Cold Calling Road to10 Million AUM. Journey Begins 4/30/12
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Received my number at a Major Wirehouse back in January. Definitely inspired by posts of the Judge and Bond Guy. Congrats to Long Shot and All the Way as they are well on their way to building a great book of business.
After 3 months of my ramp-up period I have mixed results regarding production. I have moved over assets from family/ friends network to keep me ahead of my hurdles so far. The majority of my prospecting during the day has been from cold calling residentials regarding retirement planning/ distribution strategy. I feel like I have been getting in front of qualified people and seeing statements. However, I feel that my prospect pipeline is low and I am not getting as many appointments I need. In a typical day, I feel that if I make 300 dials to residentials my contact average is 28 per day. I need to step up my daily contacts while forming a repeatable sales process to achieve the "full mass"
It seems like the minimum contacts you need per day is 50. What I would like to do is really focus on making these contact numbers every day by mixing in business owners and residentials. For the business owners I will lead with a Municipal Bond Fund that is yielding over 7%. From there, I will get the conversation rolling regarding investments and ask about IRA's, outside brokerage accounts, job transition etc. If interested I will qualify for 50K as the muni bond minimum investment. I will stay with the retirement distribution strategy opener for the residentials. I purchased a lead list for the residentials, age 55-70, 250K+ investable.
Daily Goals:
In the Office by 7AM. Dialing by 745AM.
50 Contacts per day comes first.
2 days a week call residentials from 6PM-8PM. Most likely Tuesday and Wednesdays.
Weekly Goals:
Minimum of 200 contacts per week which results in 20 prospects and 2 accounts of over 50K.
Monthly Goals:
800 contacts per month. 80 prospects in pipeline. 8 accounts which will range from 400K-800K AUM per month.
Essentially, I took this gameplan and these numbers from the Judge 2007 post. It's a great post about a gameplan of "needing to make it with a 6 month window." It essentially calls for making 300 contacts a week with a mutual fund you know inside and out and qualifying for 50K. I'm lucky my back is not against the wall, however, I really want to step up my production and get assets in from STRANGERS.
Any feedback and questions are appreciated. I will be posting Daily Contatcs, Prospects Added, Meetings Booked (with statements). Hopefully the accountability will push me on the Off-Days in addition to getting some good discussion going
Murdoc,
Great post, wellcome on-board.....your game plan is solid.....post activities and go for it...will be following your posts. No doubt you will do great.....stick to your pan and the rest will fall into place.....excellent post
All The Way
Your new plan is night and day better than your old one that didn’t work. Prospect with a product you believe in and pound it with laser focus. Be the disqualifier when you call. And, leave the asset allocation yo-yo meetings to your wire managers.
Day 1 in the books. Long day as I had a doctor appointment in the morning. Got to the phones by 11AM and hammered away late.
Contacts: 50
Prospects: 2
Meetings Booked: 0
A couple more prospects would have been nice, but oh well out of my control.
Found a nice prospect that has over 500K investable, led with the Munis...got good discussion going. Agreed to email information, said to call in two weeks.
Any thoughts on their sales process from initial call, to information set, to followup call ask for meeting? I usually ask for a meeting on the first call if there is decent dialogue. Usually they resort to being "too busy to meet", yet would like to see the information After an initial email/hard copy is sent, at what point are you following up to ask for the appointment.
All the way and King Bobby- appreciate the kind words.
Murdoc,
You're off to a flying start, keep them contacts going, very inspiring your thread......keep dialing and posting, will be checking in on your posts daily.
All The Way
Murdoc,
Very nice Day 1. Looking forward to reading you posts and hearing of your (assured) successes.
I'm starting month 4 of production... similar situation, Murdoc- had some quick clients to get me off the ground, but now need a steady pipeline of prospects to convert to clients. Cold calling is the only logical choice (insert posts of Bond Guy and Judge). Been at it for 1 1/2 months and having small successes (2 accounts around 100k).
