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Apr 7, 2009 2:29 am

I’ve got a pretty good system going and meeting my required 25 contacts per day. As an EDJ FA who is suppose to door knock I cold call from the local directory and check each number against the DNC registry before I dial. When going through the phone book I highlight those on the registry “red”, “yellow” for those that become a contact, and line through numbers no longer in service or if it’s someone already with EDJ. If they scream at me and tell me to not call them anymore I place a special mark next to their number and grant their wish. It seems that about half those in the phone book are not registered with the DNC which means I have between 8,500 - 9,000 people (excluding SBOs) to call in town. The quality of my phone conversations are just as, if not better, than the quality of my conversations standing on someone’s front porch.

I would like to have every number in that directory marked and have the chance to introduce myself to every available number within the book. I’m thinking that I should have at least 1500 folks to call back in a few months and 4500 people in my client creation funnel by the end of the year as a foundation for my business. I still feel that this method is far more efficient than door knocking and bringing the same results but I’ll have to wait for a while to see how the results compare to someone who door knocked during the same amount of time.

Apr 7, 2009 2:40 am

There is nothing efficient about marking up the phone book and running each number through the DNC registry. Search on Joneslink for the suggested list of vendors, fall off of your wallet and buy one. You can buy a DNC scrubbed list for ages 50-64 in a 5-7 mile radius of your office and hammer it. I would still go see the good contacts after the initial call.

Apr 7, 2009 2:44 am

How do you know you are not calling apartments or trailer parks?

Apr 7, 2009 2:47 am

BM, I’m guessing that you are pre-eval/grad.  If that is the case, be aware that although Jones doesn’t give a call script verbatim, they do expect certain elements at eval/grad.  One of the elements is referring to when you met the prospect at their doorstep.  Your ATL and VV will randomly listen to your calls.  When they realize that you didn’t follow the recipe, you’ve got some explaining to do.  If they don’t like your explaination, you will be sent home.  I saw it happen to a guy. 

  Your method sounds like it works.  Use it after eval/grad. 
Apr 7, 2009 3:01 am

Thanks for the heads up. With that being said I’ll be pounding the pavement again then to make sure I have my 200 scheduled calls going to those I put knuckles to their door. Thanks again.

Apr 7, 2009 5:29 pm

BM, sounds good.  However, after running some lists in my area and within my parameters (generally age 50+ with certain income levels and homeowner), close to 90% are on the DNC list.  I did this by running one list to INCLUDE DNC numebrs, and one to EXCLUDE them.  The list WITH DNC numebrs was about 13,000 people, the list WITHOUT DNC numbers was about 1,250 names (all other ciriteria the same).  Pretty depressing if you are trying to cold call residences.

Apr 7, 2009 11:02 pm

I agree there are a lot of people on the DNC...

So two choices: 1. Ignore the DNC(not highly recommended, but do know people who do as pitch soft enough where they can blame it on firms software and not worry... big risk). 2. Call everyone else.. I prefer this method. I have about 7 zipcodes(outside metro area, so about 7 cities) no zip larger than 35K(some cities have multiple zips) and i have 5,600 people to call.(how many clients do you really need.. 100 @250K @1%=$250k gross..) so I should be able to pull 100 clients out of 5,600(and who know where those clients lead to a friend of mine offer 5bps of his fee based account per referral that opens an account over $100K, he says it gives clients incentive to refer people. Bottom Line if you can't turn 5,600 numbers into 100 clients(either directly, through referals, etc).. then good luck prospecting..
Apr 8, 2009 1:47 am

Don’t let the DNC trip you up. Look at it as the road map of how you have to get to the people. Our job is to look under rocks in many, many ways. The Non DNC list gives you a multiple of 1250 people and ways to get to the other 13,000.

  Here are some ideas. 1. If there is a local club - golf, gym, etc - and you are a member - hit them that way via the membership lis.   2.  When you are cold calling the people that are NOT on the DNC and you have the names and addresses of the people who ARE on the DNC - you can take two approaches. 2a. Ask the people you speak to who are NOT on the DNC if they know so and so and if they might refer you. 2b is better. Ask when you go to networking events, or client meetings for an introduction and or referral and get an e-mail address, too.   3. Cold call the non DNC people and then, walk the neighborhood. Set up an appointment and drop in on the folks who are on the DNC.   4. If you know where they work, or can get the info - call them at work if your firm doesn't have them on the firm DNC.