Cold Calling Without a Gimmicky Script

My initial goal is to get an appointment, so I don't want to be more than a few minutes with a busy owner, and get some info. Here's the approach I'm planning, open to critique:

"Hello, I'm ______ from _________. I know you're busy, I just wanted to introduce myself and learn more about your business, and see how we could partner up to achieve your business goals.

ROFLMAO!!! Unless you are an INVESTOR with CASH to invest in their business... you are not being truthful with this approach.


(PAUSE to hear what he/she has to say)
What is the biggest concern you have about your business?
(after each questions, take notes, assess how antsy they might be getting, ask a followup question or make personal chitchat if it goes there)


"The biggest concern I have are telemarketers who don't get to the real point of their call." <click>


If you lose a key employee, or if something happened to you, what financial impact would it have on your business?
How have you prepared for an exit strategy?
What do you do to retain your best employees?

AFLAC isn't properly positioned, nor do they have the products for your 1st two questions... so drop them.


Thank you, I didn't want to take up much of your time, but this is good information to see how i could be of benefit to you. Could I follow up with you next week? Is _________ on _____ a good time? Thank you, it wouldn't be more than about 10-15 minutes to share some ideas with you. Here's my card, have a great day."

What do you vets think?

You never get to the point... and you are not offering your prospective business owners the truth of who you are and what you do.

Your results... will be miserable.

See my script above and adapt it for your needs. That should work out much better for you.

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Oops. I got your posts confused with the other poster and assumed you were still with AFLAC.
 
Phones are the bane of my existence. I hate the phone. Everyone in my office has said that it's how they started, and just sort of shrug and walk past you off to their appointments. They don't remember because it's been so long, or they have blocked it out of their memories, so they can't really give good advice about it.

They say it's about referrals, hit up family and friends, but being the guy from Groundhog Day annoying the crap out of people isn't my thing, and as this is a mid-life career switch, they don't trust me in this role yet. It's like selling something from a multi-level marketing company. everyone sort of smiles wanly, and tries to avoid getting hit up for a sale.
So it's up to me to find strangers. Those who run through their warm market find out they have to eventually learn how to turn a stranger into a client themselves somehow, and those referrals from the family might come now and again, but it's finding a nest of them that will get the bills paid.

I have't managed that yet. I haven't joined a club where everyone is eager to buy from me. Every networking group in town has at least three insurance agents/financial advisors already.

So I go door to door and only talk to someone on 3 out of 20 doorknocks, get one phone number out of those. But what are your results on the phone? About the same number of responses at the end of the day?

If you are a good speaker, try holding seminars. I'm too shy, but hope to get to that point.

My biggest weakness is consistency. And not being able to take the cold when doorknocking, so Starbucks with a warm cup of coffee, then finding restrooms, seems to be most of my day....
 
If I was a life agent with a decent company, trying to solve business problems with life insurance... (buy/sell, key man, exec comp, etc.)... I'd probably try something more like this:

"Hi, Mr Big? My name is DHK. May I take 30 seconds to introduce myself and the kind of work I do... and you can determine whether we should keep talking?"

"What we do, is we work with successful business owners... who, at times, feel that they aren't setting aside enough for retirement, or know who would buy the business from them to fund their retirement. Do you ever feel that way when you think about your retirement planning?"

"So what we do, is we help business owners figure out the best ways to finance their retirement, identify successors for the business, and help to increase the price you can ask for when you decide to sell the business."

"My 30 seconds are up... but based on what we're talking about... do you think it would make sense for us to get together and talk?"
 
Well, not so much angry and the sarcasm was directed toward you, not Aflac. altho I wasn't lied to, important details WERE glossed over. But this is what I chosen, and I like that the program is voluntary, it's just that my background is almost 20 years of medical care. I can't lift and carry patients anymore but I do have a sophisticated understanding of health. If I can get tips from a Member who would actually like to use this forum as it was intended rather than someone who's here to denigrate and poke fun at someone new, Let Me -

AND THERE HE IS! THANK YOU, DHK! I will read through this carefully and get started. Much appreciated!

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Nice. Beginning to seem I am not the bitter one.

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32 calls with no 'takers' - complete success! My goal was 30 calls!
 
Phones are the bane of my existence. I hate the phone. Everyone in my office has said that it's how they started, and just sort of shrug and walk past you off to their appointments. They don't remember because it's been so long, or they have blocked it out of their memories, so they can't really give good advice about it.

They say it's about referrals, hit up family and friends, but being the guy from Groundhog Day annoying the crap out of people isn't my thing, and as this is a mid-life career switch, they don't trust me in this role yet. It's like selling something from a multi-level marketing company. everyone sort of smiles wanly, and tries to avoid getting hit up for a sale.
So it's up to me to find strangers. Those who run through their warm market find out they have to eventually learn how to turn a stranger into a client themselves somehow, and those referrals from the family might come now and again, but it's finding a nest of them that will get the bills paid.

I have't managed that yet. I haven't joined a club where everyone is eager to buy from me. Every networking group in town has at least three insurance agents/financial advisors already.

So I go door to door and only talk to someone on 3 out of 20 doorknocks, get one phone number out of those. But what are your results on the phone? About the same number of responses at the end of the day?

If you are a good speaker, try holding seminars. I'm too shy, but hope to get to that point.

My biggest weakness is consistency. And not being able to take the cold when doorknocking, so Starbucks with a warm cup of coffee, then finding restrooms, seems to be most of my day....

