I have plenty of cold call success stories, as a result of my efforts.  Two that stand out are (1) Pitched a guy for 100k; went to meet him at his business and he and his associate both wrote me checks for $1,500,000 for a fee-based account.  3 million on the first appt! Another one is a guy I opened with a small mutual fund trade (20k); kept in touch and they called me about a year later to say they had sold some real estate and were wiring in 12 million.  Both are still accounts to this day and (thus far) all of the money has stayed with me.

That being said, focus on the singles and doubles.  That's how you are going to build a strong and balanced client base. Congrats on the 750k account- only two weeks into it!  I think it took me at least two months to open my first cold call account.  It was 10k, for 400 shares of a new-issue preferred stock. Oh, the glory days!

Cold calling "homerun" stories like these are few and far between. And if you keep score by only counting "homeruns", you're going to stay in a rut for a long time.

For me, I prefer to count "hits". A "hit" is contact with a qualified prospect who talks to me about their investment needs. It normally requires several "hits" on a prospect before I can bring them home. Think of every hit as advancing the prospect one base closer to home. One FA marketing book says it takes an average of 8 hits before the prospect becomes a client.

Setting a goal of achieving "25" hits per day (as an example) and following up with those hits will serve you better, in my opinion. 

[quote=runswithbulls]

I've been cold calling for what seems an eternity (really about a year), have had some successes and some failures, but I keep calling.  At this time, like many others who cold call, I find myself trying to grind it out of a rut.

If anyone has any inspiring success stories, it might help some of us in a rut push for the extra 50 dials/day to get out...

Here's my success: In my first 2 weeks of cold calling in my career, I called a guy who turned out to have $15MM.  Got him to come to the office, where he parked in my BOMs parking spot, and then left me with a $750k account - which I was happy to take.  It's the 1 out of 100 that makes you want to never hang up the phone.

[/quote]

Just pretend that your whole family will be executed if you don't make the extra 50 calls.

[quote=The Judge]

I have plenty of cold call success stories, as a result of my efforts.  Two that stand out are (1) Pitched a guy for 100k; went to meet him at his business and he and his associate both wrote me checks for $1,500,000 for a fee-based account.  3 million on the first appt! Another one is a guy I opened with a small mutual fund trade (20k); kept in touch and they called me about a year later to say they had sold some real estate and were wiring in 12 million.  Both are still accounts to this day and (thus far) all of the money has stayed with me.

That being said, focus on the singles and doubles.  That's how you are going to build a strong and balanced client base. Congrats on the 750k account- only two weeks into it!  I think it took me at least two months to open my first cold call account.  It was 10k, for 400 shares of a new-issue preferred stock. Oh, the glory days!

[/quote]

OK, well then, the rest of us will just shut up.

[quote=vbrainy][quote=The Judge]

I have plenty of cold call success stories, as a result of my efforts.  Two that stand out are (1) Pitched a guy for 100k; went to meet him at his business and he and his associate both wrote me checks for $1,500,000 for a fee-based account.  3 million on the first appt! Another one is a guy I opened with a small mutual fund trade (20k); kept in touch and they called me about a year later to say they had sold some real estate and were wiring in 12 million.  Both are still accounts to this day and (thus far) all of the money has stayed with me.

That being said, focus on the singles and doubles.  That's how you are going to build a strong and balanced client base. Congrats on the 750k account- only two weeks into it!  I think it took me at least two months to open my first cold call account.  It was 10k, for 400 shares of a new-issue preferred stock. Oh, the glory days!

[/quote]

OK, well then, the rest of us will just shut up.

[/quote]

V, tell us your approach.

Some good replies here. I like hearing the success stories too. And doberman's advice is something to pay close attention to. Much of the results are beyond your control. How many dials you make, and how many contacts you make are within your control.

Cold call success:

In our office in 2001, MB, age 50, a laid off middle mangement guy with no sales experience  and no connections started cold calling. Last year he topped $400,000 in production on over 70mil AUM. 100% cold calling. No smoke, no mirrors, no wired in help from the BOM. And he's an old guy. Should top $500K this year.

