Best Cold Calling Pitch
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Since I am starting a new cold calling campaign tomorrow, thought I would get some inspiration from other regarding their pitch…
What is your most successful pitch(product, appointment, whatever)
I pitch 100% appointment. I would not do this if I was in a wirehouse environment.
I think that, with cold calls, using a product pitch is best (a la Bill Good). Then you can expand on the product and/or switch to more “suitable” product once you get belly to belly.
I have been thinking about calling on business owners (and anyone else for whom I ca get daytime phone numbers) with a VA pitch (please don’t turn this thread into a debate on the merits of VAs). I think that talking about the guarantees associated with VAs for qualified money could create some interest & open conversations and doors in this climate.
I’ve thought about using a high YTM investment grade bond or insured muni, but I don’t want to attract the people who are individual security buyers, as I don’t do much of that in my practice.
There are no points for degree of difficulty in this business. Make it as easy as possible. Play off of existing appointments.
Ex. I have a 2:00 appointment this afternoon with Joe Smith at the Jones law firm. I'll call another attorney in the firm. Tony Bradshaw works there. Phone call: Me: "Tony, this is Anonymous from Anonymous Financial. Do you have a second to talk?" Tony: "Blah, blah, blah." Me: "I have a meeting at 2:00 in your office with Joe Smith. I very much wanted to have the opportunity to introduce myself to you in person. Are you going to be around at 1:50? Tony: I should be around. Me: Great. I look forward to meeting you.[quote=anonymous]There are no points for degree of difficulty in this business. Make it as easy as possible. Play off of existing appointments.
Ex. I have a 2:00 appointment this afternoon with Joe Smith at the Jones law firm. I'll call another attorney in the firm. Tony Bradshaw works there. Phone call: Me: "Tony, this is Anonymous from Anonymous Financial. Do you have a second to talk?" Tony: "Blah, blah, blah." Me: "I have a meeting at 2:00 in your office with Joe Smith. I very much wanted to have the opportunity to introduce myself to you in person. Are you going to be around at 1:50? Tony: I should be around. Me: Great. I look forward to meeting you. [/quote]If that approach works for you, great. As for me, that type of approach has too often made me little more than a professional visitor in the past. I would rather have a very specific agenda (even if it turns out that my agenda is not a perfect fit and/or my agenda needs to be expanded once we DO meet), and that the prospect understands & qualifies himself for said agenda. And the specific benefits of a specific product in the cold call script let's both the prospect and me know where we stand before a minute is wasted. Hence the living benefit guarantees in VAs are a great "hot-button pointer-outter" for me to start a possible relationship on.
If the cold call on the other end of the line is not hates variable annuities and/or has no interest in the fact that "these products can allow you to participate in market gains while protecting you from market losses.....", I just say "thanyouverymuch"....click....NEXT!
If that kind of approach has made you a professional visitor, the problem may be that you aren’t making a good impression when you do meet them in person. It can also be that you don’t have a good method of following up from that first meeting. The method will work, but I think that it is a bad way to do things for wirehouse reps.
I'm not worried that I'll waste time because I'm careful with my scheduling. Does it matter if it turns out that my 1:50 appointment isn't worth the effort? Not really, since I had to be there at 2:00 anyway. Let me be clear, though. I am not trying to say that my method is better than yours. It's not. It's just different. If your goal is to sell a variable annuity, your method is far superior than mine and can be very lucrative.[quote=anonymous]…the problem may be that you aren’t making a good impression when you do meet them in person. It can also be that you don’t have a good method of following up from that first meeting…
[/quote]Anon - could you share your process for follow-up after a brief (not in-depth) initial face-to-face introduction?
Tx,
CR
At this introductory meeting, I tell the prospect that the purpose of the meeting is to find out one of three things:
1) It makes sense to schedule a time to get together to have a serious financial conversation 2) It doesn't make sense now but we will get together at some point in the future 3) We should never have a serious financial discussion. I then explain how I work and what I exactly it is that I do. Ideally, it's going to be number 1. If that is the case, they'll get a simple follow up letter from me with a confirmation for our next appointment. If it's number 2, they will get a follow up letter. This will be a "thanks for meeting" along with "I look forward to meeting with you in June" or something similar. More importantly, they will be dripped on weekly. When I call back in June, not only will they know me, but they will also know that I know my stuff. In short, my cold call of today becomes a warm call in the future. If it's number 3, it depends whether they don't want to work with me or if they don't want to work with me. If I don't want to work with them, I'll still thank them for their time, but I won't follow up. If they don't want to work with me, but I want to work with them, I'll drip on them and call back in the future. However, before I call back, I will find a way to get referred to them. I won't talk about how I drip on people because it could cost me my anonymity.[quote=anonymous]If that kind of approach has made you a professional visitor, the problem may be that you aren’t making a good impression when you do meet them in person. It can also be that you don’t have a good method of following up from that first meeting. The method will work, but I think that it is a bad way to do things for wirehouse reps.
I'm not worried that I'll waste time because I'm careful with my scheduling. Does it matter if it turns out that my 1:50 appointment isn't worth the effort? Not really, since I had to be there at 2:00 anyway. Let me be clear, though. I am not trying to say that my method is better than yours. It's not. It's just different. If your goal is to sell a variable annuity, your method is far superior than mine and can be very lucrative. [/quote]It's not necessarily my goal to sell a VA. My goal is to set an appointment where, at the very least, we have a specific benefit that I can provide immediately. I will use that meeting as an opportunity to hopefully start a long-term advisory relationship. But if a VA sale is appropriate & is all that ends up being in the cards, fine by me.
