Successful Door Knocking Tips Question?

Hey Gracious,

I didn't get most of my business this way, but any successful agent has to have mastered some degree of cold calling to make it. You stated you have experience knocking on doors for other industries, but are not good on the phone. Use your strengths to your advantage. Acquiring knowledge of your product is key to it all. You have knocked before, the only difference is knowing about the product you are pitching. For me, once this was mastered, my business took off from referrals and cold prospecting. Always have someone to see, and something to see them about.
Your questions are excellent! For me, the answers would be:
1. Alone.
2. Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons.
3. Depends on the demographics of the prospect; favored products vary from one prospect to another.
4. My best demographics are professional individuals and couples age 25 - 40. It is a wide demographic, so you have to have done homework beforehand. Usually, this group has children they are protecting, and spouses that need to sustain life at a comfortable level if an untimely death were to take place. It is a smart group. It is in tune with the many ways life insurance can address their futures, including college for the children and retirement for themselves.
5. It depends on who you talk to. I always try to have outfits that are casual by themselves, but a tie adds the professional touch. Rule of thumb: It is always easier to dress down than to dress up.
6. Only a card with my name and number; door hangers and magnets can be used, I just find them more costly than I am willing to use in that manner.
7. My target number is 15 contacts in a day. Depending on how my day is going, It can be 20 - 25 contacts in a day. Any week with less than 60 contacts is a failure, regardless of the amount of premium written.
8. I go back into the same areas if there are set appointments I have set there, and I t-canvass the area when I am there. Other than that, I go to different areas each day.
9. I am a big fan of the appointment setting approach. I have also learned you have to personalize your approach so it is not seen as canned or rehearsed, so one approach does not work well with everybody. The approach has to be YOU; you are selling yourself! You will get some rejections at the appointment, some will not show, and others are not going to set an appointment. That's okay; the idea is stocking the pipeline with prospects that will buy from you, refer you to others, or give you some serious thought. Points of reference. Regardless, you must have the numbers in order to succeed. See enough people and gain confidence as you weather the storm. It is not going to be a cakewalk, but it is very doable! Good luck to you; keep me posted on your progress!
 
Good luck to you; keep me posted on your progress!

I doubt he is still in the business since his last post was February of 2013.

Great post nonetheless, for someone who can't afford to buy leads, and willing to work old school.
 
First, thomasm, thanks for the compliment for the post. As for the other assumptions you have made, I made the choice to prospect without leads; affordability has never been an issue. Also, I am willing to work old school because it has always yielded excellent results. I am in an environment where leads are naturally generated. Under this one roof are brokers and advisors for insurance (multiline), real estate, mortgages, home construction, accounting, and taxes. Our system yields plenty for us because our fields of expertise are so closely related. It's not about affordability, but it is about quality. If it is old school, that's cool! I'm not about to stop! It is still an opportunity I enjoy, and the process is simple: sell the company, sell yourself, give clients reason to have confidence through solid and informed advice, and aid them in their decision process through unselfish means. In return, they give me the opportunities to meet others in addition to becoming clients for life!
 
Anyone who door knocks should check out Paul Shakuri DoortoDoormastey. He sold Alarm systems in the past, but a lot of what he says will work in any industry.
 
I started as an insurance agent 3 years ago. I have gained 100% of my new business through door knocking and referrals from those clients. My target market is seniors and the best target is people turning 65. More than 80% of people turning 65 are DNCs (do not calls) so the only legal ways to reach them are by mail and door to door. I now have a client base of 500 and most of them are within 5 to 10 miles of my house because that is where I targeted my door knocking. My suggestions: 1. Begin with a good lead list. I use Medicare Supplements as my lead product. I have information on people turning 65 in an app on my smart phone and also on my Garmin. I could do it from a paper list but having it electronically makes it more convenient and efficient 2. Discipline yourself to door knock every week until you meet your goal. Set a challenging goal: how many new appointments you want. My goal was 15 per week starting out. Now my goal is 8 because I have other appointments to make (referrals, service calls). 3. Door knock when they are most likely to be home. Best time is Saturday because many people turning 65 are still working. Evenings are good also but in the fall and winter it gets dark too early and makes that difficult. Sunday afternoon is a good fallback if you haven't met your goal. However, in the beginning I door knocked all the time. I was either running appointments or making appointments. You need to build a business fast so you can have a base of clients for renewals and referrals. 4. Have a good brief introduction script and be well prepared to handle objections. 5. The obvious: be warm, friendly, make and keep eye contact. Use their first name often if you know it. 6. After the appointment, get to know them better right there on the porch (how long they lived there; working or retired; spouse's first name (if you don't have it); children/grandchildren in the area; phone number to call if you should be delayed; etc. Make a statement of value to solidify the appointment (People tell me this was the most important and useful thing they did all month.") 7. If the appointment is more than a few days out, send a hand written thank you note. It reminds them of the appointment and can resolve their "remorse" about having set the appointment and especially for the spouse who wasn't present when you made the appointment. Good luck!

