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Aug 29, 2009 5:17 pm

Who went in to make their calls?  I did and now we have 4 more appts than we had this time yesterday.    In about another month when it starts to get colder Saturdays will be the prime time for calling prospects.  What time does everyone start their calls on Saturdays?  I’ve been reluctant to start before 9:45 and it usually seems that by 11:30 people are getting on with their day and its not a good time for them to talk by that point.

Aug 29, 2009 5:24 pm

BB, it sounds like 9:45 worked for you.  Stick with it. 

Aug 29, 2009 5:34 pm

I need to get more organized.  I spend half the time fiddling with lists and files on Saturdays.  I don’t want to spend Friday Afternoon preparing for my Saturday calls either there’s too much other stuff going on to close up the week.  Maybe I should take some time Thursday Afternoon to prepare my calls.

Aug 29, 2009 5:49 pm

Get there earlier to get ready and start at 9;30.

Aug 29, 2009 6:58 pm
BerkshireBull:

Maybe I should take some time Thursday Afternoon to prepare my calls.

  What do you need to get prepared for 2 days before you make calls?  Just grab your lead box/list/whatever you hold your leads in and start dialing.
Aug 31, 2009 3:57 pm

[quote=BerkshireBull] I need to get more organized. I spend half the time fiddling with lists and files on Saturdays. I don’t want to spend Friday Afternoon preparing for my Saturday calls either there’s too much other stuff going on to close up the week. Maybe I should take some time Thursday Afternoon to prepare my calls.

[/quote]

Get there at 9 and start dialing by 10. How do you “get organized”? You aren’t still shuffling paper leads are you?

Aug 31, 2009 4:42 pm
Lionheart:

[quote=BerkshireBull] I need to get more organized.  I spend half the time fiddling with lists and files on Saturdays.  I don’t want to spend Friday Afternoon preparing for my Saturday calls either there’s too much other stuff going on to close up the week.  Maybe I should take some time Thursday Afternoon to prepare my calls.
[/quote]
Get there at 9 and start dialing by 10. How do you “get organized”? You aren’t still shuffling paper leads are you?

  Some of my leads are loose paper in my lead-box, some are on the computer, some are in my leads binder, and some I've created files for and are in the file cabinet.  It's very confusing.
Aug 31, 2009 4:45 pm

I think you need to spend a Saturday getting those things in a contact management system.  Not that I have ANY room to talk.

Aug 31, 2009 4:54 pm

I agree with Volt. We use Goldmine and it is awesome! I don’t know how expensive it is, but I don’t have a single paper lead, and everything is on point.

Aug 31, 2009 6:02 pm
voltmoie:

I think you need to spend a Saturday getting those things in a contact management system.  Not that I have ANY room to talk.

  It would be nice to have the luxury to get sophisticated like that but we're in a position where that long-range type planning won't apply if we can't afford to eat!
Aug 31, 2009 11:17 pm

I made my calls this past Saturday, but started late due to a chiropractor appointment. I don’t like to call past 12, but made about 100 dials from 10:45 until then. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, very few contacts. But, one really good appointment/opportunity.

Sep 1, 2009 2:59 am

I usually don't do this, but I have to call B.S. on 100 dials in 75 minutes.

Sep 1, 2009 3:07 am

Probably thought you were a prank caller at that speed

Sep 1, 2009 1:03 pm

I usually don't do this, but I have to call B.S. on 100 dials in 75 minutes.

  Whatever. I know what I did, I went back and counted everything. I don't screw around, I call. The numbers exactly are 94 dials, 7 contacts, 1 appointment. I think I started at about 10:24 and 30 seconds and called until 12:08, 26 seconds. And, I did it for myself, not for your approval or criticism.
Sep 1, 2009 1:25 pm

He probably called all CPAs and Lawyers on a Saturday…that makes the 100 real easy!
Cause, if you only got 7% home on a Saturday morning, you are seriously missing something.

Sep 1, 2009 1:51 pm
Still@jones:

He probably called all CPAs and Lawyers on a Saturday…that makes the 100 real easy!
Cause, if you only got 7% home on a Saturday morning, you are seriously missing something.

  Still .. You were fired for lack of activity - the only thing you are qualifed to comment on is your failure.   Fred, those numbers sound high.  How do you have your list organized?  Are you calling to prospects or simple cold calling?  Are you actually having quality conversations with these folks?  Here is where your math breaks down (if i did it right) :   94 dials over 75 minutes would be: 1 call per 47 seconds   If we assume 6 of your contacts last 2 minutes and the appointment conversation lasted 5 minutes. That would leave the remaining 87 dials 40 seconds each.  That does not seem like enough time to locate the next call, dial, and allow it to ring.   How many calls do you typically make in a day?
Sep 1, 2009 3:11 pm

[quote=Fred Garvin]

I usually don't do this, but I have to call B.S. on 100 dials in 75 minutes.

  Whatever. I know what I did, I went back and counted everything. I don't screw around, I call. The numbers exactly are 94 dials, 7 contacts, 1 appointment. I think I started at about 10:24 and 30 seconds and called until 12:08, 26 seconds. And, I did it for myself, not for your approval or criticism.[/quote]   OK, I believe you.  I believe that you can do 94 dials in 89 minutes.  I just didn't believe that you could do 100 in 75 minutes.  There's a substantial difference between the two.  A minute a dial is about as fast at it can be done and to do it that fast, you can't really talk to too many people.
Sep 2, 2009 4:22 pm

94 dials on a saturday morning…7 people picked up??? Somethings just not right.
You figure at least 30% of people are home on a saturday morning (door-knocking stats).
If only 7 of 31 actually picked up the phone, you’re probably only calling people you pissed off already with your standard jones pitch!


Sep 2, 2009 5:57 pm

Cold calling won’t equal the contact rate that door knocking has, so your theory doesn’t hold water.

  Don't you have some burgers to flip?
Sep 2, 2009 7:22 pm

I think you need to call earlier on saturday and possibly a different demographic/area. Also are you an indy with a wierd name, sometimes people don’t answer if they don’t recognize the name or if it sounds like something else.

The 20/20/20/40 rule should apply: 20% will answer, 20% of those will be a prospect who is qualified 20% of those will make an appt and 40% of those you should close. So for 94 dials, 18.8 should have answered, 3.76 should have been qualified, and 0.75 will set an appt and 0.30 of those will be a client. though those percentages vary to some degree(most corporate execs are qualified,so more than 20%, but less than 20% you will talk to and less than 20% will set an appt.)



I am going to steal something somebody else posted on this site quite a while ago, not sure if it’s true but it keeps me going:



“A WSJ article about ten years ago had a reporter follow a SB trainee for a couple of days. Part of the program was extensive cold calling for 5 hours a day. The reporter opined that the trainee was getting only 1 lead per hour despite making a hundred calls during the session. She couldn’t see how the trainee could survive on such a low response rate. So lets do the numbers: 5 leads a day= 25 per week=1250 per year. Half drop out on second call. That leaves 625 close 20% and that give you 130 new households per year. At a $100K average that would be $13MM in new money. At $50K average it gives you $6.5 in new money. Do that for 5 years , adding a few other marketing channels and all of a suddent you have a business to manage”