I totally understand where you're coming from. Here's what you need: daily consistency. Cold-calling and door-knocking offer you a chance for daily prospecting consistent activity.

But if I were you... and getting started with a new career, I would NOT start with business owners. I'd go residential - door-to-door. Find homes with cars in the driveway and talk about family financial planning and retirement planning.

The advantage... is no "gatekeepers". Nearly everyone you talk to... is a decision maker that can say YES as well as NO.


Join a toastmasters group to build up your public speaking skills and confidence... but do it after you're up, running, and profitable.

"Notworking" groups... are "tomorrow" prospecting. Great to build relationships... but they take time.

There's lots about doing residential door-to-door on this forum. If you are consistent with it, and build up your skills... you should be able to do about 1 life app per day... and maybe 1 annuity per month?
 
ROFLMAO!!! Unless you are an INVESTOR with CASH to invest in their business... you are not being truthful with this approach.




"The biggest concern I have are telemarketers who don't get to the real point of their call." <click>




AFLAC isn't properly positioned, nor do they have the products for your 1st two questions... so drop them.




You never get to the point... and you are not offering your prospective business owners the truth of who you are and what you do.

Your results... will be miserable.

See my script above and adapt it for your needs. That should work out much better for you.

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Oops. I got your posts confused with the other poster and assumed you were still with AFLAC.
Thanks for the response. From the research I was reading from small business owners, they prefer to not be sold a product so much as have you build an honest relationship by actually listening to them. If I'm offering them a solution that allows them to grow, or keep a stable workforce, or whatever is on their mind, then yes, I'm part of their team. It seems that a lot haven't had time to figure out what they are really worried about until you ask the right questions and get them thinking about it.

I'm not on the phone -- I'm in person, and not taking up a whole lot of time to be flash and one more person selling them something. Everyone says no to buying something at first.
Someone asking what they actually are concerned about instead of telling them about my latest product, seems to me to lead to what THEY need, not what I want to shove down their throats. As I can provide a wide variety of solutions being a financial advisor as well as insurance agent, I want to know what the problem is first to get to the right product -- SEP/SIMPLE, group life plan, key person insurance, whatever.

But if you folks say that won't get anywhere, I'm listening. It flies in the face of the research and advice from the company, but you folks are the vets. If leading with a product is what you suggest, would disability for the owner, or business overhead expense, be the best opener for an owner, before going on to knowing more about what he wants for his employees? That's broader than critical illness for a benefit, isn't it?
 
If you're dead set on marketing to business owners... then I would use the Business Priority Planning Review from the VSA.

Priority Approaches

The idea is to show the work you do, while the business owner determines what's most important to them right now. It's a 15-minute process, so it's quick.

A way to approach this at a business location could be this:

"As a professional life insurance agent specializing in the needs of business owners, I do different things for different people at different times. I truly don't know what's most important to you right now or how I can help. That's why I use the Business Priority Planning Review. The questions help you understand the different problems I help solve... and your answers will tell us both if you could benefit from my services."

"Do you have 15 minutes now? Or should we schedule a different time?"
 
Thanks, that's kind of what I was going for... Just a quick way to get to that 15 minute meeting, but ask enough broad questions at the beginning to get an understanding of where they were coming from, and they understand I'm interested in THEM. If they say, "Oh, yeah, I have all the insurance I need, but I'm wanting to retire in about 10 years and not sure what will happen to the business" then I know if I say, "Hey, I have a great critical insurance plan" they will shut me down and I'll get no further.

I like the way you put it. It's fast and gets to the heart of things without being pushy. Thanks!
 
Thanks, that's kind of what I was going for... Just a quick way to get to that 15 minute meeting, but ask enough broad questions at the beginning to get an understanding of where they were coming from, and they understand I'm interested in THEM. If they say, "Oh, yeah, I have all the insurance I need, but I'm wanting to retire in about 10 years and not sure what will happen to the business" then I know if I say, "Hey, I have a great critical insurance plan" they will shut me down and I'll get no further.

I like the way you put it. It's fast and gets to the heart of things without being pushy. Thanks!

You have no idea what you are talking about but at least you are starting to realize it. That opening made me laugh out loud it was so bad. What in the hell would make you ever think that that opening would work? Stop doing "research." I can tell it is in your personality to do lots of "research" but you clearly do not know what you are doing so "research" but listen.

Either way, This has been one of the saddest threads I have ever seen. I would seriously consider getting a job that pays you. You obviously have a problem with being a sales(wo)man and bothering people. My guess is that you have always looked down on salespeople because you think that you and everyone else should just do "research" and shouldn't have to be "sold" anything.

You have used words and phrases that make it clear that you don't like sales and hate to be seen as a sales person. Do yourself a favor and find a job that you like and that fits your personality. There is nothing wrong with not making it in insurance, most people don't. I had to get out for almost a year because I sucked at selling.

Insurance sales is not a job for people who have to feel superior to others, insurance sales is for people who like to make money, control their destiny and enjoy the challenge. People who like to feel superior to salespeople should stick to jobs like accounting, librarians, law, medicine, antique store ownership, underwriting (lol), teachers who call themselves educators, mall coping, real estate, banking, government work, etc.

Don't take my tone wrong either because I am saying all of this to help you. I don't want to see you go bankrupt.

I would stop prospecting for insurance immediately and start prospecting for a financial advisor job in a bank. Good luck either way.
 
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