Looking for Input on Script

[Zemo14]

Hey folks, I have the opportunity to market to the client base of a P&C agent I've become friends with. He has over 800 clients, and he hates selling Life and DI due to the underwriting hassle. He and I will split any Life, DI or Fixed Annuity business, and any investment business is 100% mine. He has sent out an email blast to his clients explaining that I'll be calling them. Below is the script I've put together that I'd like some feedback on. I just use bullet points vs full script.
____________________________________________________________


• The reason for the call, while Joe's worked hard to help you manage your property risks, he wanted to make sure that your other financial risks aren’t forgotten, so we’ve teamed up to offer that to his clients. I’m a Financial Advisor with The John Doe Group.
• All we’d like is the opportunity to visit with you so you can see the kind of work we do. We help answer questions like “will we have enough money to retire the way we want?”, “Are we paying too much in expenses on our investments?”, “Are we taking too much risk with our investments?”, “What will happen to our finances if one of us can’t work?”, and “How can we keep from losing what we have to a Nursing Home or the Government if we need LTC?”.
• With that in mind, are mornings or evenings better for you?
(If they say I already have someone)
• I don’t doubt that you already work with someone, virtually everyone I meet with already has an advisor. About 1/3 of those folks DO tend to have everything taken care of and we let them know that, and they’re thrilled to hear it. The second 1/3 we’re able to at least give some information that has a positive impact on them, and the last 1/3 usually have several areas that haven’t been addressed, or they’re not getting the service they deserve, even though they have someone they’re already working with.
• With that in mind, are mornings or evenings better for you?

 

[DHK]

"Joe tells me that ___________. Is that true?" Find something in the client file notes OR talk about how they initially met. Build upon THEIR relationship.

"Joe and I have expanded our services by partnering together to help ensure that our mutual clients truly benefit from our specializations. Joe is, of course, great at insuring your property against risks. (He IS doing a good job for you, right?) And my job is to help you to grow your financial situation to prepare you for retirement, college, investments, and other risks that most people tend to ignore."

Another idea would be to offer an educational workshop where JOE can introduce YOU. You can make it as big or as small as you want, and you can show your true partnership by working together.

If you need help on that, contact the Insurance Pro Shop and they can help you put together workshops for families and/or for those going into retirement.

You can then send press releases to your clients as well as to the local paper about how "Joe's P&C is partnering to help Families prepare for a secure retirement" or something like that.

Then send newsletters to Joe's clients to get them familiar with you and the subject matter that you talk about. Insurance Pro Shop can help you with that as well.

 

[Rick Deckard]

Frankly it sounds like you have a rock solid plan. I might say a few things differently on the script but again you have a rock solid idea/plan, would go with your instincts here.

 

[whatyouwantfinally]

To me, it's WAY too wordy and, frankly, potentially detrimental to your friend.

First, you're asking to "visit" with people without first getting any feedback from them about whether or not they need or are interested in your service. That is the #1 thing that causes people to tune you out. You're doing what I call trying to close without having earned the right. "Are mornings or evenings better for you?" is insulting if there has been no dialogue during which I indicated you may have something I want. It's like a waiter telling me the special is chicken with rice then asking if I would prefer brown or white rice. Did I say I wanted chicken?

Lose the "While Joe has worked hard," stuff. It isn't the mid 90's, dancing around with lingo and preambles is dead. Be as direct as possible, like "Joe wants to be a one-stop shop and brought me in to specialize in XYZ, so you don't have to google 'financial planners anymore." Then, most importantly, ask a question or two to GET THEM TALKING. If they don't mention a need/concern they have that you can help with you have no business asking for any of their time. Again, it's insulting.

The part that should trouble Joe the most is the lousy feel/felt/found rebuttal at the end. It is the oldest and most overused rebuttal there is; you have to finesse it big time to pull it off nowadays. People are going to be put off that Joe is having pushy, textbook salesmen calling them. Throwing out the 1/3 statistics made me cringe. Just saying, "Gotcha. Well, I'm really experienced with this stuff, so if there's ever anything you'd like a different perspective on, here's my number and feel free to ask. These are a friend's clients, not a cold call list.

Ditch the idea of a script and think more in terms of introducing yourself in a friendly way, building rapport and seeing if you can get them to express a want/need in some way. It's going to be a different conversation based on who you're talking to, just be charming and knowledgeable. If you don't have a natural knack for doing that, you may be better off just having Joe send a letter/email and seeing who responds.

 

[mickeyma]

Please take this as "helpful criticism." Shorten your pitch significantly, get to the point quickly and hammer home a BIG BENEFIT immediately for the insured.

Your insurance agent, Joe, sent you an email saying he has expanded his business to help people with their finances.

My name is ______. I show people how to accumulate money for college, retirement and emergencies and then show them how to not outlive their money in retirement.

Does this sound like something that you would be interested in hearing more about?

Ok. We need to get together for a brief meeting so I can review your financial situation. Are you available in the night or daytime?

