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john_petrowski said:
I'm constantly brainstorming. If I rely on one idea, it's going to be a hit or a miss with no middle ground.
Residential Marketing Techniques
- Thread starter Michael Haislip
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I'm constantly brainstorming. If I rely on one idea, it's going to be a hit or a miss with no middle ground.
- 297
Grab some flyers and give it a try.
Don't worry about give aways. As John mentioned keep detailed records and after a period figure out if its worth your effort.
Like the Nike add says - "Just do it"
Don't worry about give aways. As John mentioned keep detailed records and after a period figure out if its worth your effort.
Like the Nike add says - "Just do it"
- 14,809
It wouldn't take long to put the numbers together. You can try 20 hours of residential marketing and that'll give you a fantastic idea of what your return will be.
What works for some people won't work for you and vice versa. It will depend on your market and personality.
What works for some people won't work for you and vice versa. It will depend on your market and personality.
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Michael Haislip
Expert
I'll put in my 2 bits here.
Sometimes we think way too hard about sales and convince ourselves of things that just aren't true. For example, the myth is that no one is home during the day time hours. Well, people with day jobs aren't home during the day, but who else does that leave? Stay-at-home moms, seniors, 2nd- and 3rd-shifters, people with a day off, and temp workers, just to name a few.
Secondly, if you're mentally disqualifying "low income" prospects, you are missing sales. The fact is, at least half the people you meet in your life will be "low income." They need insurance, too.
Third, let me extoll the virtues of door knocking:
Door-knocking, as compared to any other marketing technique, is one of the best ways to go for residential. I know it gets a bad rap, but that's because it is the most aggressive of sales techniques. It takes balls to knock on someone's door, ask to come in and then ask for money.
Here's what I do once a week. Pick a neighborhood and start knocking. Make an afternoon of it. Hit some businesses while you're at it. It's labor intensive, yes, and you will be tired at day's end, but you should be sitting down with at least 10% of people who are home. Create a door-knocking script, memorize it, use it. Use a novelty or giveaway if you want. The daily numbers average out to 100 knocks/40 at-homes/4 interviews/1 sale.
OK, enough about that.
Good ideas so far, guys. One day, we'll have to compile a book based on the advice on these forums. We'll call it, "Sales Ideas from Guys You've Never Met."
Sometimes we think way too hard about sales and convince ourselves of things that just aren't true. For example, the myth is that no one is home during the day time hours. Well, people with day jobs aren't home during the day, but who else does that leave? Stay-at-home moms, seniors, 2nd- and 3rd-shifters, people with a day off, and temp workers, just to name a few.
Secondly, if you're mentally disqualifying "low income" prospects, you are missing sales. The fact is, at least half the people you meet in your life will be "low income." They need insurance, too.
Third, let me extoll the virtues of door knocking:
Door-knocking, as compared to any other marketing technique, is one of the best ways to go for residential. I know it gets a bad rap, but that's because it is the most aggressive of sales techniques. It takes balls to knock on someone's door, ask to come in and then ask for money.
Here's what I do once a week. Pick a neighborhood and start knocking. Make an afternoon of it. Hit some businesses while you're at it. It's labor intensive, yes, and you will be tired at day's end, but you should be sitting down with at least 10% of people who are home. Create a door-knocking script, memorize it, use it. Use a novelty or giveaway if you want. The daily numbers average out to 100 knocks/40 at-homes/4 interviews/1 sale.
OK, enough about that.
Good ideas so far, guys. One day, we'll have to compile a book based on the advice on these forums. We'll call it, "Sales Ideas from Guys You've Never Met."
- 14,809
Well, I might know what I'm talking about here. I was the regional manager of a residental door to door company for about 5 years.
We did about 80% of our business from 9am to 3pm. After people get home from work - especially after it gets dark outside almost no one answers their door. The people who do are very stand-offish.
A lot of people are home during the day and they're much more prone to actually answer the door. I wouldn't imagine you'd want to be out there banging on doors from 7pm to 8pm anyway.
Residential marketing works - it's a matter of whether or not you're actually going to do it.