Echoing Murdoc's need to better transition the "good vibes cold call" to the appointment. All ideas appreciated.
Keep up the good work! I'll be following your posts.
Best,
LtC
DAY 2 in the books. Got the 50 contacts in. Only 1 prospect today.
Tough day, a lot of work. Just focusing on the inputs. Not a lot to report, back to the phones tomorrow.
Inspiring stuff Murdoc. Keep it up and good things should happen. I plan on following your progress. Good luck!
Just Wrapped up Day 3. Fell a hair short on the 50 contacts. However was able to qualify 5 propspects each with 100K for Muni. Happy the numbers fell into place today after a dry one yesterday
Contacts: 47
Prospects Added: 5
Not sure what the results will bring, but I have never added to the pipeline this much in this short time.
Looking Good for the Weekly Goal of 200. Made 50 contacts today with 2 prospects.
Tomorrow I am going to make some calls in the morning, wrap up some Admin, be out in this nice weather by 2PM. Will post tomorrow with the Final Week 1 Numbers.
Contacts: 50
Prospects: 2
Meetings: 0
Just finished up this mornings calls. Was able to add 1 new prospect on 15 contacts
Weekly Numbers
Contacts: 200+
Prospects: 11
Appointments: 0
Going to make callbacks on Tue and Wednesday to get the appointments with statements. If I do not get a hold of them on Tue/ Wed I will try again on Thursday to get them on the phone. Going to get a handle on managaing the pipeline and being able to peg one way or another.
Same strategy for next week, lets get another 200 and add to the pipeline...the rest should start to work out
Murdoc,
That's a good week. Now....focuss on getting them in for the meetings, Call backs are key, there's some dead wood in there, find it and gt it off your call back list. There;s a meeting or 2 or 3 in there, find them....there's good prospects in there, find out what they are looking for and drip.
Also, work this coming week on booking1-2 meetings straight off the bat on the cold calls....you can do it and your activities this week show it. Book the meetings.........keep it up....well done!!!
All The Way
Day 1 in the books. Long day as I had a doctor appointment in the morning. Got to the phones by 11AM and hammered away late.
Contacts: 50
Prospects: 2
Meetings Booked: 0
A couple more prospects would have been nice, but oh well out of my control.
Found a nice prospect that has over 500K investable, led with the Munis…got good discussion going. Agreed to email information, said to call in two weeks.
Any thoughts on their sales process from initial call, to information set, to followup call ask for meeting? I usually ask for a meeting on the first call if there is decent dialogue. Usually they resort to being “too busy to meet”, yet would like to see the information After an initial email/hard copy is sent, at what point are you following up to ask for the appointment.
All the way and King Bobby- appreciate the kind words.
I’ll second what All The Way said. Don’t wait too long and on the second call you should be going for the business, if you didn’t on the first. (Or appointment of course) If it’s a product out of inventory, let them know it’s not going to last. Now or never… If its something like a fund, ask them what they think of the yield or returns and then give them options. (share class etc) Let them decide, then tell them your process for doing business.
If it’s not a yes, find out if it’s a component of the product (maturity, rating, starts with the letter R) or if it’s the asset class in general and find what they want. Have a list a questions available to steer you in the right direction. Doubful you’ll need to look at them, but it’ll put your mind at ease. Any other answer, send them on their way and find somebody that will be a yes. Statements are nice, but don’t get too carried away as most people have zero interest in this, plenty of time to reveiw statements and go after other things after they’re in your camp and trust you more. KB
Week 2 Underway:
Week 2/4 Day 1:
Contatcs: 50
Propspects: 2
All the Way and King Bobby- Thank you for the insights. WIll make the following adjustment for this week
After the initial interest on the first call, I will be working in the meeting script, "Great Mr/Mrs.____, what I would like to do is setup a time to see how we can incorporate the Bond Fund into your overall strategy."
If the feedback is positive I will try to set the appointment. If no, then I will confirm the mailing info they wish to share.