How many of those 500 are med supp clients?
 
Gerald,

This info(below) was posted by Tom who is a member here on the forum. I dont have the link but I did save it in word doc so here it is.

Blueprint for Success for New Agents
________________________________________
Most people fail in this business because they are procrastinators. They don't want to get their hands dirty and then they fail miserably. To all of you new agents this is what you should do.

Read about the five ways approach. Learn it inside and out. Then go to at least 100 businesses every week and USE IT! Don't worry about knowing what you are talking about in the beginning. Just learn how to get the appointment. You can always take a seasoned agent with you on the appointment.

Go door knocking in your own neighborhood. This is great Saturday activity. Start around 11:00am and do it straight through until 5:00pm. Go right up to the door and knock on it. When someone answers this is what you do/say:

Hi, my name is Tom and I own ___________ Insurance Agency here in town. Do you currently have a life insurance agent? (wait for them to answer and it doesn't matter if they say yes or no) I would like to apply for the job. (let them say their response) I am taking time to today to meet all of my neighbors, but I want to make an appointment to sit down with you and (if they give you the "I already have life insurance" spiel) give you a free review of your current coverage (if they have no life insurance agent) or show you how you can protect the people you care about with the right type of insurance. This next part is important...get out your notepad and look at it. Then tell them days and times you have available. I am available Tuesday at 6:00pm, Wednesday at 7:00pm or Friday at 5:30pm. Which appointment would you like? Don't let them hem and haw about it and decide for themselves. Then get out your card and write their appointment date and time on it and give it to them. Shake their hand, tell them you will see them soon and LEAVE.

I am telling you. There is no replacement for beating the pavement and getting in front of people. Using this method you will be meeting literally hundreds of new people every week. If you meet 200 people per week and only 1% of them buy something you are writing two apps per week. If you are averaging $500 per app you are now in the $52K per year club. This is if you SUCK and can only get a 1% response. Imagine what 2% could bring? That would make you MDRT in your very first year.

Its not about reinventing the wheel. Its about doing the work. Do the work, make the money, pay yourself what you are worth.

Don't let some craptastic sales manager preach to you about friends and family. ITS B.S.! You show me a guy that builds his book selling friends and family and I will show you a guy who's friends and family don't invite him over anymore and a guy that will be out of business in a year.

Also, don't waste your money on leads. You will starve if they are your primary source of clients. They are a great supplement if you are already successful and have the cash to dole out for them, but other than that they are a waste of time.

Spend the time that you are not prospecting businesses and homes to meet attorneys and accountants. You should ask your friends and family who they use as their attorney and accountants and then drop their name to get your foot in the door. These people are a gold mine of referrals IF they trust you.

But, in the beginning its all about getting in front of people. If you spend at least four days a week prospecting by "cold walking" you will have more people to see than you can shake a stick at.

Do it and prosper!!!

This is coming from a guy that just got a rude awakening in the business. I am now following this advice and I submitted 11 apps last week. This week looks like it will probably be about half of that, but even if you are only doing 5-6 apps a week you are making loot.

5 apps per week for $50 per month life policies = about $600 commission each or $3000 per week in total. Its simple math. BELIEVE IN THIS!

FIND PROSPECTS!
MAKE APPOINTMENTS!
MAKE MONEY!

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I wish I had been told this point blank when I started. Every time I buy leads, I end up wasting my time and money. I don't see how agents are so successful working leads. They never work out for me.
 
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