Prospecting Question

[JKBcommercialagent]

Hey Everybody, I am a commercial agent out of Arkansas. I have a general question that I would love your feedback on. The question is; how many hours a week do you spend prospecting? And what I mean by prospecting is taking a lead (either off a leads list or the phone book) and researching about that company or business before or after you cold call them. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
JKB

 

[Cash]

Very little.

Unless you are going after big paydays from that one client I wouldn't spend much time researching them.

What kind of businesses are you going after?

 

[JKBcommercialagent]

Very little.

Unless you are going after big paydays from that one client I wouldn't spend much time researching them.

What kind of businesses are you going after?

Our markets are light manufacturing, contractors, restaurants, auto repair/ dealers...etc.
If you do not do research before, you are just calling and hoping that the person you speak to is the contact needed? Also, and I should have asked this in the original question, where do you currently get leads from if you are targeting a particular industry?

 

[Stephen]

Welcome aboard, glad to have another razorback here. I try to spend a couple of hours per week prospecting to 401k plan sponsors.

I cull certain industries and competitors off of my list, but after that the best way to turn a cold list into a warm list is to call them and get the skinny i.e., who the decision maker is, are they already working with their brother in law, etc..

 

[JKBcommercialagent]

Thank you! Yeah, p&c can be rough in Arkansas, nobody wants to change haha. Currently I target by what we have competitive markets for, but I spend so much time going through google searches, manta...etc to build prospect lists it gets rough.

 

[Cash]

Thank you! Yeah, p&c can be rough in Arkansas, nobody wants to change haha. Currently I target by what we have competitive markets for, but I spend so much time going through google searches, manta...etc to build prospect lists it gets rough.

That thought is poison. Get it out of your head now.

Plenty of people are changing in Arkansas. There is plenty of business out there.

All it means if people are not changing is that not enough people are asking or taking the time to give a good offer. That is good news for you because you can do those things.

You can get a list of business owners easily from tons of sources, just take a minute and look. Pick what business you want to go after, get the list and start offering something that they would want and get them into your funnel.

In my experience you can get close to the same amount of buy now clients when targeting farther up the funnel.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

If you do not do research before, you are just calling and hoping that the person you speak to is the contact needed?

Sid Walker had a good saying, prospecting comes down to two things: timing and chemistry. If you have both thats a good client, if you have chemistry and no timing (they dont need your product) then that might be a pipeline lead. You might be able to convert a lead that has no chemistry but is open to a solution.

 

[DHK]

Our markets are light manufacturing, contractors, restaurants, auto repair/ dealers...etc.
If you do not do research before, you are just calling and hoping that the person you speak to is the contact needed? Also, and I should have asked this in the original question, where do you currently get leads from if you are targeting a particular industry?

Lists can be wrong. I would recommend doing ACTIVE research in direct contact with the company, rather than relying solely on lists. Definitely call and ask for a specific person listed on your list, then pivot.

Something like this:
"Hello, is Joe in?"

"Do you mean Joe Jones?"

"Yeah, is he in?"

"Uh... he hasn't worked here for about 2 years now. Who is this?"

"Oh! Okay, I'll update my records. My name is DHK. I'm with XYZ. Maybe you can help me? Who would you say is the person I would need to speak to regarding x?"

"Sure. You should probably speak to Jerry. I think he's the one on top of those things."

"Okay - Jerry. Let me update my records. Do you have a direct line for him or an extension? Do you have an email address for him? Could I get that from you? Now you guys haven't moved recently, right? You're still off Main Street?"

"Yep - still here."

"Great. You've been VERY helpful! Thank you. I'll send Jerry an email and we'll go from there. Have a good one!"


Remember that receptionists and assistants (and all employees in general) want to be HELPFUL, so thank them for being helpful to you while you're doing your 'active research'.

This would be an example of "failing to success". You failed to initially identify the correct person to reach, but you keep going and simply admit that your information is out of date (which it is). It takes more time, but you'll have current information.

You might be tempted to outsource this to a telemarketer... but you just might never know if the decision maker actually picks up the phone themselves or not, so you'd have to weigh that one out yourself.