We did about 80% of our business from 9am to 3pm. After people get home from work - especially after it gets dark outside almost no one answers their door. The people who do are very stand-offish.
A lot of people are home during the day and they're much more prone to actually answer the door. I wouldn't imagine you'd want to be out there banging on doors from 7pm to 8pm anyway.
Residential marketing works - it's a matter of whether or not you're actually going to do it.
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Sure I can agree with this but I was responding to pitching NYL, not exactly your most competitive insurance in W/L or Term. I just don't think the product is a good match for the bottom half of the middle class. If I was going to do that I would offer a more competitive W/L that concentrates on low DB as in Final Expense, or pitch a more competitive Term Policy.
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I've sold various products including health insurance in both B2B and Residential. I had a much better return doing Health Insurance B2B vs Residential. I prefer B2B over Res with just about any product. That being said, I can't see myself doing B2B in the Senior Market. I do a decent amount of residential work now, at least what CMS will allow. Mostly just door hangers and the occassional "T-Call". I like doing most of my door hangers in the early AM when people are active. I can knock out 250 door hangers in 2-3 hours and I generally get a few conversations, a couple of referrals, and although rare... the occassional slamdunk. After that I generally get a few calls and a couple of appointments... another sale or two.
Like John said... Res works... It's just whether or not you actually do it.
It's also about having fun while out out there. One of the best sales skills I learned was while doing door to door... don't take yourself too seriously.
Like John said... Res works... It's just whether or not you actually do it.
It's also about having fun while out out there. One of the best sales skills I learned was while doing door to door... don't take yourself too seriously.
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Michael Haislip said:
People do not buy NYL just based on price. Except for one product, their term is higher than much of the competition out there. I find their WL is certainly competitive. It's not the cheapest rate you can find, but I would not buy permanent coverage from a small company and I wouldn't even consider anyone that is not a mutual company. The reality is low income prospects are not great NYL prospects. There may be some exceptions, such as a guy that has 250K in term at work, but wants a good 25K WL policy so it'll be there for his family, but that's not going to make you rich and it's not worth knocking on the doors of the HUD projects.
The two clear exceptions are that I could offer some competition through NYL's broker that carries other life companies and there is always some hidden money somewhere in the poor communities. An old neighbor of mine told me about some guy in an area town that was worth close to $100M but lived in a small house in the middle of town. He was tearing apart a window air conditioning unit one night when my neighbor stopped by, rather than simply buy a new one.
Would you say that a less aggressive approach of just saying hello, handing out your trinket, and trying to set a later appointment would be better received? I would never actually try to sell on the spot or even go into significant detail.
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john_petrowski said:
John, which company did you work for? I briefly sold Energy America services through a DS-MAX subsidiary.
I kinda know what you mean. Some people have a mentality where if you interupt their dinner they act as though you've killed their firstborn.
Here's a scenario. You knock on a door and a soccer mom answers. After conversing, you gather that her husband is not home, but suggest maybe stopping by for 15 minutes to bring them some items to look at and review. Her husband tells her they "don't need any insurance" and asks her why she agreed. Yet, Saturday morning comes and there you go back and you notice the Steeler memorabilia and begin talking football with the husband. You're in.
I think it's an awesome time to do it in the summertime when it's still very light out, but there's something creepy about someone knocking on your door at 7:30 in January.
Do you think it's hard, or brutal? That is what I keep on wondering. I know if I tried to close the deal on the porch I would get some "Who the f**k do you think you are coming here knocking on my door trying to sell that sh*t?". I would think if I just say hello, introduce myself, and try to see if I can come back for 15 minutes next week, the really rude asshole has to be pretty few and far between.
- 14,809
NHB_MMA said:
Well we have a lot in common don't me - UGA and DSMAX. Regarding the residential marketing, I worked for Energy Marketing and we represented Total Gas & Electric in MD, PA, DC, NY, NJ, GA and OH.
I also worked for Wholesale Warehousing Industries. That was the name before it changed to DS MAX. I actually ran two deals - one out of Reno and another with Danny Rowe out of Brea CA. Made great money going BtoB marketing with the toy and clearance division. Just got burnt out after four years.
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