Maybe it IS me making a bad impression doing it your way but it's just worked better for me when I go in to solve a very focused need & expand the relationship from there.
I am a big believer in specific organizational or type of business calling. For instance call a well known patent attorneys office and talk about how you have built your practice on working with patent attorneys. The more specialization the better, as for what it will be only you can determine that.
Hello Joe this is Gaddock at XYZ here in Town X. I was calling to see if you would have an interest in discussing possible ways to insure your savings against further loss?
Find the best approach for you. Personally, I would never pitch product. You open your mouth about a muni bond someone already has and the phone is hung up before you know it.
100% appointment. Differentiate yourself and your services.What is your pitch then if you don’t use a product? I use a private reit,which is a pretty uncommon investment and only available through the independent channel.
You mention 100% appointment… “Hi would you like to sit down and review your portfolio” “No-click”… Seems just as likely to hang up… Or do you present it differently.
I always asked if I could send them some information. Soft approach and then would begin regular phone follow up. It worked for me.
This is my approach as well. If they say yes to info, then I know I have a good shot at it being a prospect. But a word of caution if you use this approach: you better qualify them or it'll get time consuming & expensive sending info to people who are just trying to get you off the phone. Bottome line: the best lists & pitches/approaches are the ones that YOU are comfy with & will actually USE. There's no magic bullets here....just raw numbers.I always asked if I could send them some information. Soft approach and then would begin regular phone follow up. It worked for me.
Doesn’t that take a long time, and give the potential prospect the easy way out. “Sure just mail it” “bye”, then never answer the phone again…
Plus I would think sending information piece out(assuming you are using something that is approved, would just be some everyday piece from mutual fund company that anyone can access) would get expensive.
What information are you sending out?
This is my approach as well. If they say yes to info, then I know I have a good shot at it being a prospect. But a word of caution if you use this approach: you better qualify them or it'll get time consuming & expensive sending info to people who are just trying to get you off the phone. Bottome line: the best lists & pitches/approaches are the ones that YOU are comfy with & will actually USE. There's no magic bullets here....just raw numbers.[/quote][quote=henryhill]I always asked if I could send them some information. Soft approach and then would begin regular phone follow up. It worked for me.
I've never seen anyone get rich by doing what's "comfy."
It does take a little longer to send info and you are right that people can say "just mail it" to get you off the phone, only to never take your call again. But then, I've also set appointments where I've been stood up too. That's why I said that you have to be pretty bold with your qualifying. My psychology is that, on the first call, I'm disqualifying THEM. I give the person on the other end of the line ample opportunity to tell me that they aren't interested, if they aren't. I'll move on to somebody who IS interested (there are a few of them, particularly in this market climate). If I'm up front & truthful with them about why I'm calling ect., and they STILL want the info, then chances are I have someone who I can possibly work with, but not always. As far as what I send out....I simply send out an approved brochure on the product that I called them on. I could care less whether they read it or not (in fact, most do not). It simply allows be to call them back in a few days to get the appointment. For me, it's really all about being in this for the long-haul, qualifying the prospect and making myself "safe" for them to talk to (never any high pressure...but I DO ask for the appt, business, ect.). I didn't invent any of this....it's all from Bill Good's book.Doesn’t that take a long time, and give the potential prospect the easy way out. “Sure just mail it” “bye”, then never answer the phone again…
Plus I would think sending information piece out(assuming you are using something that is approved, would just be some everyday piece from mutual fund company that anyone can access) would get expensive.
What information are you sending out?
This is my approach as well. If they say yes to info, then I know I have a good shot at it being a prospect. But a word of caution if you use this approach: you better qualify them or it'll get time consuming & expensive sending info to people who are just trying to get you off the phone. Bottome line: the best lists & pitches/approaches are the ones that YOU are comfy with & will actually USE. There's no magic bullets here....just raw numbers.[/quote][quote=IndyIndy][quote=henryhill]I always asked if I could send them some information. Soft approach and then would begin regular phone follow up. It worked for me.
I've never seen anyone get rich by doing what's "comfy."
[/quote] I agree totally. My point was simply to not become like one of those guys who can think of 839 ways to "pleasure" a woman, but can't ask for a date for Saturday night.
This is my approach as well. If they say yes to info, then I know I have a good shot at it being a prospect. But a word of caution if you use this approach: you better qualify them or it'll get time consuming & expensive sending info to people who are just trying to get you off the phone. Bottome line: the best lists & pitches/approaches are the ones that YOU are comfy with & will actually USE. There's no magic bullets here....just raw numbers.[/quote][quote=Hank Moody] [quote=IndyIndy][quote=henryhill]I always asked if I could send them some information. Soft approach and then would begin regular phone follow up. It worked for me.
I've never seen anyone get rich by doing what's "comfy."
[/quote] I agree totally. My point was simply to not become like one of those guys who can think of 839 ways to "pleasure" a woman, but can't ask for a date for Saturday night. [/quote] Any tips? My anniversary is coming up.