The KEY for Call Reluctance--FINALLY!!!

[ineedhelp]

My fellow readers, I figured it out.
The biggest problem in dealing with call reluctance is this:
Totally incorrect training! Why? Because, for years, no, Decades, Sales people have been trained to "Overcome Objections", as if certain "magical phrases or words, would convince someone against their will.
All that does is create ADVERSITY. You can't face Adversity over and over and over and not become Adverse to it yourself.

So, I figured it out. Yes, we need to keep on contacting folks if we want to have sales success. BUT, it dawned on me while playing Solitaire---If the cards I've been dealt don't give me a shot at winning, I need to re-deal. I don't beat myself up trying to change a 9 into an Ace. I accept what I'm dealt, and if I can't do anything with it, I start again. I don't sulk, get defensive, feel defeated or anything else. I don't take it personally, because it isn't personal.

Just deal yourself another hand( i.e. hang up and dial again). It's nothing more difficult than that.

 

[JoKat]

Just never give up. I know there is a lot of money in this business. Just you have to find your angle in and you can score. But if you give up you are left with only what you got and no more. Sort of like term insurance.

 

[pcbinsurance]

Are you saying....don't handle and attempt to overcome objections? If so, that's giving up way too easily.
That said, if they are adamant with an objection, of course you should thank them and end the call.
Shouldn't take more than a few minutes to find out.

 

[ineedhelp]

No, I'm not saying give up right away. like solitaire, keep turning over your options, but when it's no, accept it. Don't keep trying to reason with unreasonableness or other circumstances over which you have no control.

 

[djs]

Are you saying....don't handle and attempt to overcome objections? If so, that's giving up way too easily.
That said, if they are adamant with an objection, of course you should thank them and end the call.
Shouldn't take more than a few minutes to find out.

Actually, you should read some of Bill Good's stuff. He had much better success in not trying to handle objections, his closing went up, not down.

This was closings per day(?), not per call. Basically, if someone was truly objecting, he found it a waste of time to try to overcome the objections, simply move on.

Not sure I 100% subscribe to this, but there is probably a lot of truth in not spending a lot of time if the person has said NO.

Dan

 

[scagnt83]

My best advice for prospecting (especially cold calling) is to not waste time or worry about the NOs.

But an objection is not a "no". It is a way of them asking "why do I need to talk to you about this".

That brings me to the second piece of advice:
Be direct about what you can do to better their insurance situation.

Remember, you are a random person, calling them at a random time of the day, while they are busy doing who knows what. They want you to get to the point.

Since most people have a Term Life policy of some sorts, a great Term prospecting technique is "you have a term policy right?".
That simple line gets a conversation started and gets you off of some god forsaken script that 10,000 other agents have used before you.

From there you can ask about the age, type, or amount.
After a couple of quick questions just ask "if I could save you money on that policy would you place your life insurance business with me?"
Or you can ask the same thing with extending the length of coverage, increasing the coverage for same price, etc etc etc.

But at that point you get a yes or a no. Either they are willing to act or they arent. The sooner you find out the sooner you can move on from the NOs.



On a different note. I once spoke to a big NYL producer who used to make 150 CCs a day. He kept stats on CCs and he found that every "No" made him about $100.
Since he had to go through 10 NOs to get to 1 yes, and his average comp was $1k, he figured each no was worth about $100.
So instead of writing "no" or crossing out that name, he would write "$100" next to it.

 

[VolAgent]

On a different note. I once spoke to a big NYL producer who used to make 150 CCs a day. He kept stats on CCs and he found that every "No" made him about $100.
Since he had to go through 10 NOs to get to 1 yes, and his average comp was $1k, he figured each no was worth about $100.
So instead of writing "no" or crossing out that name, he would write "$100" next to it.

IMO, the single biggest obstacle to successful cold calling is staying positive and focused. If little tricks like that help, then do it.

 

[Daytona_Guy]

Mike Brooks {The Real Secrets of the Top 20%} says that a bad lead does not get any better as you keep trying to work it. In other words, if you get a really bad feeling from the person at the beginning, stop spending time on that negative person who has a 10% (for example) chance of becoming a client. Top producers move on to someone with a higher probability of letting you help them.

On a different note. I once spoke to a big NYL producer who used to make 150 CCs a day. He kept stats on CCs and he found that every "No" made him about $100.
Since he had to go through 10 NOs to get to 1 yes, and his average comp was $1k, he figured each no was worth about $100.
So instead of writing "no" or crossing out that name, he would write "$100" next to it.

This concept of looking at the "NO"'s is best explained in Stephan Schiffman's book Getting Through (Amazon.com: Getting Through: Cold Calling Techniques To Get Your Foot In The Door (9780743520218): Stephan Schiffman: Books)

Good stuff, and a great way to look at prospecting!

 

[yogooglethis]

My fellow readers, I figured it out.
The biggest problem in dealing with call reluctance is this:
Totally incorrect training! Why? Because, for years, no, Decades, Sales people have been trained to "Overcome Objections", as if certain "magical phrases or words, would convince someone against their will.
All that does is create ADVERSITY. You can't face Adversity over and over and over and not become Adverse to it yourself.

So, I figured it out. Yes, we need to keep on contacting folks if we want to have sales success. BUT, it dawned on me while playing Solitaire---If the cards I've been dealt don't give me a shot at winning, I need to re-deal. I don't beat myself up trying to change a 9 into an Ace. I accept what I'm dealt, and if I can't do anything with it, I start again. I don't sulk, get defensive, feel defeated or anything else. I don't take it personally, because it isn't personal.

Just deal yourself another hand( i.e. hang up and dial again). It's nothing more difficult than that.

Cold calling is definitely not my my forte but I have couple of tricks that help me get started.

1. On days I have serious call reluctance I find it helps to start with a couple of customer service calls to clients you know will be friendly. Just talking with a customer that is happy with the products I sell boost my confidence and energy enough to start making the more dreaded sales calls.

2.If I have a list of 20 people I need to call I have a bad tendency to call the ones I think are the easiest first instead of just calling straight down the list.

One think is for certain - If I just call the list in the order they appear on list instead of calling in order of easier ones first the result is ALWAYS better.

 

[xrac]

Sounds like "High Probability Selling". Where is Jacque?