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Just starting with some cold calling and I am looking at three options:
Register with Cole Directory, $300/5000names/numbers List Service A: Annuities and Managed money, 15 mile radius, $1500/names/numbers List Service B: Household with over $100K investable assets(financial modeling statistics) $485 10,000 names/addresses of which 1200 include numbers. I am leaning towards Cole Directory, more numbers for the $$, but was looking for opinions of people who have been in the business a while and utilize cold calling for insight.. PS: with option B I was going to put on a seminar by mass mailing 5,000 invites in addition to calling the numbersmass mail will get you at best a 1% return. Don’t do a mass mailing, you can’t afford it right now. Just pound the phone and mention you are having a seminar during your phone conversations that go well.
I would do a basic list. I may be wrong, but my impression of "Annuity Lists" is that it's a scam. Just do the work.
Where is everyone buying their lists from? Does anyone have a preferred vendor?
I’d buy the Cole directory. I bought a list once and its was a load of nonsense. Assuming the cole directory is DNC scrubbed.
[quote=tqspygame]Just starting with some cold calling and I am looking at three options:
Register with Cole Directory, $300/5000names/numbers List Service A: Annuities and Managed money, 15 mile radius, $1500/names/numbers List Service B: Household with over $100K investable assets(financial modeling statistics) $485 10,000 names/addresses of which 1200 include numbers. I am leaning towards Cole Directory, more numbers for the $$, but was looking for opinions of people who have been in the business a while and utilize cold calling for insight.. PS: with option B I was going to put on a seminar by mass mailing 5,000 invites in addition to calling the numbers[/quote] Think about this...how could you get 5000 names WITH numbers (presumably not on DNC) for $300, or 1200 with numbers for $485? I think you have to be careful about exactly what you are really getting. Not sure if names without numbers have ANY value whatsoever in our business (even for seminars, you are going to want to call). Bag the "annuity/managed money" list. That's a BS list that gets circulated by the same company under different names. Nobody is doing some stupid survey about people unhappy with their annuity. It's a list they buy from another list service that they mark up. Why do you think it costs so much??Use Info USA/Sales Genie/fill in name… they are all the same no one should every pay more than $0.06 for a scrubbed phone number…
I’ll be starting with EJ on Monday, so I’ll be learning all about the door to door “recipe”. Not to sound too cynical, I have no problem with doorknocking. My concern is there are a few new FA’s in my neck of the woods who are still doorknocking and have been seriously struggling since Oct 08. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel…after all, they all tell me “If I follow the recipe I WILL be successful!” I don’t doubt that they know what they’re doing to ensure the success of the firm, and that the success of the firm is due in large part to the success of their brokers. However, I’m of the opinion that the recipe may be great, but I like my food spicy, so I tend add a lot of Tobasco if it’s not spicy enough. So here it is…
I've never cold called before, but it sounds like that is going to be the most viable alternative to supplement my cold walking if "the recipe" is not as effective as it needs to be (for whatever reason: the economy, the area, my ugly mug scares kids.....whatever). That being said, what would be the best resources for me to form a successful cold calling campaign? Techniques? Lists? Anything else I need to know? I've also heard some good things about conducting seminars. However, that's another area that I'm completely unfamiliar with. How would I go about conducting successful, productive seminars? Same question as above: Resources? Techniques? Approved Topics? Lists (where to find invitees)? Anything else I need to know? Any other suggestions for alternative/supplemental ingredients for my "recipe"? Thank you all for any help!I was at a EDJ conference with Doug Hill(by far the smartest leader at EDJ in the last 10 years) a couple of years ago and he was pointing out how the structure of EDJ distorted the “recipe”. Initially doorknock applied to everywhere, he hated the fact that it was simplified to mean “residential”.
He said when EDJ first went into a new metro area, the new FAs were dropped off at a corporate buildings and told not to come back til they got 25 contacts.. He was sad that the new "recipe" is just doorknocking residential and small businesses..Don’t buy any lists from vendors…buy the Cole Directory for residential calling and use RefUSA for businesses…it’s free through your local library.
