I think you get the point. There'e cold calling, and then there is following up on referrals or seminar attendees.

It is just my opinion that when you start selling your ideas to someone out of the blue, it puts you in a whole different professional light than when they come to you.

If a dentist or lawyer or doctor or CPA or even a chiropracter or mortgage broker  called me up randomly at work and offered their services, I would be negatively impressed.

Anyone who does not get that about our profession (and I don't mean you) is deluding themselves into equating true financial professional advising work with traditional product selling - obviously there are elements of both in our profession - but it tends to be exploited by the suits in the home offices to the detriment of the American consumer. You can focus on defending the selling aspect, but it does not enhance your personna as a professional.

It almost seems like some established reps here are sentimental about cold calling, which is " nice ", so am I, but lets get real about needing or wanting to do it as an established professional, or conveying that message to younger reps who do need to cold call but should know that they need to get away from it and go for referrals and natural market leads, or at least " seminars ", as you mentioned.

We can still tolerate each other. No need to get you undies in a bundle when we talk here, or attack my reading comprehension abilities.

[quote=joecamelguy]

I think you get the point. There'e cold calling, and then there is following up on referrals or seminar attendees.

It is just my opinion that when you start selling your ideas to someone out of the blue, it puts you in a whole different professional light than when they come to you.

If a dentist or lawyer or doctor or CPA or even a chiropracter or mortgage broker  called me up randomly at work and offered their services, I would be negatively impressed.

Anyone who does not get that about our profession (and I don't mean you) is deluding themselves into equating true financial professional advising work with traditional product selling - obviously there are elements of both in our profession - but it tends to be exploited by the suits in the home offices to the detriment of the American consumer. You can focus on defending the selling aspect, but it does not enhance your personna as a professional.

It almost seems like some established reps here are sentimental about cold calling, which is " nice ", so am I, but lets get real about needing or wanting to do it as an established professional, or conveying that message to younger reps who do need to cold call but should know that they need to get away from it and go for referrals and natural market leads, or at least " seminars ", as you mentioned.

We can still tolerate each other. No need to get you undies in a bundle when we talk here, or attack my reading comprehension abilities.

[/quote]

The thread is about prospecting calls. You assumed I meant cold calling.

Attack? I wasn't attacking you. I merely pointed out that you misunderstood the purpose of the thread and in doing so threw a fire bomb at cold calling. You don't like cold calling so be it, don't do it. Actually, You are in the majority. And most of that majority has never cold called. So start your own thread about why you don't like cold calling and leave this thread to the positive people who want to talk about what they're doing to move themselves forward. And personally i'd love to hear, chapter and verse, your professional approach. As I'm sure most others would too.

Sure, there must be some miscommunication.

Good luck with your thread, then.

Allow me to add my 2 cents....

I survived and prospered all through cold calling.  Can't tell you how many (former) colleagues were going to build a business via networking, "natural affinity markets", referrals (with no clients as of yet!), seminars, "deep and narrow" target marketing, etc etc etc.  Well, they are all out of the business and the true grunts are still around and succeeding.  There's a lesson there.

At the end of the month, my firm pays me a % on what I have produced.  Nothing more, nothing less.  As long as I'm in good standing with compliance they could care less how the business has been generated. Just that it has.  Too many people that get into the business get much too wrapped up on "strategic" ways and means.  And they almost always fail.  It all comes down to contacting a more-than-ample enough of (suspected) qualified people on a daily basis with an effective approach and good follow-up skills.  Not to mention organization and selling skills.  That said, ANYONE could succeed if they simply made a certain amount of calls EVERY DAY and just pitched something.  I get rejected more than you can imagine.  I also succeed quite a bit, and my earnings put me in the top 1% of the population.  Simply put- I'm measured (i.e earn) on the total # of successes, not on the # of attempts.

