Cold Call Goal

[Indiana_Adam]

I'm reading Cold Calling Techniques...that really work. He emphasizes that the first cold call is to set the appointment. However, all of his examples seem to be B2B. For personal lines, do you think this is the best approach? Should the cold call be to set an appointment or to get the information to put together a quote?

Also, if it is to set an appointment, how many of you go to the prospect? How many set the appointment for the prospect to come into your office? Who has the better success rate?

 

[DHK]

If you want to be seen as a commodity, then get information to put together a quote.

If you want people to learn about the kind of work you do, then you'll ask for the time to show them exactly that. THEN you'll get enough information to put together a quote.

 

[Aram Fingal]

Also, if it is to set an appointment, how many of you go to the prospect? How many set the appointment for the prospect to come into your office? Who has the better success rate?

In my opinion, and a lot of agents on these forums will probably disagree with me, you should try to deal only with clients that will come to your office. This is especially true for P&C because you need to maximize your time to earn a decent living. If you spend 30 minutes driving to an appointment, 30 minutes gathering info and doing the quote (assuming you have the capability to do the quote on site) and 30 minutes driving back to your office, you just spent an hour and a half on an appointment that should have only used up 30 minutes of your day. You spent an hour in transit time that should have been used more productively (like prospecting). At this rate, you'd only be able to do about 4 to 5 of these a day. And if they're really just prospects, you're probably not going to close all of them. Plus you may have to make repeat visits to try and close. This can eat up a lot of your time really quickly.

It's hard not to go after every potential client you can in whatever way you need to when you first get started. But to really grow your agency in the P&C world, you'll find out that it's really about maximizing your time. And driving around town for twice as many hours a day as you actually spend talking to people is not a good ratio.

Also, if people have to come to you it makes your time appear more valuable, and therefore you appear more valuable. Of course you have to deliver on that value to keep them coming back.

 

[DHK]

While I agree with your post-- if you space out your appointments so that you arrive early and prospect AROUND your appointment location... it won't interfere with such a schedule.

5 appointments per day = 5 before each appointment, 5 after each appointment = 50 possible contacts. Just space them out.

 

[Full Throttle]

I'm reading Cold Calling Techniques...that really work. He emphasizes that the first cold call is to set the appointment. However, all of his examples seem to be B2B. For personal lines, do you think this is the best approach? Should the cold call be to set an appointment or to get the information to put together a quote?

Also, if it is to set an appointment, how many of you go to the prospect? How many set the appointment for the prospect to come into your office? Who has the better success rate?

The short answer is no. You want to qualify for interest and someone who wants your help over the phone. That book is geared toward getting someone to give you a few minutes for an introduction, which will lead to a lot of wasted time in the P&C business (for the life agent, it may be appropriate, but that's not what you asked).

Say your call intro (I personally like, "would it be okay if I quickly tell you why I called, then let you decide whether or not we should talk further?"), then:

"In this tough economy, I've found everyone is trying to save a dollar where ever they can. I've talked to a lot of people who have been frusterated with their auto and homeowners insurance premiums, and I wanted to see if either of those are a concern of yours?"

No - next call
Yes:
"I'm not sure if I will be able to help, but I can take a look and let you know one way or another. I just need some basic information to do some checking. What is your address? (or whatever you need to do a quote)

 

[djs]

Well, I disagree with everyone..... but then, what's new????
I hate cold calling, so why does it matter what the goal is?

Oh, it's got to happen, so, that said, in the world of P&C, if you are targeting homeowners, then it is better to go to them. Why? Take pictures of the risk, make sure it is rated correctly, etc. It helps your loss ratios drastically.

Also, experience of trying it both ways tells me my retention ratio is MUCH higher on business where I sat at their kitchen table. Also, your policy density will likely be higher.

In addition, the no-shows are much higher for office visits. Also, people that come to your office usually live within 10-15 minutes, not 30 minutes, so going to see them is much easier. If you are driving 30 minutes to an appointment, you might want to consider marketing in your own neighborhood more (granted, it can take 30 minutes to get 5 miles down the street sometimes).

I usually offer the prospect the choice. Let them decide. I'm okay either way.

Dan

 

[Indiana_Adam]

Thank you very much for the advice. I guess I will try both, and if I end up running around too much(I drive a 1990 F-150 so my gas mileage is real great), I'll cease the going to their home part and cold call more. Plus, this means I NEED to invest in a laptop and aircard, wifey can't get mad at me for that right?

DHK, your advice on the 5 before and 5 after the appointment? Do you choose areas near, but out of sight of the prospects home? Is it tacky to walk across the street from the prospects home (before or after) and knock on a neighbors door?

By the way DHK, I've posted that perfectionism quote in my office, been a lifelong battle of mine!