How do you doorknock FE leads and remain organized?
I had a previous job in which I had to visit 250 houses per week. I was a bi-monthly inspector for foreclosed homes. I was a contracted worker, and I was paid on a per-house basis. Speed was important! While doing that job, since we were contracted with banks, occasionally they had us deliver loan letters to people who were "pending foreclosure."
Both of these experiences have helped me in Final Expense. Essentially, I have been able to take what I learned from those two jobs and integrate them into my Final Expense selling. Here is my method:
Note: This method is only for whenever I have a lead card. This is not a stand-alone method. You need to network and get referrals and think outside the box. However, it is a solid routine that I follow, and I have success with it.
On the day that I get the lead, I make a photocopy (or, if it comes as a pdf., I print two copies on my laser printer). I place that person's information into my database (I have created my own CRM using Excel. You can manage hundred and hundreds of people, place any reminder in the system that you want, never miss a phone call, all with the proper knowledge of Excel).
Now that they are in my contact manager, I have them marked as a Door Knock.
When I was managing 500 homes, I had to make a new, efficient route every day. I also had to make sure that I never missed a house! I had deadlines. Using excel for that helped, because you can import everything from Excel into Microsoft Streets and Trips. Plan your route, optimize your stops, and save time and gas. I do the same with my leads where my next step is to go to their door.
Now that I have an optimized route...
1st door knock: If they are home, I'll do what I need to do to either make it in the door that day or get an appointment for the next day.
If they are not home, I will leave a letter and a photocopy of their lead card in their door. The letter states, "Thank you for requesting information...see photocopy below...blah blah blah. Strong call to action for them to call me). I leave this where they will see it. I make a note in my contact manager.
2nd door knock: Repeat 1st
If they are not home, I will put them into my contact manager as a "Saturday or Evening" doorknock. This means that I will only try them one more time.
This is what I learned from the loan company. We had to try three times. The first 2 times were tried during the day. The third try had to be either in an evening (after 6pm) or on a Saturday.
If I did that for the loan company, I can do that for potential customers.
If I can never reach them on 3 attempts, I will simply try calling them (if I have a number). But, I will always attempt face-to-face first. I have much better closing ratios that way.
So, in short, I think a good "method" is to (1) Have an organized route, every day and (2) Have an organized system to try to hit the house at least 3 times before you stop door knocking in exchange for another method.
Hope this helps someone.
I had a previous job in which I had to visit 250 houses per week. I was a bi-monthly inspector for foreclosed homes. I was a contracted worker, and I was paid on a per-house basis. Speed was important! While doing that job, since we were contracted with banks, occasionally they had us deliver loan letters to people who were "pending foreclosure."
Both of these experiences have helped me in Final Expense. Essentially, I have been able to take what I learned from those two jobs and integrate them into my Final Expense selling. Here is my method:
Note: This method is only for whenever I have a lead card. This is not a stand-alone method. You need to network and get referrals and think outside the box. However, it is a solid routine that I follow, and I have success with it.
On the day that I get the lead, I make a photocopy (or, if it comes as a pdf., I print two copies on my laser printer). I place that person's information into my database (I have created my own CRM using Excel. You can manage hundred and hundreds of people, place any reminder in the system that you want, never miss a phone call, all with the proper knowledge of Excel).
Now that they are in my contact manager, I have them marked as a Door Knock.
When I was managing 500 homes, I had to make a new, efficient route every day. I also had to make sure that I never missed a house! I had deadlines. Using excel for that helped, because you can import everything from Excel into Microsoft Streets and Trips. Plan your route, optimize your stops, and save time and gas. I do the same with my leads where my next step is to go to their door.
Now that I have an optimized route...
1st door knock: If they are home, I'll do what I need to do to either make it in the door that day or get an appointment for the next day.
If they are not home, I will leave a letter and a photocopy of their lead card in their door. The letter states, "Thank you for requesting information...see photocopy below...blah blah blah. Strong call to action for them to call me). I leave this where they will see it. I make a note in my contact manager.
2nd door knock: Repeat 1st
If they are not home, I will put them into my contact manager as a "Saturday or Evening" doorknock. This means that I will only try them one more time.
This is what I learned from the loan company. We had to try three times. The first 2 times were tried during the day. The third try had to be either in an evening (after 6pm) or on a Saturday.
If I did that for the loan company, I can do that for potential customers.
If I can never reach them on 3 attempts, I will simply try calling them (if I have a number). But, I will always attempt face-to-face first. I have much better closing ratios that way.
So, in short, I think a good "method" is to (1) Have an organized route, every day and (2) Have an organized system to try to hit the house at least 3 times before you stop door knocking in exchange for another method.
Hope this helps someone.
