Why Don't You Cold Call?

[Full Throttle]

2 to 4 hours a day of prospecting consistently will only result in two things: a full schedule and writing a lot of business. The caveat is that it's done every day and results in you asking a direct question to move the process forward. Either an appointment or qualifying question based on what you sell.

 

[Justin Bilyj]

Cold calling, I found, is a state of mind.

When I first got into this business they told me to cold call door knock or purchase leads. Whether I thought I was too good for cold calling or didn't want to use my energy, I fought it with procrastination and purchased leads. WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY and TIME. After a few years of this philosophy and not seeing results I about quit. Then I ran into an old insurance associate that was doing well. We both got into the business around the same time with UGA, which went through a few name changes and is now Insphere. After a year with UGA we both left and went our separate ways. A few years passed when we ran into each other last January, we quickly caught up and he told me that he is selling over the phone in 8 different states and was doing quite well.

While drowning in debt and nothing to lose at this point I called him for one last ditch to save all the years I invested in my business. We sat and went over every stage of the sale. I quickly realized that I was the problem. Mentally, I was the problem. Once I accepted the fact that to be successful in this business I need to cold call, the phone has become my best friend. I have a very short script bc you only have about 8 secs to perk their interest, along with a followup question that I found works well for me. And I'm starting to see real success. While my goal is 20 every month. I've come close at 16 for the past few months. I know these numbers aren't spectacular compared to some here but they're real numbers. Oh and read as many posts as you can from Frank Stastny. He helped me tremendously and was an advocate for cold calling. Damn I miss him!

What are you calling for? How are you hooking their interest within the 8 seconds?

 

[moff17]

what is the script that you use?

 

[gca80]

Most seniors are not like you, at least the ones who talk to me.

Giving "good phone" is not something everyone takes the time to learn. Have I ever mentioned that before?????

In my experience cold calling seniors is way more productive than "networking". Where does one network, in the prune isle at the grocery store?

Ohio law now prevents cold calling seniors for med supps.

 

[insurehound]

The only thing that "doesn't work" is sitting around your home office doing nothing - or researching the best "CRM."

It's really easy to appear busy while doing nothing. The only harmful marketing activity is one that takes away time from something more productive. If you're going to work your inner circle, fine. Does that take 8 hours a day? Unlikely.

Basically, making cold calls harms nothing unless you would have spend that time doing something more productive. Since there are 8 hours in day, it's hard to argue that a new agent can't dedicate 2 hours a day to some cold calling and 2 to 4 more hours on another kind of marketing.

EXACTLY! I was able to reach three business owners yesterday. Those are three more than I would have reached sitting in the office and doing nothing.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Based on the calls I get during the day, a new agent's main focus shouldn't be cold calling or other forms of marketing, but implementing "seo" to drive a "sea of free leads" to their website.

Cold calling doesn't work. Apparently what does work is easily getting onto Google's 1st page. Who knew.

 

[Insurancetechhead]

In my early life I managed a phone room for vacation package sales for timeshare companies. I once had a hardened felon (this guy was in for a slew of violent crimes) get up apologies and run out the door saying this wasn't for him.

For many people, it is much easier to take a swing at cop holding a taser then it is to ask people for money or time.

 

[jamesshiver]

This quote is my motivation: "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do." (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Every week I practice the Sid Friedman method, 100 B2B cold calls on Monday morning. This makes for a rough day, but I refuse to fail because of my own fear. I always feel a huge sense of accomplishment once I am done.

Results this week: 100 calls, 15 contacts, 6 appointments.

 

[pcbinsurance]

100 calls to businesses and only 15 contacts?

 

[hardworker]

Like everyone else in the world I do not like cold calling but I love the results. When I go out and see the people I run into sales. Nothing puts me in front of more people than knocking on doors. When I started I lacked the money or sophistication to market or plug into a lead system. Plus I came from a health background and worked for an outfit that taught us to cold call businesses so it was a logical switch when I moved to FE. To make cold calling work you have to resign yourself to the fact that you will fail much more than you will succeed. However, you don't need all that much success during the day to do really well.