One last point for those looking to build on their "network" or "affinity market": I've been in this business for well over a decade.  I know quite a few people, and I'm involved in numerous organizations.  I've done very well for clients over the years' and I "think" most that meet me will surmise that I've done quite well for myself in the business (title, lifestyle, knowledge, etc).  While I never ask friends/known people for business, I rarely get anyone I know ask me to help them with their portfolio.  I'd starve if I depended on those that I know.  Yes, I could be more proactive and ask for the business, but THAT is what makes me feel uncomfortable.  I much prefer to regularly contact strangers and go from there.  And (yes) I do get some referrals from existing clients', though that is an area I should be working much harder at.

Bobby,  I do use the Meisel approach.

If a dentist or lawyer or doctor or CPA or even a chiropracter or mortgage broker  called me up randomly at work and offered their services, I would be negatively impressed.

That may be very true.  Therefore, you most likely would not become their client.  If they didn't call you, you also wouldn't become their client.   On the other hand, if the chiropractor called 100 people a day, 99 of them would be negatively impressed and 1 would meet with him and he'd soon become a chiropractor who becomes incredibly successful and postively impacts 1 new person a day more than he otherwise would. 

With apologies to Bond Guy for apparently hijacking his thread:

Look, Anonymous, a lot of good points have been made here, and Judge you make some excellent points about personal relationships vs. pure business connections.

Results are results and success is success. I'm making a small point here, just keep an open mind about the idea of chasing folks around versus having them come to you.

I'm thinking at the professional level, not trying to discourage anyone from finding a start by cold calling. Hopefully, your work speaks for itself and you eventually grow by word of mouth. If not, why?

If veterans want to celebrate what in my view is distasteful albeit necessary, more power to them, as Bond Guy has adequately if not peevishly pointed out here.

It is nice to think our industry would do a little less ambulance chasing, I know I'm a little idealistic in this regard, but I would hope that especially established and successful advisors would appreciate the relatively passe stature of cold calling with regards to increasing our professional perception by the public, which of course could increase our livelihood.

I know from experience that through positioning and reputation, new clients will come to me. I also know that I usually have to sift through a lot of crap regarding past experiences and perceptions when taking new clients into the planning/investment process.

Anyway, sorry to inturrupt the topic at hand.

[quote=joecamelguy]

With apologies to Bond Guy for apparently hijacking his thread:

Look, Anonymous, a lot of good points have been made here, and Judge you make some excellent points about personal relationships vs. pure business connections.

Results are results and success is success. I'm making a small point here, just keep an open mind about the idea of chasing folks around versus having them come to you.

I'm thinking at the professional level, not trying to discourage anyone from finding a start by cold calling. Hopefully, your work speaks for itself and you eventually grow by word of mouth. If not, why?

If veterans want to celebrate what in my view is distasteful albeit necessary, more power to them, as Bond Guy has adequately if not peevishly pointed out here.

It is nice to think our industry would do a little less ambulance chasing, I know I'm a little idealistic in this regard, but I would hope that especially established and successful advisors would appreciate the relatively passe stature of cold calling with regards to increasing our professional perception by the public, which of course could increase our livelihood.

I know from experience that through positioning and reputation, new clients will come to me. I also know that I usually have to sift through a lot of crap regarding past experiences and perceptions when taking new clients into the planning/investment process.

Anyway, sorry to inturrupt the topic at hand.

[/quote]

I'd rather be a rich "non-professional" than a poor professional. I like the hunt, making the kill, and eating the spoils. I just don't get that from putting together a little projected cash flow analysis and a pie chart. To me, there's nothing more exciting than banging on the phone all day and driving home, having booked 3 or 4 appointments with qualified, motivated strangers.

Some of you know what I'm talking about and most of you don't/never will.

Many of us will never know the particular “pleasures” described in the movie, Sideways. But some will. What a great country.

Let's talk about some of the non cold calling alternatives:

Seminars: Ophs, Thats right you need to get people to attend the seminar. Mass mail works to a point. As does advertising.  Cold calling is usually part of the process, if not the complete marketing process.

Joining service groups: Let's see, Rotary Clubs usually have lots of wealthy members. So if I've got this straight, I join to get business for myself, not because I believe in what Rotary stands for? Yet I lead my fellow Rotarians to believe I'm there for the cause. Yeah, that's definately less slimy than a straight forward cold call.

Joining Charity groups: See above,  possibly more slimy, definately as  disingenuous.

