How much time a day do you designate for cold calling? What do you say?
Total Comments: 15
Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 08:57 am Post Subject:
If you refer to cold call over the phone and if you do cold call to get face-to-face appointment, it is advisable to allocate half-a-day in a week to do nothing but only calling till you get your diary filled with appointments.
A person may get frustrated when getting repeated "no"s over the phone, you need to learn how to accept "no"s. To build in some fun elements, you can invite your associates to compete with you to decide who secures the most appointments within agreed time frame.
Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 02:03 am Post Subject:
I designate as much time as I can find. I only cold call on mid-sized commerical, so I can't speak for personal lines. I do sell personal lines; I just network, seek referrals and buy some leads for that. When cold calling I learn everything I can about a particular niche market. Then, what I say is what I know the person on the other end of the phone will be interested to hear. If they believe you know their business, they'll be likely to talk. The "save you money" pitch is worn out. I'm a knowledgeable consultant that will protect their interests. I hear no WAY more than yes. But, I don't care. As long as I keep a steady flow of contacts working, some of it will pan out.
Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 01:45 pm Post Subject: insurance
I'm gonna put my '2 cents' in on this one. I think I would respect those Insurance Companies, that call me, MORE if they would let the 'consumer' let them know what they wanted...instead of trying to go into all of this 'stuff' right off the bat..know what I mean? I'm not saying this harshly.........I'm just saying maybe when an agent calls, THEY should ask YOU what you want/need before anything else is said.
Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 05:07 pm Post Subject:
Ewwwwwww, cold calling.
I'm with OHInsAGNT, in that I'm certain that referrals are the way to go. I've been in the insurance industry for 18 years, have made as few cold calls as possible, and spent less than $300 (total) on purchased leads and call lists.
When I was cold calling, I always tried to sound more like an old friend from high school who's calling to say 'Hi' rather than someone who had something to sell. That was back when auto-dialers were in their infancy and very few agents (that I knew of) ever considered buying leads.
I think people have been literally "beat-up" by auto-dialers, telemarketers, and other types of scam-artists who dare to call during dinner time. Combine this with bad publicity, DNC regulations, and the current state of the economy, it amazes me how new agents even stay in business.
For a long time, I had a Client Incentive Program (not to be confused with rebating) whereby I would reward my clients for quality referrals. Since switching to High-Tech Prospecting roughly 12 years ago, I never have a shortage of prospects - granted I only write 5 or 6 policies a year.
I think that if I were to get back into sales, I'd hook up with a P&C agent who had an established book of business and work from there. I would have this agent send a short letter of introduction out to his clients so that anyone who'd read it would know who I was when I called. There would be no pressure or even a sense of urgency.
I would call, introduce myself, and make friends with them. Where do you work? Really? I know so-and-so works there too. Do you know him? Where do your kids go to school? Oh, Mrs. Jones is a great teacher there and a client of mine. Where do you work? Wow, what a cool job. I'd love to hear more about how you got into such a great line of work. - stuff like that. DON'T TALK ABOUT SALES, merely add it on at the end.
PEOPLE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO SELL THEM SOMETHING, THEY'RE LOOKING FOR A FRIEND AND SOMEONE THEY FEEL THEY CAN TRUST. PEOPLE WILL NOT BUY YOUR PRODUCT, THEY'LL BUY YOU.
Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 05:16 pm Post Subject:
I'm gonna put my '2 cents' in on this one. I think I would respect those Insurance Companies, that call me, MORE if they would let the 'consumer' let them know what they wanted...instead of trying to go into all of this 'stuff' right off the bat..know what I mean? I'm not saying this harshly.........I'm just saying maybe when an agent calls, THEY should ask YOU what you want/need before anything else is said.
I agree, but you have to get the customer interested. If you call and take up the first 60 seconds by talking about how great your product is, you are not effective. They quit listening 10 seconds in and are waiting for a pause to break the call. You need to engage, ask them how they are, be brief. But, you can't simply call and say, "What can I do to help you with your ____ insurance?" The answer will be, "Nothing, we've got it covered". You need to key them in to there might be something they want from you, whether it is you expertise or product feature. Engaging the customer to find their needs and meet them is the second step of a cold call, not the first. The first is to generate interest.
Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 07:23 pm Post Subject:
Have you ever cold-called someone about life insurance and had them tell you that they already have a policy? "That's great" you respond "how long do you need the coverage for?" This automatically classifies them as a term-or-permanent policy owner. Term rates can almost always be beat and those people are often willing to save money over the life of the policy. If they tell you that their policy is going to last until they die - whenever that might be, you ask, "are you sure or is that what the agent told you? You know, experts say that 40% of all life insurance written since 1983 is bad. I hope your policy isn't in that group." Then back off and listen to how they respond. If they say something like, "money from my policy is invested in the stock market and is a great plan" or "I only have 4 more years of premiums and then my policy is paid up" or "I'm going to use money from my policy to supplement my retirement" they're pretty-much screwed and don't even know.
"Because I really want to help you, go to this website; www.markcolbert.com and read what this expert says about policies like yours. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to introduce you to Mr. Colbert. If any trouble is found, he'll help get your money back from the company and we can get your insurance plan back on the right track.
In this scenario, you haven't tried to sell them anything, you've created a HUGE concern, and given them a solution to any potential problem with no money out of their pocket. You're the hero and you deserve their business.
Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 01:05 pm Post Subject: insurance
Boy!! I can see EVERYONE point-of-view on this subject. If a Telemarketer is calling ( USUALLY with a #800) I don't even answer the phone. The 'trust thing' is a BIG issue with me.
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 05:30 am Post Subject:
Really i do have have a bad experience with cold calling.If someone wanna go for the product why do they purchase it from any tom dick & harry, Whom they know only through a phone.rather cold calling is really not a way to run our business in this tough competitive market.
go for dining along with your friend's, friend's, friend's.You will close a sell.
:wink:
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 09:52 pm Post Subject: insurance
I agree, ENSURE. I had an insurance agent call me. He was 'approaching' me with a Health Insurance policy. I told him I was interested in hearing about Life Insurance...Term and Whole Life. It was like the agent din't even hear me. Just kept talking about this OTHER thing. I just hung up. Was really frustrating for me.
Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 06:18 am Post Subject:
Referrals are definitely the wisest way to do business, but for young agents cold calling is definitely an important method to reach out to the customers. This is also the beginning to build-up the book of business upon which he/she may depend in the future.
Agreed, that with the ever growing number of telemarketers, people are enrolling more and more in the DNC list, but one may not discard a method of selling entirely. Referrals, cold calling all can go simultaneously.
Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 08:57 am Post Subject:
If you refer to cold call over the phone and if you do cold call to get face-to-face appointment, it is advisable to allocate half-a-day in a week to do nothing but only calling till you get your diary filled with appointments.
A person may get frustrated when getting repeated "no"s over the phone, you need to learn how to accept "no"s. To build in some fun elements, you can invite your associates to compete with you to decide who secures the most appointments within agreed time frame.
Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 02:03 am Post Subject:
I designate as much time as I can find. I only cold call on mid-sized commerical, so I can't speak for personal lines. I do sell personal lines; I just network, seek referrals and buy some leads for that. When cold calling I learn everything I can about a particular niche market. Then, what I say is what I know the person on the other end of the phone will be interested to hear. If they believe you know their business, they'll be likely to talk. The "save you money" pitch is worn out. I'm a knowledgeable consultant that will protect their interests. I hear no WAY more than yes. But, I don't care. As long as I keep a steady flow of contacts working, some of it will pan out.
Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 01:45 pm Post Subject: insurance
I'm gonna put my '2 cents' in on this one. I think I would respect those Insurance Companies, that call me, MORE if they would let the 'consumer' let them know what they wanted...instead of trying to go into all of this 'stuff' right off the bat..know what I mean? I'm not saying this harshly.........I'm just saying maybe when an agent calls, THEY should ask YOU what you want/need before anything else is said.
Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 05:07 pm Post Subject:
Ewwwwwww, cold calling.
I'm with OHInsAGNT, in that I'm certain that referrals are the way to go. I've been in the insurance industry for 18 years, have made as few cold calls as possible, and spent less than $300 (total) on purchased leads and call lists.
When I was cold calling, I always tried to sound more like an old friend from high school who's calling to say 'Hi' rather than someone who had something to sell. That was back when auto-dialers were in their infancy and very few agents (that I knew of) ever considered buying leads.
I think people have been literally "beat-up" by auto-dialers, telemarketers, and other types of scam-artists who dare to call during dinner time. Combine this with bad publicity, DNC regulations, and the current state of the economy, it amazes me how new agents even stay in business.
