will allow you to be more successful at cold door knocking than warm door knocking other than your cost being only your time and gas?

4. Lastly, is your company paying you some type of draw and how competitive is your product you are selling?

Taking all of this in to consideration if you management is not willing to ride more with you and they are not paying you some sort of draw or salary, and you are captive in a highly competitive market then I would be looking at EFES, Securus, or Lincoln Heritage. The only reason I say this and include Lincoln Heritage (I know you love this one Scott) is due to these companies all have training programs depending upon your management team.

I wish you all the success in 2012.

Ron

 

[RobInMich]

1. Is your management team not available to ride with you and assist you in your presentation and closing techniques?

2. How many appointments have you successfully and physically went since you started buying leads?

3. What competitive edge will allow you to be more successful at cold door knocking than warm door knocking other than your cost being only your time and gas?

4. Lastly, is your company paying you some type of draw and how competitive is your product you are selling?

1. The management team is very helpful. I've requested and have done ride-alongs with them 4 seperate times now. They give pretty solid advice.

2. As far as appointments, I'm doing usually at least 2 a day. Sometimes as many as 4 or 5. The presentation is good (I feel that way at least) but I'm struggling on closing. They're helping me to the best of their ability.

3. With the lead cards, it can be difficult to find people home. I typically keep about 30 of them, and I find myself doing the same loop trying to catch someone home. I figure with cold knocking in a neighborhood, I'm bound to catch more people home. More people home means more chances to tell my story, and hopefully means more sales.

4. Commission only. The products are very competitive. I've successfully replaced several other companies' products due to that alone. I currently write for Motorists, Equitable, Columbian Mutual, and Genworth/American General.

 

[TPAAgent]

You're working way too hard...

1)You need to buy you a filtered list of people..

2) Ask for them by name when they answer the door

3) Find you a BRM, make one if you have to and print it on a bright yellow or pink card.. You can find examples of them all over the internet

4) Theres been debates about how to approach them- Remember you're a salesman with an insurance license. Find what works best for you.

5) Get you a photo ID badge

6) I can tell you where your main problem is:

""Hi. My name is Robert Schember and I represent First Financial Insurance Group. We've found that most people are overpaying for their life insurance benefits. Do you have just a few moments so I can show you how I may be able to help you fix your current coverage?"

The whole thing above- that's whats causing you to fail

For 1, drop the First Finacial stuff.. use FFIG instead if you have too.. cut out the overpaying line..Don't give them an option to close the door on you that soon.. "Do you have a few..." Don't give them that line until you have peeked their interest in some way...

I always call people by their first name- its more personal, some have said it's disrespectful.. I disagree- You want that person at the door to think that you know them on a personal level.

Here's a much better approach:

Example name.. Madeline Harris:

Never ask them if they are Madeline.. assume they are.. they will tell you if they are or not...

"Hi Madeline, My name is Rob Schember, Did you receive a card like this that explains your SS benefits (show BRM) "

They're gonna say no and ask what its about...

It's at this time that will determine how good you are...

 

[cds251]

I go door to door, all day, every day.

Your making it way too complicated.

The approach is very simple:

Hi, my name is XXX and I am the local insurance agent that services this area. I have a couple of clients in this area and they tell me that a lot of individuals have either x or y company and I can probably save you around 40% on your current monthly cost.

They will either talk or they won't.

Nobody cares who you are with, the only thing the prospect is interested in is:

1) What are you doing at my door?
2) Can you help me solve a problem?

You will be amazed at the responses I get.