Trouble getting them to the door

[goillini52]

Spoken like an old debit agent who carried "The Book".. Came in might handy more than once.. ..

I was never a debit agent, but when I still carried a briefcase, I've swung them at plenty of dogs. One time there was a pack of them nipping at my heels while I was canvassing in a little town in Nebraska. I finally got pissed and I started chasing the dogs and threw my briefcase at them. Didn't hit anything but the road and left a nice skid mark on the briefcase.

I decided to move to another street in case anybody was watching out their window at that crazy guy chasing dogs down the street.

 

[theleadingagent]

I'm a couple months into this now and at first I called my leads and made appointments. I didn't do great but I made enough to pay the bills that way. Calling and setting appointments is what I'm used to.

My IMO told me that's dumb and that I need to go visit and door knock instead so I tried that. Well, I have fallen flat onto my face doing this!!!

Nobody comes to the door this way. And I don't blame them, either. I never answer my own door when it's someone I don't recognize and am not expecting. I'm sure they're doing the same thing.

I'm very tempted to go back to MY way of doing this and telling my IMO to kick rocks with their way of thinking and let me do this the way I want to do this. After all, my way was more successful than their way. I ate when I did it my way but now I'm starving trying to do it their way.

Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas? Has anyone else ever had this issue of appointment setting working better than door knocking?

I'm getting very frustrated!

Firstly, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Perhaps refining your appointment setting would have been more effective for you than changing up your system by completely stopping what works for you.

Secondly, there may be times where no one answers the phones, you have zero appointments or the people who do set appointments flake out. So in these cases you will benefit from knowing how to door knock

Perhaps your upline meant to SUPPLEMENT your appointment setting with door knocking?

Finally, your mindset is a factor as well. Don't assume your prospects think like you. As odd as it may seem to you, some people still DO answer their doors for strangers. Ironically they will ignore a call from a number they don't recognize but answer the door for a person they don't recognize lol!

 

[theleadingagent]

When they answer, I let them know who I am and that I'm there to give them the info they requested while showing them the card they filled out.

That may or may not be the best door approach but right now I'm not focused on that. My main problem right now is that nobody answers the door. I've tried going in the morning, afternoon, and early evening. I'm not going after 5:00, though. I have a family and I didn't take this job to never be home with them. Besides, these people are retired or disabled and not working. No reason I should have to go visit in the late evenings to get them at home. Especially not when I've had more luck calling ahead of time to set an appointment. It's just that my IMO has made me feel like I shouldn't be doing that even though I (and they) have made more money doing it that way as opposed to their way.

Also you are refusing to go to their homes after 5pm which is a time frame that the average working family will be home.....after work around 5:30 ish

If you do continue to door knock, and you feel like your schedule is not conducive to after 5 then you may need to consider your target market = instead try door knocking retirees who are home during the day.....or simply be more open to seeing clients in early evening.

Just because they are retired doesn't mean they're not out working to supplement their retirement income.

I'm sure your family would rather you be out in the field making money to pay bills than be at home creating liability for them....at least until you can scale back and cut early evenings because you're pulling in the money to do so.

Also try door knocking Saturday mornings and afternoons.

 

[jensing0406]

I'm a couple months into this now and at first I called my leads and made appointments. I didn't do great but I made enough to pay the bills that way. Calling and setting appointments is what I'm used to.

My IMO told me that's dumb and that I need to go visit and door knock instead so I tried that. Well, I have fallen flat onto my face doing this!!!

Nobody comes to the door this way. And I don't blame them, either. I never answer my own door when it's someone I don't recognize and am not expecting. I'm sure they're doing the same thing.

I'm very tempted to go back to MY way of doing this and telling my IMO to kick rocks with their way of thinking and let me do this the way I want to do this. After all, my way was more successful than their way. I ate when I did it my way but now I'm starving trying to do it their way.

Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas? Has anyone else ever had this issue of appointment setting working better than door knocking?

I'm getting very frustrated!

Here's what my advice be to you. If you have a decent budget and with an IMO that has a fixed lead cost, but 30-40 leads a week if you are working in a condensed populated area. Call Sunday nights booking two full days of appointments (sunday night everyone is home). If you are good on the phone and it was working, don't change what was working. With the leads that don't pick up, don't have phone numbers, or told you to pound sand, go and door knock those leads. Make sure you are using delivery notices at the door for when the people aren't home.

I was struggling at the door, and one of my agents who was getting 75 leads a month writing over 40k a month I started using his door knocking approach. All he did when he knocked the door is say, "I'm here with the benefit center and you wanted to see if you qualify for final expense and burial coverage." I started doing that and got into a lot more houses.

Remember appointment setting is about grabbing the low hanging fruit and door knocking is about increasing the profitability of your leads.

Stay tuned later as i'm going to put my phone script up.

 

[theinsuranceman]

Here's what my advice be to you. If you have a decent budget and with an IMO that has a fixed lead cost, but 30-40 leads a week if you are working in a condensed populated area. Call Sunday nights booking two full days of appointments (sunday night everyone is home). If you are good on the phone and it was working, don't change what was working. With the leads that don't pick up, don't have phone numbers, or told you to pound sand, go and door knock those leads. Make sure you are using delivery notices at the door for when the people aren't home.

I was struggling at the door, and one of my agents who was getting 75 leads a month writing over 40k a month I started using his door knocking approach. All he did when he knocked the door is say, "I'm here with the benefit center and you wanted to see if you qualify for final expense and burial coverage." I started doing that and got into a lot more houses.

Remember appointment setting is about grabbing the low hanging fruit and door knocking is about increasing the profitability of your leads.

Stay tuned later as i'm going to put my phone script up.

75 leads producing 40k? Lol

 

[walleye]

Try recording yourself, it easy with cell phones. You might be shocked at what comes out of your mouth. I have done this on many different types of sales and it has always helped me. Good luck!