For a long time, I had a Client Incentive Program (not to be confused with rebating) whereby I would reward my clients for quality referrals. Since switching to High-Tech Prospecting roughly 12 years ago, I never have a shortage of prospects - granted I only write 5 or 6 policies a year.
I think that if I were to get back into sales, I'd hook up with a P&C agent who had an established book of business and work from there. I would have this agent send a short letter of introduction out to his clients so that anyone who'd read it would know who I was when I called. There would be no pressure or even a sense of urgency.
I would call, introduce myself, and make friends with them. Where do you work? Really? I know so-and-so works there too. Do you know him? Where do your kids go to school? Oh, Mrs. Jones is a great teacher there and a client of mine. Where do you work? Wow, what a cool job. I'd love to hear more about how you got into such a great line of work. - stuff like that. DON'T TALK ABOUT SALES, merely add it on at the end.
PEOPLE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO SELL THEM SOMETHING, THEY'RE LOOKING FOR A FRIEND AND SOMEONE THEY FEEL THEY CAN TRUST. PEOPLE WILL NOT BUY YOUR PRODUCT, THEY'LL BUY YOU.
Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 05:16 pm Post Subject:
I'm gonna put my '2 cents' in on this one. I think I would respect those Insurance Companies, that call me, MORE if they would let the 'consumer' let them know what they wanted...instead of trying to go into all of this 'stuff' right off the bat..know what I mean? I'm not saying this harshly.........I'm just saying maybe when an agent calls, THEY should ask YOU what you want/need before anything else is said.
I agree, but you have to get the customer interested. If you call and take up the first 60 seconds by talking about how great your product is, you are not effective. They quit listening 10 seconds in and are waiting for a pause to break the call. You need to engage, ask them how they are, be brief. But, you can't simply call and say, "What can I do to help you with your ____ insurance?" The answer will be, "Nothing, we've got it covered". You need to key them in to there might be something they want from you, whether it is you expertise or product feature. Engaging the customer to find their needs and meet them is the second step of a cold call, not the first. The first is to generate interest.
Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 07:23 pm Post Subject:
Have you ever cold-called someone about life insurance and had them tell you that they already have a policy? "That's great" you respond "how long do you need the coverage for?" This automatically classifies them as a term-or-permanent policy owner. Term rates can almost always be beat and those people are often willing to save money over the life of the policy. If they tell you that their policy is going to last until they die - whenever that might be, you ask, "are you sure or is that what the agent told you? You know, experts say that 40% of all life insurance written since 1983 is bad. I hope your policy isn't in that group." Then back off and listen to how they respond. If they say something like, "money from my policy is invested in the stock market and is a great plan" or "I only have 4 more years of premiums and then my policy is paid up" or "I'm going to use money from my policy to supplement my retirement" they're pretty-much screwed and don't even know.
"Because I really want to help you, go to this website; www.markcolbert.com and read what this expert says about policies like yours. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to introduce you to Mr. Colbert. If any trouble is found, he'll help get your money back from the company and we can get your insurance plan back on the right track.
In this scenario, you haven't tried to sell them anything, you've created a HUGE concern, and given them a solution to any potential problem with no money out of their pocket. You're the hero and you deserve their business.
Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 01:05 pm Post Subject: insurance
Boy!! I can see EVERYONE point-of-view on this subject. If a Telemarketer is calling ( USUALLY with a #800) I don't even answer the phone. The 'trust thing' is a BIG issue with me.
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 05:30 am Post Subject:
Really i do have have a bad experience with cold calling.If someone wanna go for the product why do they purchase it from any tom dick & harry, Whom they know only through a phone.rather cold calling is really not a way to run our business in this tough competitive market.
go for dining along with your friend's, friend's, friend's.You will close a sell.
:wink:
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 09:52 pm Post Subject: insurance
I agree, ENSURE. I had an insurance agent call me. He was 'approaching' me with a Health Insurance policy. I told him I was interested in hearing about Life Insurance...Term and Whole Life. It was like the agent din't even hear me. Just kept talking about this OTHER thing. I just hung up. Was really frustrating for me.
Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 06:18 am Post Subject:
Referrals are definitely the wisest way to do business, but for young agents cold calling is definitely an important method to reach out to the customers. This is also the beginning to build-up the book of business upon which he/she may depend in the future.
Agreed, that with the ever growing number of telemarketers, people are enrolling more and more in the DNC list, but one may not discard a method of selling entirely. Referrals, cold calling all can go simultaneously.
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