 

[leevena]

I agree with the others, but especially mickey. Way too long and canned, sounds like every other caller.

 

[DHK]

It's okay to be wordy, under two conditions:
1) It's a friendly call (which is why you reference that you're working with "Joe")
2) You ask for a minute/moment to introduce yourself, your affiliation with "Joe", and what's in it for them. If you time a full minute, it's a long time, but to ask for a minute doesn't feel like asking for too much.

If you don't ask for permission or reference "Joe" in your calls, then you're simply making cold-calls for a business that already has a relationship with their clients. Don't treat their relationships with a cold-call approach. Make it warmer, because it is.

If you treat it as a cold-call... you'll get the same results AND you may inadvertently harm Joe's reputation with HIS clients. Keep it warm and friendly.


Note: You won't get people on the phone each time you call. I'd recommend having multiple things to talk about on their voice mail so you can show your value. For example:
1st message: talk about the importance of retirement planning
2nd message: talk about costs of college
3rd message: talk about importance of eliminating debt
4th message: talk about the importance of having insurance - just in case
5th message: talk about managing stock market volatility or the low interest rates banks are paying today
6th message: "I don't want to wear out my welcome, but we look forward to meeting you when you're ready. In the meantime, I hope you'll get a few insights from our financial newsletter that we'll be sending you."

Create something like that, and you should be building a status that you are an expert and are looking to help people, not just meet to make a sale. Show them that you have a higher perspective on common areas of planning.

 

[Cash]

Hey folks, I have the opportunity to market to the client base of a P&C agent I've become friends with. He has over 800 clients, and he hates selling Life and DI due to the underwriting hassle. He and I will split any Life, DI or Fixed Annuity business, and any investment business is 100% mine. He has sent out an email blast to his clients explaining that I'll be calling them. Below is the script I've put together that I'd like some feedback on. I just use bullet points vs full script.
____________________________________________________________


• The reason for the call, while Joe's worked hard to help you manage your property risks, he wanted to make sure that your other financial risks aren’t forgotten, so we’ve teamed up to offer that to his clients. I’m a Financial Advisor with The John Doe Group.
• All we’d like is the opportunity to visit with you so you can see the kind of work we do. We help answer questions like “will we have enough money to retire the way we want?”, “Are we paying too much in expenses on our investments?”, “Are we taking too much risk with our investments?”, “What will happen to our finances if one of us can’t work?”, and “How can we keep from losing what we have to a Nursing Home or the Government if we need LTC?”.
• With that in mind, are mornings or evenings better for you?
(If they say I already have someone)
• I don’t doubt that you already work with someone, virtually everyone I meet with already has an advisor. About 1/3 of those folks DO tend to have everything taken care of and we let them know that, and they’re thrilled to hear it. The second 1/3 we’re able to at least give some information that has a positive impact on them, and the last 1/3 usually have several areas that haven’t been addressed, or they’re not getting the service they deserve, even though they have someone they’re already working with.
• With that in mind, are mornings or evenings better for you?

I've done this exact same thing.

Call and say you are with the insurance agency. Saying you are with Jon Doe Group is confusing. You are with Joe, in fact, call from his office on his phone with his number. That's what I do.

Invite them to a seminar at Joe's office if possible. Find something in the news or some type of life stage like turning 65 and invite them to learn more.

In a couple hours you should have 2 seminars of 10-12 people each filled up. I mean 10-12 people that actually show up, You'll need to schedule more.

But seriously, your script sucks bad. Forget about it and start over.

This can be a gold mine and you should make more than $20,000 in the next month on each seminar. I see no reason why not. It comes down to execution at this stage.

Seriously think about the Insurance Pro Shop if you are talking to families. Other wise find something else. OR do both.

 

[Zemo14]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I do find it funny the responses run from "Looks like you have a solid plan" to "But seriously, your script sucks bad."



FYI- I am calling from his office (So folks see that on caller ID), As far as tailoring messages to demographic groups, His CRM he uses is pretty useless for any info beyond Name, address and phone/email.

I'll be making some revisions

 

[Zemo14]

Here's my Revision:

Took a bit of advise from most comments. Used some of DHK's language, made it shorter, went over my materials from the Insurance Pro Shop, etc

Obviously the questions won't ALL be asked, but I'll tailor them to the prospect. Also, there's plenty of followup questions and comments that I'll not include here.

• Calling from Joe Blow's office
• Joe and I have teamed up so our clients can benefit from both our areas of specialization.
• Joe’s great managing your property risks,(He IS doing a good job for you, isn’t he?) as a Financial Advisor, I help protect and grow your financial situation including retirement and a lot of risks people ignore or are unaware of.
• If you don’t mind, could I ask you a few questions…
o Do you have a written financial plan
o Have you calculated your income Replacement Ratio?
o Are you currently saving for retirement?
o Do you have a mortgage?
o Do you have a plan to take care of your Spouse in the event of…
 Death
 Disability
 Long Term Care
• Sounds like it might make sense for us to meet and dicuss ___________