There is nothing wrong with joining charities and service groups where you have a vested interest in the cause. However, if you are joining for the business connections, regardless of how hard you work for them and you think yourself more professional than a cold caller, you're wrong.

Joining a networking group: This actually is a good idea. Good Luck being the only financial advisor in the group. And more power to you if you can actually make a living doing this.

Referrals: Another good way to go once you are established and have something of value to offer. Nothing wrong with asking for referals, but that's a shaded slope where the slime starts to grow. Clients didn't sign on to help you make more money, only to help them manage theirs. Promoting referrals is a much better way to go, if passive. Let clients know you are open to referrals and let them come to you. That said, iIm not opposed to asking. yet, i cringe when the phone rings and its some long lost friend who is now working for NY Life and wants to help me out. After telling him I'm not interested he asks me if I can refer some people. And I'm suppose to do what?

Critics can say what they will about cold calling, at least it's straight forward and honest.

[quote=joecamelguy]

Sure, there must be some miscommunication.

Good luck with your thread, then.

I got my start like everyone else - no silver bullet, just scrapped appointments with the phone.

Now, it's 100% referrals. I service the heck out of my clients, and they tell folks they know they are happy with me.

For me, the way to book those aquaintances of existing clients comes down to one thing: doing fun things with them in a social setting, along with the client, so I can be " checked out " at arms length.

Since I was successful and good at cold calling, it took a long time to make a 100% commitment to this approach. In terms of positioning as a professional in my own mind, there is no going back.

Some have said that being a money advisor is a little like being a priest or minister, in that people's money - how they feel about it - touches very close to their spiritual values. If that is true, at least for some people,  hiring a financial advisor would be a little different than just hiring someone to do some dental work, write up some legal papers, do taxes and so on.

The more you talk to clients and their friends about this a little - keep it light and honest - the more this resonates and draws people to you. The average person who hires an advisor wouldn't mind working together for decades, and will pay a fair price - they want your knowledge, experience, consistency and so on - the more you can get this message out through " positioning " - the more the business just flows to you. I don't imagine, for advisors who do this, that there is a lot of need or even desire to talk about it, if you know what I mean.

What is the Bert Meisel method?

Many of the above posts are correct; i.e use whatever method works for YOU, be it cold calling, seminars, networking, etc.



I was introduced to a high-tech high-touch relationship marketing system just over 6 months ago. It is the best $400 investment I have ever made. I did not get sales overnight, but I did get immediate positive feedback that turned into sales just a few months down the line.



Their website is:

www.Word-of-Mouth-Referrals.com



I wish I would have found these guys years ago!

Marketing, I guess that your business isn’t successful enough to actually purchase and ad.

I made 967 calls this week, spoke to 122 live people and set 11 appointments(some of which take place at the beginning of next week).  I didn't leave voicemails as they take too long, but since this was a list of retirees, I wonder how many were screening their voicemail machine.

Next week I am going to call business owners to ask if I can stop by and introduce myself.  

[quote=LEAP]

I made 967 calls this week, spoke to 122 live people and set 11 appointments(some of which take place at the beginning of next week).  I didn't leave voicemails as they take too long, but since this was a list of retirees, I wonder how many were screening their voicemail machine.

Next week I am going to call business owners to ask if I can stop by and introduce myself.  

next week? the week isn't over...if you don't come in on saturaday, don't even bother coming in on sunday.

[quote=LEAP]

I made 967 calls this week, spoke to 122 live people and set 11 appointments(some of which take place at the beginning of next week).  I didn't leave voicemails as they take too long, but since this was a list of retirees, I wonder how many were screening their voicemail machine.

Next week I am going to call business owners to ask if I can stop by and introduce myself.  

[/quote]

Good job, brotha. How many do you figure will keep the appts and how many of those do you think will convert to clients?

What is the AVG number of calls one should expect to make in 9 hours (To simplify, assume there are no meetings and minimal break(s)) thx

[quote=joecamelguy]

Zero. How many cold calls did you get from other professionals this week?

[/quote]

my sentiments exactly

If you wanna be one, you gotta act like one.