Watching my Assistant Make Cold Calls is Painful

secondcreek

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I am a P & C agent and have hired my first assistant. He is proving to be excellent at networking, face to face client interactions, over the phone client interactions.

I have actually gotten several unsolicited comments from clients how about how nice and helpful my assistant is.

I have access to several thousand people to cold call for insurance quotes and it is painful to watch him cold call. I have given him a script, let him listen to me on some calls, had him try no set script but gave him some bullet points to pivot to depending on the objection, and I have tried prayer. Nothing seems to be working at this point.

I have even taken the last few weeks and mailed out letters and then let him call behind the letters thinking this would help him. It hasn't.

He is way too good in every area except cold calling to even think about getting rid of him. I just need to find a way to coach him up.

Any suggestions?
 
I am a P & C agent and have hired my first assistant. He is proving to be excellent at networking, face to face client interactions, over the phone client interactions.

I have actually gotten several unsolicited comments from clients how about how nice and helpful my assistant is.

I have access to several thousand people to cold call for insurance quotes and it is painful to watch him cold call. I have given him a script, let him listen to me on some calls, had him try no set script but gave him some bullet points to pivot to depending on the objection, and I have tried prayer. Nothing seems to be working at this point.

I have even taken the last few weeks and mailed out letters and then let him call behind the letters thinking this would help him. It hasn't.

He is way too good in every area except cold calling to even think about getting rid of him. I just need to find a way to coach him up.

Any suggestions?

Have you tried alcohol? Not you, him.
 
There are many ingredients to a cold call the intro, the hook, the close.
There is also other variables that will affect a person's performance.
Are they being monitored
Are they nervous of rejection
Are they nervous of objections and handling them
Without knowing which ingredient he's having trouble with its tough to recommend any course of action.
Have you asked him what is different about a cold call that doesn't allow him to be as successful as the other areas?
 
I am a P & C agent and have hired my first assistant. He is proving to be excellent at networking, face to face client interactions, over the phone client interactions.

I have actually gotten several unsolicited comments from clients how about how nice and helpful my assistant is.

I have access to several thousand people to cold call for insurance quotes and it is painful to watch him cold call. I have given him a script, let him listen to me on some calls, had him try no set script but gave him some bullet points to pivot to depending on the objection, and I have tried prayer. Nothing seems to be working at this point.

I have even taken the last few weeks and mailed out letters and then let him call behind the letters thinking this would help him. It hasn't.

He is way too good in every area except cold calling to even think about getting rid of him. I just need to find a way to coach him up.

Any suggestions?

Yes, don't expect a water to be a chef too. Telemarketing requires a different skill set than service work. The same things that would make a great csr actually hurt a telemarketer.

Scripts are actually very important, not just bullet points.

How much telemarketing have you done personally?
 
I have access to several thousand people to cold call for insurance quotes and it is painful to watch him cold call. I have given him a script, let him listen to me on some calls, had him try no set script but gave him some bullet points to pivot to depending on the objection, and I have tried prayer. Nothing seems to be working at this point.

I have even taken the last few weeks and mailed out letters and then let him call behind the letters thinking this would help him. It hasn't.

He is way too good in every area except cold calling to even think about getting rid of him. I just need to find a way to coach him up.

Any suggestions?

You just need to give him time. When my current telemarketer started, a few months ago, I though she was brain-dead. I came very close to firing her. Turned out, she was very nervous. After a month of some awkward calling, she started feeling more at ease with it. She altered the script slightly to make it her own, something she feels natural with. Now, 3 months in, she starts the same time each day. Feels like she knows the products and is comfortable talking about what we're attempting to accomplish...and sets great appointments.
So, give the guy a little time. Let him learn the products he his calling about. Have him make the script something he feels is his own.
 
Personal lines or commercial lines?

Care to share the script he is using?

At this point I would give him a definitive script and not let him not vary from it. What script is he using?
 
He probably doesn't like making cold calls.

I would use him for what he is best at and hire someone to strictly cold call.

A telemarketer is a horse of a whole other color.

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Have you tried alcohol? Not you, him.

The best telemarketers I've ever met whack down a six-pack for lunch everyday!
 
When it comes to cold calling a person has to detach. You have to become another person. Try this. Have him go through the yellow pages (Caller ID off ) and just ask a question such as "what time do you open and close?". After doing that for about a 100 times the cold calling fear will be gone.

The way I cured myself of the fear was back in the day I just dialed names in the phone book and ask them if they wanted life insurance. Many said no but every now and then someone said yes to my surprise. After doing that being told no just didn't have the same effect. It basically became no=next.
 
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