[quote=Fud Box]I’ll be starting with EJ on Monday, so I’ll be learning all about the door to door “recipe”. Not to sound too cynical, I have no problem with doorknocking. My concern is there are a few new FA’s in my neck of the woods who are still doorknocking and have been seriously struggling since Oct 08. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel…after all, they all tell me “If I follow the recipe I WILL be successful!” I don’t doubt that they know what they’re doing to ensure the success of the firm, and that the success of the firm is due in large part to the success of their brokers. However, I’m of the opinion that the recipe may be great, but I like my food spicy, so I tend add a lot of Tobasco if it’s not spicy enough. So here it is…
I've never cold called before, but it sounds like that is going to be the most viable alternative to supplement my cold walking if "the recipe" is not as effective as it needs to be (for whatever reason: the economy, the area, my ugly mug scares kids.....whatever). That being said, what would be the best resources for me to form a successful cold calling campaign? Techniques? Lists? Anything else I need to know? I've also heard some good things about conducting seminars. However, that's another area that I'm completely unfamiliar with. How would I go about conducting successful, productive seminars? Same question as above: Resources? Techniques? Approved Topics? Lists (where to find invitees)? Anything else I need to know? Any other suggestions for alternative/supplemental ingredients for my "recipe"? Thank you all for any help![/quote] Bud, Unfortunately, too many FA's boil down the "recipe" into just doorknocking aimlessly. The truth is, the "recipe" Jones has is really no different than at any other firm. We just sort of put a "mantra" to it. Yes, Jones strongly suggests face-to-face introductions starting out. But "doorknocking" can mean many different things. It means residential, it means businesses, it means centers of influence, it means speaking in front of an audience, and any of this can incorporate cold-calling. But the bottom line is to get 25 contacts each day. What other firm DOESN'T suggest getting some substantial number of contacts each day? Like I said, too many people get too focused on banging on doors in neighborhoods. It's much more than that, and not much different than what you would do at any other firm. The ONLY real difference is residential doorknocking. And not all FA's even DID that. I know MANY that never did residential doorknocking.[quote=B24]
Bud, Unfortunately, too many FA's boil down the "recipe" into just doorknocking aimlessly. The truth is, the "recipe" Jones has is really no different than at any other firm. We just sort of put a "mantra" to it. Yes, Jones strongly suggests face-to-face introductions starting out. But "doorknocking" can mean many different things. It means residential, it means businesses, it means centers of influence, it means speaking in front of an audience, and any of this can incorporate cold-calling. But the bottom line is to get 25 contacts each day. What other firm DOESN'T suggest getting some substantial number of contacts each day? Like I said, too many people get too focused on banging on doors in neighborhoods. It's much more than that, and not much different than what you would do at any other firm. The ONLY real difference is residential doorknocking. And not all FA's even DID that. I know MANY that never did residential doorknocking.[/quote] I understand what you're saying. Jones has an ultra loyal culture which is, on the one hand, oustanding for morale and support, but, on the other hand, can turn the weaker minded individuals into koolaid drinkers with blinders on. I'm not one of those guys. Loyalty and integrity are among the most important principles in my life, and I will be very loyal to my firm and my future clients. But I also value individual thought and inquisitiveness. That being said...any suggestions for specific resources that I should be looking into in addition to doorknocking? Cold calling specifics? Seminar specifics? Any other suggestions? Thanks!Bud, much will depend on your area, your competition (you probably can’t compete with seminars if you are in a “seminar rich” area), your background (do you have a network?), the types of businesses in the area (large, mature employers tend to have a lot of long-term employees with rollover $$), etc. Specifics on cold-calling run the gamut. I’m not the expert on it, so do some research, but Bill Good’s books are excellent resources.
If you can effectively run seminars, Jones has a large library of decent canned seminars. Also, in addition to watching a veteran run one, you might consider getting a wholesaler to host one or two for you just to get your feet wet. You might not get much out of them if the WS does most of the talking, but it will at least give you a feel for how to set up, host, and run one.