Callbacks will start tomorrow to start working the pipeline. Will post results and feedback.
Murdoc,
Sounds good.....as long as you get back to them sooner than later, and re-verify if they are the real thing.......myself...had a super day on the phones, booked 3 meetings off the bat on the 1st cold call.
Lately, had been going through a dry patch on Monday's...so kind of compensates and brings the numbers back in line.
Murdoc...keep us posted on Tuesday's calls.....you got a winning plan on the go.....keep at it....
All The Way
Mixed Day today with the Contacts and the Callbacks. Running a little low with the energy, Overall was able to grind through and keep the ball moving toward the weekly goal of 200 contacts. Going to a baseball game with a client tonight...fell short of the 50.
Contacts: 25
New Propsects: 1
My existing pipeline had about 45 prospects dating back from January. Took a hard look at the prospect pipeline and was able to eliminate some dead wood. On the positive side, I was able to take 3 old prospects and pitch the muni at them. They did seem interested and asked to see the summary, however, were hesitant about sitting face to face. I sent them the email and put them back on next weeks callbacks.
Week 1 of the Campaign yielded 11 prospects to the pipeline. I was able to eliminate 4 of them. The remaining seven were unreachable or placed on a drip strategy. Those that were placed on a drip strategy were requalified for money and a timeline of within 60 days.
This post is a little scattered so bear with me. I will post a Week 2 and an overall summary by Saturday.
NOTES FROM CALLBACKS
Definitely received some good feedback from the prospects I talked to one week ago. They remembered name and knew reason why I was following up. The old prospects seemed more annoyed. Definitely need to follow up with any new prospect within a few days to keep momentum.
Meetings are relatively tough right now. Still plenty of time this week. Really going to focus on asking for commitment on the 1st call. Simply sending the information is not "good enough". Sending the summary should be a last option to keep the prospect saying "Yes"
Remainder of the Week
Get to the 200 by Saturday
Retry any missed prospects on Thursday to gain traction.
On the positive side, I was able to take 3 old prospects and pitch the muni at them. They did seem interested and asked to see the summary, however, were hesitant about sitting face to face; I sent them the email and put them back on next weeks callbacks
Why do you need to sit face to face to sell a muni?
Also, if they want to buy, I sure wouldn’t wait a week.
Bobby
Can't close over the phone need to be in person. Selling the muni is fine but prefer to get an idea of entire asset picture
[quote=Murdoc]
Bobby
Can't close over the phone need to be in person. Selling the muni is fine but prefer to get an idea of entire asset picture
[/quote]
Can't close over the phone? I know that is not a firm policy if you are at a wirehouse. You can email paperwork that they can mail back with a check or drop off at yours, or a more convenient, office. Call them back tomorrow if you haven't already. Tell them the bonds are moving and ask if they want $50k. If not, why not? Find out what they want and are looking for? No money now, when will they have a CD due or a bonus from work? Get them as a client then work on the rest. Trying to move a boulder can be hard. But if you keep chipping and moving chunks, you will eventually have moved it all. Of course you want it all, but you cold called them. It's hard to get people to move all their money to a guy they just met. But if they have a CD that they just rolled over at .5% and you are offering something better, they will be willing to buy.Murdoc,
Just read Hacksaw's reply and it makes a lot of sense. Sometimes it's seems a bit of a challenge to open on the phone. I used to do it years ago in England. All on the phone. If they are intrested, just ask for the business, along the lines of "you've done this before, right?". Soon enough you'll know if they are comfortable opening the account by phone, or if not, then book'em for a meeting in your office......or.....off the list they go.....or drip......no other outcomes.
You are working hard, have done well, seems receptive to trying things new.....that's wonderfull.....now......focuss on either opening the account on the phone or booking a meeting.....get good at that.....man....you'll be a Monster.....just keep trying to get better, next calls, open or book....go for broke champ.
There are tons of tips on this on the site.........good luck, really enjoy your posts.
All The Way