If you go to the door with the intention convincing the prospect that they should have interest and let you into their home, you will burn out. Such encounters become unpleasant wrestling matches that make no one happy.
If instead, you go to the door with the intention of determining if the prospect has interest that they may not even have been aware of, then you will do well.
My approach knocking a final expense list is a little different because everyone on the list has received a card from me, even if they haven't sent it in. And everyone has probably received multiple cards from other agents. So, my initial contact is "the mail being what it is we haven't received your card back yet, and since I'm already here, I figured why not stop by and go over our eligibility with you real quick?" If they balk, I'll ask a question, and try to get a conversation going. If they respeond in a way to indicate potential interest, I'll try once more: "Hey, Ms Jane, it sounds like this really would be of interest to you. Let's go and sit down real quick so you have all the info you need, so that when you are ready, whether you do this with me or someone else, you'll be well-informed." If still a "No" from muiss Jane, I say "thankyouverymuch" and hit the bricks.
If I'm knocking cold doors in a solid middle or upper middle-class neighborhood, my approach is more of a question to get them thinking approach. For example, the "your family bank" types might say "Hi there, I'm Daytimer with ABC Mutual. We have a unique program that can help homeowners pay off all their debts, including their mortgage, in as little as 7 years, and you can do it without spending any more money than you're spending right now. If you were debt-free, would that be helpful to you?"
That starts a conversation. But if the person says "I'm already debt-free" or "F- off" then Daytimer says "thankyouverymuch" and walks next door and knocks there.
Another approach: "Hi I'm Daytimer with ABC Mutal. We have a unique program that lets high income earners retire with annual 6 figure tax-free cash flows. If you could retire with a six figure cash flow, yet you didn't ever have to file a tax-return again, would that be helpful to you?"
Maybe a conversation ensues, maybe it doesn't. If they aren't interested, I say "thankyouverymuch" and off to the next door. The great thing about door to door versus $30-$50 direct mail leads is that there is always a next door to knock, and the cost is a few calories and a minute or two of your time.
There is a great salesman by the name of Claude Whitaker. He was a successful insurance salesman for the old Monumental Life and then spent four decades making his living as a door to door vacuum cleaner salesman selling a high end vacuum. He sums up cold door prospecting best when he says "Prospecting is sorting,, not selling."
If you go to the door expecting a fact find or a sale or a firm appointment (whatever your initial goal may be) you very well might burn out quickly.
If you go to the door with the goal of simply sorting this next contact into the pile of prospects or the pile of non-prospects, then you can start to have some fun out there.
It is about 8:30 AM here on Saturday. I'm about to head out for a few hours of knocking. I'll probably get 2-4 leads.
What is a lead to me? I count a contact as a lead if I walk away with a completed fact-find or an appointment to complete a fact find, AND I walk away with the prospect's name(s), address, cell phone number, and email address, on a signed permission to contact.
My best day ever was 10 leads, which I've done twice. My typical day yields 2-4 leads.
I've had many days with 0 leads sprinkled in the mix as well.
Burnout, for me, is the driving and windshield time, as I do work not only in my home county, but several others around me as well. Lately I've been working southern Bucks county, which is 60 to 90 minutes from me depending upon whether I take the turnpike, or my preferred road trip through farmland.
I have done some phone selling, but largely through referral marketing. I do intend to see if I can make phone sales a larger part of my business. In fact, starting this coming week, I'll be spending about 4-6 hours per day, and 1-2 hours in some evenings working at building some FE targeted phone sales. I also have an agent partner with whom I am working to get a web-based marketing system in place to generate leads much like I am getting going door to door.
Whatever happens with those endeavors, however, no one will ever be able to convince me that cold door knocking is not a superior method of prospecting.
Are you still selling fe ? I thought you were were more on the middle class side like annuity’s and such forth ? There’s no one way to do anything . If somethings works for someone do it . For me a orginal colored lead card many times being able to show their return address label has worked for me . All that matters at the end of the yr “ what did your business NET for the year “ . Ive gotten great ideas on Internet boards over the yrs Ive used
