Cold Calling

[gregcw]

Sending a self-serving letter does not make for a warm call.
Walking in on a suspect is worse than cold calling!

Re the principle who only wants you to cold call... His shop, his rules. If you don't like his rules, persuade. If unsuccessful, move on. Employees and employer do not have to agree on everything - they do have to share values to be successful.

I disagree with your definition of a warm call because it is the manner in which you handle it. Walking in without the introduction is worse than a cold call on the phone. This at least gives the prospect/suspect a bit of warning and does make it a warm call, although not hot. It appears that your definition of a warm call is either a referral or calling after the prospect has called you.

Regarding walking in on a suspect being worse than a cold call, I don't think that is necessarily true. If you are walking in on an insurance agency on Monday. I think that you'd agree that is not a good time to just walk in. Neither is just before lunch or the first thing in the morning. My point is that you need to be familiar with the industry that you are targetng and make your initial walk in introductory cold call at a time that is not normally an inconvenient time for them. You also need to politely state the purpose of your call and ask the prospect if he has time to talk with you before launching into a sales pitch. If they do not have the time ask, for a time that is convenient and ask if you can come back then. By doing this, you are showing that you have some respect for their time. Cold calling on the phone is not showing any respect for their time unless you also ask if they have a moment to talk with you. The call may ultimately be effective if you show this respect, even if they tell you not to call back. By not calling back they may just remember your call and what you do when they DO need your services.

I fully agree with your comment "His shop, his rules.". Nothing in my post was suggesting working outside the Principals rules since new2independent was vague about what the rules were, since definitions of the term "Marketing" changes from person to person. My suggestions, I feel, were broad enough to fit into any scenario, but to follow the Principals rules with the most significant suggestion is to not SOUND LIKE every other telemarketer out there.

[pjp1527]

Cold calling has a very low return no matter what insurance market you're in. If you're making 250 calls a week (about 50 a day) and only getting 1-2 appointments per week you're wasting your time. 50 a day isn't enough calls to begin with, you'd have to push it to 200-250 a day to get decent results. It will upset a large volume of potential clients, you'll probably never get past the "gate keeper" and about 5 % of calls made in the US end up in voicemail anyway.

That being said... the agency principal is either completely old school in marketing and you should leave - ASAP! Or you should just roll with the punches and use some ways to tweek the definition of "cold calling"

To improve your cold calling you have to figure out a few things -

1. How are your lists generated?
2. How are you tracking your call results? (answered, hang up, voicemail, yes, no, etc)
3. What time of day are you calling?
4. What script are you using?

To generate a better list of people to call - start with what you know. Keep pen & paper (or a voice recorder) in the car. If you see an advertisement for a potential client (either billboard, radio, on a truck) right them down and where you saw them. Make an initial "ghost call" and ask who you'd have to speak with to discuss insurance coverage. RIght down the name. Start creating your own prospect list based on this. Call back later and ask for that person specifically.

Join a Chamber of Commerce or business networking community - they will have a "book of lists" with information about fellow members. Go to their networking events, always ask people for their business card (by nature they'll ask for yours back), say what you do at the beginning of the conversation & repeat it somehow in the middle... because they'll forget what you first said (it's human nature). Keep that initial conversation casual though. Add these people to your contact list, you can contact them later and invite them out for coffee/lunch/breakfast & talk more about business then.

Get on Facebook & LinkedIn. Chances are who you're calling are on those sites - find their site, become a fan, learn about them. Their employees are probably fans of their site... study up here because it will give you names to use if needed. Use it to your advantage.

Check Craigslist - search for the type of service you're looking to insure. The add will have a phone # & contact for the company, call and talk to that person saying "i saw your add on craigslist... we specialize in insurance that will cover you for those risks... blah blah blah."

Master a script! Create a script... ask your principal for recommendations and what to say. Ask him or other producers for help on better scripts.

Always say thanks & ask for referrals. If you set appointments - always ask for referrals after the appointment. Aim for 5. Add these to your list of contacts. People know people, there's a good chance the guy who handles the insurance for 'Joe's Roofing" knows 5 - 10 other guys who do the same thing for other copmanies. Even if you don't write their insurance because of price, thank the guy for his time and say "we couldn't beat your price... but i appreciate the change to review your insurance needs... if you have any questions or need a second opinion in the future keep my card handy and I'll be happy to help out... here's a few extra cards if you know of anyone else who could benefit from a review pass my card along".

[quoteme08043]

There is no "no call list" for businesses.

I am a firm believer that cold calling works. It is NOT the only approach to use by any means, but after you have exhausted networking, referrals, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners with COI's, what is left? Twiddle your thumbs? Of course not.... pick up the phone and call!!!

I think your owner does need to relook at his investments into trade organizations that allow you to go out and get involved in. Even if the budget does not allow that, you personally can get involved in Rotary, Religious Organizations, Organizations that your children are involved in, not for profit board/volunteer, whatever. I am not saying to be a stereotypical Life Insurance Agent and call your family and friends and try to jam it down their throats, but it is always good to get yourself out there as a "professional".

