Actually, it does make a difference if its clear to a "prudent person". Most states try to hold agents to a higher standard of insurance knowledge than their clients.
From where does she get her list?
IF she gets that kind of response from a cold list that's great.
What do you do for cross-selling then?
- 717
Google Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales; Art Sobczak and Bill Good.
Sign up for their free newsletters and buy some of their booklets. I like Mike Brooks the best.
I would NOT start out by introducing yourself. Instead, start with a benefit:
Jim, I'm calling about your homeowners policy. Did you know there are new changes that could help save you as much as 30%? My name is ____ with Farmers Insurance and I'd like to ask you a few questions to see if I can help you save you thousands of dollars over the next several years.
InsuranceGuru
Expert
- 95
I've been in sales a long time (not insurance the whole time, but who cares?). If there's anything I know how to do, it's cold calling. What people tend to think works and doesn't work depends on their philosophy. The statistical truth is this:
The first 3-8 seconds of a cold call is about the person on the other end of the phone. There are several ways to approach him or her, and there are actually good ways and better ways to do it. But that's only 20% of your results. Let me say that again... it's only 20% of your results.
The remainder is volume. 80% of cold calling is about volume. If you want X number of closing sales a week, create a matrix.
When I sold for my last health insurance company, I was cold calling for agents at the start. I called off of sales genie lists. It was a piece of cake, because I was paid $20 a lead if I turned in 20 or more leads per week. I was turning in 30, 35, 40 in an easily 30-hour work week. Volume is everything in cold calling.
I found that for every 100 dials, I had roughly half of them answer the phone (so I'd call the NA's later) so those 50 turned into prospects. I had a simple pitch that I made, and it doesn't really matter what I said because I could have said just about anything and had very similar results.
Out of the 50 prospects, 25 of them told me no, and that was great. It made the day shorter and got me to faster results.
The 25 prospects that didn't say no told me something "other than no". They had an objection, they had something to tell me about how they just hate insurance or their aunt just bought something, yada yada. I never cared. These were the people that really urked me, because they just wanted to chit chat and waste my time - probably on purpose. I'd have to say that I could bank on about 5 prospects turning into actual contacts.
From the 5 contacts/leads, my job was done, but I remember teaching this to the agents in a meeting. I asked if they had any results from my leads and they told me my closing rate was about 60% of everything they received from me. So, about 2 out of every 3 of them closed. I just attribute that to my own personal way of introducing myself on the phone.
Anyway, so the formula I work with is simple:
100 Dials - (1.5 to 2 hours)
50 Prospects
25 Objections
5 Leads
2/3 Closing rate
So, if I wanted to bank 10 sales a week, all I needed to do was follow my formula making 500 dials a week and spend between 7.5 and 10 hours on calls. That's, what, two days a week, 5 hours a day at the most? So, Monday and Wednesday, I might have called from 9-3 taking an hour for lunch, and I'd run appointments Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and maybe Saturday if I needed to.
ALL COLD CALLING DOES IS SORT A LIST OF NAMES! The most successful people sort faster and more efficiently. It's not about what you say, it's about your volume. There will never be some magical wording you use to make cold calling more effective. It is what it is, you have to attack YOUR MARKET with something they benefit from, but how you do that is up to your business model.
You don't need smoke and mirrors to get people to talk to you on the phone. You just need to be personable. I always introduce myself like this:
"Hi, ___, my name is Shaun, how are you?" "I'm fine, Shaun, and yourself?" [I have yet to have someone tell me to go to hell with this...]
"I'm great, thanks for asking!"
Then I introduce the company I work for and the benefit we offer. That's IT. The shorter the text of the call is, the better your sorting will be and the higher quality your leads will be. These results don't tend to vary by much, and I'm giving you the low ball results because I know if this system is actually followed, the results are better. Have a formula, use short, simple communication, and be friendly. That's all you really need to be successful at CC's.
The first 3-8 seconds of a cold call is about the person on the other end of the phone. There are several ways to approach him or her, and there are actually good ways and better ways to do it. But that's only 20% of your results. Let me say that again... it's only 20% of your results.
The remainder is volume. 80% of cold calling is about volume. If you want X number of closing sales a week, create a matrix.
When I sold for my last health insurance company, I was cold calling for agents at the start. I called off of sales genie lists. It was a piece of cake, because I was paid $20 a lead if I turned in 20 or more leads per week. I was turning in 30, 35, 40 in an easily 30-hour work week. Volume is everything in cold calling.
I found that for every 100 dials, I had roughly half of them answer the phone (so I'd call the NA's later) so those 50 turned into prospects. I had a simple pitch that I made, and it doesn't really matter what I said because I could have said just about anything and had very similar results.
Out of the 50 prospects, 25 of them told me no, and that was great. It made the day shorter and got me to faster results.
The 25 prospects that didn't say no told me something "other than no". They had an objection, they had something to tell me about how they just hate insurance or their aunt just bought something, yada yada. I never cared. These were the people that really urked me, because they just wanted to chit chat and waste my time - probably on purpose. I'd have to say that I could bank on about 5 prospects turning into actual contacts.
From the 5 contacts/leads, my job was done, but I remember teaching this to the agents in a meeting. I asked if they had any results from my leads and they told me my closing rate was about 60% of everything they received from me. So, about 2 out of every 3 of them closed. I just attribute that to my own personal way of introducing myself on the phone.
Anyway, so the formula I work with is simple:
100 Dials - (1.5 to 2 hours)
50 Prospects
25 Objections
5 Leads
2/3 Closing rate
So, if I wanted to bank 10 sales a week, all I needed to do was follow my formula making 500 dials a week and spend between 7.5 and 10 hours on calls. That's, what, two days a week, 5 hours a day at the most? So, Monday and Wednesday, I might have called from 9-3 taking an hour for lunch, and I'd run appointments Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and maybe Saturday if I needed to.
ALL COLD CALLING DOES IS SORT A LIST OF NAMES! The most successful people sort faster and more efficiently. It's not about what you say, it's about your volume. There will never be some magical wording you use to make cold calling more effective. It is what it is, you have to attack YOUR MARKET with something they benefit from, but how you do that is up to your business model.
You don't need smoke and mirrors to get people to talk to you on the phone. You just need to be personable. I always introduce myself like this:
"Hi, ___, my name is Shaun, how are you?" "I'm fine, Shaun, and yourself?" [I have yet to have someone tell me to go to hell with this...]
"I'm great, thanks for asking!"
Then I introduce the company I work for and the benefit we offer. That's IT. The shorter the text of the call is, the better your sorting will be and the higher quality your leads will be. These results don't tend to vary by much, and I'm giving you the low ball results because I know if this system is actually followed, the results are better. Have a formula, use short, simple communication, and be friendly. That's all you really need to be successful at CC's.
Last edited:
DarrylVK
Expert
The client isn't interested in what you like.
They're busy listening to WIIFM "What's in it for me."
"Are you happy with your health insurance?"
Think about their hot buttons.
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