Marketing: Cold Calling Question

[Mark]

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.

Thank you for sharing this. Reminds me of the law of larger numbers. Bottom line is that it really works if you are willing to sit there and call the people, over and over. It's not for everybody, but for those that can do it, it's worth it.

 

[Beach Broker]

I never make cold calls - it's bad positioning. Something that has worked well for me is to generate my own leads with some inexpensive yet very effective advertising. I have been successfully generating my own leads for the last 7 years now, and it has only gotten better and better. I have tried buying leads online or from telemarketing companies and have found that they are very crummy leads.

The process I use is really pretty simple: First I create a compelling postcard, which has an attention grabbing headline, testimonials, a unique selling proposition and some kind of interesting story. It also has a direct call to action, which is usually 'call my office now at 888-888-8888'.

Second, I either have a secretary or another employee answering the phones and I have them capture all the contact information of that person calling: eg. name, phone number, physical address, email address, fax, (if they have one) and then I have them set an appointment to talk to me.

That way I work with clients on my own time and I am positioned as someone that isn't chasing business.

This has worked well for me - hope this helps.

Beach Broker

 

[stuartmoore10]

How do you find your local title agency?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When I was still actively selling P&C - I found that the best call lists were free and came from my local title agency. Have a title agent pull your district's housing records and you will be able to see what month people purchased or last refinanced their homes. Generally speaking - this will be the same month their homeowner's insurance will renew - which makes for an easier call.

IE - "Hello _____ my name is ______ and I'm your local Farmers Insurance Agent. My records show that your homeowner's policy was coming up for renewal and if it's alright with you, I'd like to offer you a policy review to see if you're still getting the most bang for your buck."

Use homeowners as the foot in the door and then tout the multi-line discount to close the auto, umbrella and mortgage protection (life) insurance.

Just my .02

How do you find your local title agency?

 

[IAC.Ryan]

How do you find your local title agency?

A search on google for Title Agency + (your town) should pull a list of companies. Also, most states give Realtors access to the same data through their local MLS system. So if you have friends in either industry, you can probably get the list for free.

Otherwise, I think Acxium(sp?) sells lists with this info.

 

[pisby]

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.

I love this. You're a genius, and you've made a believer out of me. it's a simple way of looking at it that we all know is true. Thanks for making it easy!

 

[emery011]

Well ive drained the battery on my cordless phone. Ive made alot more than 100 calls. We will see if the quotes turn into new business. I think my numbers are well off of yours with regards to 5 prospects per 100 calls. Lets hope Im wrong.

 

[mathe013]

^^^ How did your calls turn out?

 

[emery011]

I have averaged over 140 calls a day for the past month and am able to quote on average 2 people a day. Mind you that it is 140 calls total, not 140 people spoken to. I am also a new agent so I am trying to figure out my style with cold calling.
I can say that cold calling works. It's not the most affective way to go about it but it's the cheapest. It just takes time and a thick skin. I've only had one bad call out of thousands.

 

[whatyouwantfinally]

The real issue with cold-calling is, obviously, the general distaste people have for doing it. It's grueling, but for those who are just determined to make it happen, it's probably more consistent that any other type of marketing.

 

[markschneider86]

mferarra,

I cold call all the time. First of all I use Sales Genie, that way I get the Persons name, number, and address. Also this varifies if they are on the do not call list or not. When you cold call somebody, don't sit there and talk to the person like there your girl friend, People are busy and don't have time for all the worthless chit chat. Get to the point. This is my very simple script I use.. Hi____(their name) my name is Mark Schneider, I am the owner of Denvers Insurance, were a local independent insurance agency. __(their name)___ the reason I am calling is rates have gone down on___(auto insurance, home insurance, whatever product)___, and I would like to take a look at your policy and give you a quote.

I have just told you who I am, told you where I was located(this immediately build report.), why I am calling and what I am going to do. Don't ask if there interested tell them you are going to give them a quote. Works all the time for me.

Wait for there response, 3 things happen, either they say no, yes or their is a pause. If their is a pause the first one to talk wins.

Rebuttals- always try to find the best ones and write them down.

If they say their not interested, ask if they would be interested if you could save them 400 dollars.

Ask them the last time they looked at there insurance.

If they say they have been with a company forever and don't want to switch, Ask them How do you know if ________ is giving you a good rate if you haven't shopped around in 10 years.

If there with Geico or Esurance or a direct company, ask them who there agent is?

Don't waste your time of course if they hang up, move on. Its not your problem you were about to do a favor for them and see if their rate is compaetitve.

If they say, Jeez I dont know I get a good rate through________.
At this point ask the client to prove you wrong, let them know all you want is an opportunity to quote them. Tell them they don't know what you can offer, unless you get the chance.

Set up appointments, in person is always better. And last watch Boiler Room, thats a very very good training video.