All of the other suggestions about the number of calls per day, niche marketing, etc are good suggestions but like cold calling, not the "be all and end all".

We run a very successful cold calling campaign. We only schedule out about 4 hours a week AND it is done in a group setting. One caller and 2 to listen and prompt with ideas of furthering the call with only ONE GOAL.... To get an appointment. It is not the time to sell insurance, your market capacity, expertise, the best CSR's in the world (yawn) blah, blah, blah. As you can tell, 3 people in 4 hours is not a lot of calls. But it works!! It keeps us fresh, gives each of us new ideas and we have FUN with it.

Successful cold calling has very key elements. If you are a member of the local Chamber, call on Chamber members and get through the gate by telling the gatekeeper you are calling in "reference" to the Chamber. Then, when you talk to Mr CFO or business owner, you do not want to lie, so tell him, that as a fellow member of the chamber you wanted to set up an appointment with him to discuss his insurance program, and so on and so forth. Get the appointment.

I do not make calls based on ex date. When you call on ex dates, you run with the other 500 agents that are calling the same account. I do not go on appointments based on ex date. Mid term is when you earn the clients trust and business. The ex date is when you get paid for his business.

Cold Calling works. $115,000 revenue account ($1,120,000 premium) will be payable to me very soon. We earned the business in May. It renewed on 07/01. BTW, getting midterm BORs is a lot less work than marketing it to the world and jockeying for this market vs. that market!!!!

If you are getting 1-2 appointments a week on 200-250 calls, I would say change your methods. Our average here is an appointment for every 30 calls. We do not call main street BOP businesses either. Our target range is $100,000 to $1,000,000 in premium.

Purchase the book from Paul Goldner. Red Hot Cold Call Selling. There are a lot of good ideas in the book, but I don't buy into all of them.

[wmhoos]

You've obviously gotten a diversity of opinions. I manage and coach commercial producers. I am not a fan of cold calling, unless of course you want to get frustrated and burned out. It sounds like that may be happening already and you've only been at it for two months. I don't know anybody who likes making them and certainly don't know anybody who likes getting them. Of course your boss is a "bonehead" who would rather pay you to prospect in the most inefficient manner possible than do it right. I have two pieces of advice. First find a better agency to work for. Second learn some better prospecting techniques. Quite a few good ideas have already been posted. For more check out the following books:

1. How to Sell When Nobody's Buying by Dave Lakhani
2. Cold Calling is a Waste of Time by Frank Rumbauskas.
3. Questions That Sell by Paul Cherry

They're all good but the Lakhani book should fire your engines. Check me out at http://www.agencysalespro.com.

[new2independent]

Thanks again for all of the input. It was very helpfull. I met with the agency principal on Wednesday and we came to an agreement. We will be doing some letter mailings and carrier post cards. He will also split the cost of any industry membership or chamber membership. Thanks again, but if you hav any additional ideas, please let me know.

[scott]

I've tried to stay away from this thread. I know I have made my opinion clear in prior posts. I just can't help myself.

Sending a letter or a post card is a waste of time and money unless the mailing provides value to the prospect.

"My name is bill and I can save you money on insurance." is not providing value.

Write an info piece that helps the prospect in some way.

-Ten ways to control your workers compensation insurance
-Five things your current insurance agent doesn't want you to know
-The hidden premium bomb in your insurance program

Another option is to send your prospects something written by others - you gain credibility by providing value.

There are articles all over the internet that allow you to distribute with attribution. Always give credit to your source and respect copyrights.

Here is the latest edition of a whitepaper that has been distributed by hundreds of agents to their prospects. My copyright notice allows for unlimited distribution in whole.

http://www.scottsimmonds.com/business-i ... e-mistakes

[findsellkeep]

As a professional marketing consultant, I strongly believe in the value of intense phone activity. that said, the world has changed and for the most part, using the phone to introduce yourself and solicit appointments is a relatively low proposition return given your options. In addition, the phone limits the number of contacts you can actually make.

A much more effective use of your time is to organically build / buy a targeted email list of high value prospects in a given niche. Send value added messages that speak directly to that undustry. Closely monitor the prospects who actuallly open the emails and follow up with that group first. You know they saw the message and you know they were interested in the content. The key is recency and frequency.

before long, prospects will begin to look forward to your weekly / biweekly emails amd they will begin to call YOU. No more cold calling. As far as the agency principal goes, this a common approach by most agency owners. The problem is...he wants to GROW without investment. Not a realistic sustainable business model. This is 2009. Prospects are less loyal, prefer the internet, and respond to well designed emails.
An hour or two a week developing quality content could change your life.

My company, Astonish Results was featured in the July edition of Rough Notes magazine. see how the agents featured in the article are all on track to double their new policies written in less than 6 months.

Good luck.