What percentage?

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

In most cases, yes.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Not bad. You could run a completely free marketing program if you don't mind making the calls yourself.

 

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

Eight times out of ten, when I am calling from a list I create, and not from a lead, I am the only one calling.

I have nothing against lead generation companies, nor telemarketers. I just prefer to do it myself.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

That's fine but to me my time's best spent contacting already interested people. It would take 3 to 4 hours per day of cold calling to generate the leads I need to operate and I simply don't have that amount of time.

 

[James]

I agree with targeting small towns. The more remote the better and if you don't think there's a noticeable difference you're wrong. In general the closer you get to cities the more brutal it gets. I have marketers calling the most remote areas of MD - you have to parachute into these places. Fantastic attitudes.

I'm not sure about what you say. I tried once to get into some businesses in Deerlick TN, now since you brought up parachuting in this is the place! What I found here and other places such as this if you are not related you aint sellling! Now no TN or GA jokes about family trees but it wasn't a pleasent experience, had my *** handed to me. Now this is B2B, not saying there is a lot store fronts in places like Deerlick but I do so love to take drives and this is a drive in the back country, makes me feel like I'm on the stage for Deliverance without a canoe that is.

Than again I do work around Maryville and Knoxville Tennessee, neither would I consider a city of any significance. Yet though I have worked in Houston and other cities of note, I have to say sure you may have to burn up more prospects but I never found it to be harder than working around here which most would not consider to be a large city atmosphere. Yet though I find more Snot's around here than I ever did in Houston TX but I am comparing Photography to Insurance or DME when I use to travel to NC and GA visiting some cities I would call noteable such as Atlanta and Charlotte. Now some of this I'm going back in time, such as the days of Houston and Mayor Kathy Whitmire, when the debate was "Is Houston a Metro Area or just and oversize Redneck "Good Ole Boy" Municipality?", oh the good ole' days.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Well.....you have to look at the area. Think you'll do well calling Appalachia WV? That's remote. I'm not talking "engine block hanging from the tree" remote. I'm talking about remote areas with money. You know your own state.

 

[J.R.]

No, actually, by being a card carrying member of the Dekalb County Library System, I can access referenceusa.com via my computer. I spend maybe 5 minutes doing a custom search, and the rest is phone time.

You see, that is a subscription the library pays for, and provides to me, as a service.

I understand that because the local libraries around here offer access to the database, but you can only download 10 business names at a time. I have been trying to figure out a way that I can use software to keep track of my telemarketing w/out constantly updating spreadsheets at the end of the day.

The only way I have found this to work thus far is to either purchase service from somebody like SalesGenie, import that data into freecrm or a computer based software program......or continue to use goleads and experience a hard time because the number of hours needed to update the various prospect databases. I am starting to think the $150 a month is worth the price of admission.

 

[Bob_The_Insurance_Guy]

I bring up referenceusa.com and do my custom search, which provides me a list of companies. I open one company, switch over to freecrm.com and put in the company name and number, make the call, read the script. If they do want to do business with me, I then add them as a company in my database, including the contacts I have spoken to.

I then toggle back to referenceusa.com and do the same with the next company, etc.

No downloading, no purchasing, just looking, typing and speaking.

 

[johnrocks]

how much does reference cost. you may have already said elsewhere and if you did I apologize. It shows that my library is subscribed but I must be doing something wrong cause I CAN"T ACCESS IT lol