MM, age 31, started in 2000, $500,000 last year, all cold calls.

K, age 34, started 2004. Is consistantly hitting  20k plus months now. Did 10k from an annuity last month. All from cold calls.

I love it when people, whether here, or in the media tell us that cold calling is dead or doesn't work. Come to my office and you'll see just how undead it is. It's harder than ever, but it still works.

And yes, we have plenty of people using alternative marketing channels. Use whatever channel you're most comfortable with.

[quote=BondGuy]

Some good replies here. I like hearing the success stories too. And doberman's advice is something to pay close attention to. Much of the results are beyond your control. How many dials you make, and how many contacts you make are within your control.

Cold call success:

In our office in 2001, MB, age 50, a laid off middle mangement guy with no sales experience  and no connections started cold calling. Last year he topped $400,000 in production on over 70mil AUM. 100% cold calling. No smoke, no mirrors, no wired in help from the BOM. And he's an old guy. Should top $500K this year.

MM, age 31, started in 2000, $500,000 last year, all cold calls.

K, age 34, started 2004. Is consistantly hitting  20k plus months now. Did 10k from an annuity last month. All from cold calls.

I love it when people, whether here, or in the media tell us that cold calling is dead or doesn't work. Come to my office and you'll see just how undead it is. It's harder than ever, but it still works.

And yes, we have plenty of people using alternative marketing channels. Use whatever channel you're most comfortable with.

[/quote]

I like what BG had to say, but disagree with one thing. Doing what is most comfortable will produce the worst results. Everyone is doing that.

I don't have an inspiring story to share. I can share with you what I think will help you feel like you've accomplished something at the end of a long day of cold calling even if you haven't sold anything.

I used a daily 20 point system when I first started in this industry. Don't know if you are familiar with it. It helps you maintain a high level of activity. <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Using a calendar, try to get 20-25 point every day.

1 point= cold call

2 points= obtain a referral

3 points= Set Appt.

4 points= Fact Finder Appt.

5 points= <?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Sale

Track all of your numbers including cold calls, touches, no answers, etc. In a few months, the law of averages will tell you how many calls you will need to make in order to get one sale. In the meantime, this will help you feel productive at the end of the day, even if you haven't sold anything.

Once you start making a few sales, and have your averages figured out, you can figure about how much you will make every time you pick up a phone and dial. Say it takes you an average of 100 calls to talk to 20 people, and you sell 1 of them and you make $2500 of commissions on that sale. That's $25 every time you pick up the phone and dial a number. If I told you that I would pay you $25 a call and you could make as many as you wanted, I bet that would keep you on the phone and your eyes off the clock!

I've posted this before, but I'll do it again:

It seems like it always comes back to fundamentals.  When I started out (wirehouse w/ a desk and a phone) I was extremely aware of my daily activities.  Because the days were so blurred/busy and often it felt like I was accomplishing nothing (still feels that way sometimes!) I kept a daily scorecard.  My point system was the following: 1 point for a new contact; 2 points for a callback; 1 point for client call; appointments were 10 points/hour; 1 point for each hour worked; 5 points for a new account; 5 points for getting in before the market open (6:30 am West Coast).  In addition, my goal was to find/uncover 500k per day. I had to score 100 points/day or 500 points for the week (I worked every Saturday).

The scorecard was invaluable, as it let me know specifically what I had done for the day.  It held me accountable. Notice that my efforts/achievements only focused on activities I could control, such as outgoing calls, hours worked, etc. While I tracked gross production, I didn't focus on it cause it made me feel frustrated when I compared my gross to the veterans.  And as I was trying to build a fee-based business from Day 1, it took a heck of a lot longer. Better to focus on the day-to-day activities and I figured over time the production would come. It did.

Did everyone that cold called always call on product?

[quote=Broker24]Did everyone that cold called always call on product?[/quote]

No, I don't.  I cold call on reviews and lowering fees.