Data List Arrived, No Excuses Now.

[Indiana_Adam]

So I knew this was going to be a bit intimidating...but holy crap. I opened up the data list and almost soiled myself. It's only about 4300 names...but man....that still looks big for someone new to cold calling. I'm giddy with that excitement fear mixture.
I've got my script put together, which I've copied and pasted on here for criticisms/input. I'll begin my fun on Saturday at 10am sharp. I'm also finger dialing starting out and tracking my progrss with Excel. I can't justify spending the money on Mojo(regardless of the awesome reviews it gets on here) until I know I'm good enough to cover the Mojo cost.

My goal is to obtain at least 15 auto/home quotes. If I get that easily, I'll keep going until I get hungry.

Thank you MedicarePlanSolutions for the data.

Here's my script. Pick away

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening Mr./Mrs./Ms. ______________. This is Adam Kahn with the local AAA office. Everyone has heard of our legendary Membership, but most people aren’t aware that we also offer competitive Home and Auto insurance. The reason I’m calling you today specifically is so I can put together an auto quote to see if your current insurance premiums are still competitive. During this tough economy, I’m sure you’re interested in saving money while still having quality insurance.

“No thanks, I’m happy with who I have”
- That’s great! You should be happy with your insurance agent and company. Many of my clients said the same thing until I showed them how much AAA could save them.

“No thanks, I’m not interested.”
- Well, Mr/Mrs./Ms. _________ a lot of people had the same reaction you did when I first called--before they had a chance to see how much we could save them.

“No, I’m too busy”
- That’s fine. Let’s go ahead and set an appointment for a later date. How about (insert date and time) at my office?

“Can you just send me some literature?”
-Can’t we just get together? How about (insert date and time)?

I've taken the responses as verbatim as I could from Schiffman's book.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Actually that sounds like a very solid script and I think you'll do very well.

 

[VolAgent]

A great piece of advice I got, always ask for what you want.

 

[dukenasty]

I am probably in the minority on this, but I really think Shiffman's scripts are crap. Every rookie that comes into our office tries calling using his model and they all fail miserably. It is too wordy, focuses too much on the caller, and does not create any interest.

Keep in mind, I am in the wealth management space (huge brand name wealth management firm) and I never bother explaining what my company does because the brand is so well known (just like Triple A), However, I do ask them if they are interested in solving their problem. Ex. High volatility, low yield, lack of customer service, etc. When calling corporate employees, I talk about helping execs make sense of their 401ks and pension options because that is their problem. That is what worries them. My small biz owners are worried about beating the tax man and lowering costs/saving money in any way possible so that is what I talk about. I do not; however, tell them that I am SURE that they are interested in saving money. I position myself as the specialist and I position myself as offering help to solve their problem. Fear and greed are primary motivators so find out what your prospects are fearful of and what they desire most from the service you offer and sell that. Fear is a bigger motivator than greed though so leverage "fear" in your pitch if you can. Works like a charm for me.

So, instead of asking them if their rate is "still competitive" maybe you should focus on the fact that you have helped a lot of people determine that they are "paying too much" or that you can actually "save them money" or "cost savings". You would be amazed at what a difference subtleties in words can have, but play with it and make it your own.

I think VolAgent's advice is dead on though. Ask for what you want and remember that you really can't "create" interest when dialing. Prospects are not created, they are found.

 

[Newby]

What would work for me is this:

Hello Mr. Smith. I'm Adam Kahn from Triple A of Evansville and the reason I'm calling you today is we are conducting a survey with only one question...Are you happy with the amount you will pay for your car insurance this year?

Then let the conversation go naturally from there.

 

[somarco]

I agree with Duke. Way too wordy. You have 7 seconds to capture their attention. They are ready to hang up before you get to the meat of the message.

Go back and try again using some of the suggestions others have put forth here.

Think about the GEICO commercials. "Give us 15 seconds and we can save you 15% or more."

That is a powerful line.

Of course, you can't use it but nothing against saying something like that up front.

You have 7 seconds to grab them and another 13 to give them a reason to listen.

If you can't engage them in 20 seconds you are toast.

Years ago I took a part time job for a month to spruce up my cold calling skills. It was a mortgage refi company. I was in a phone room with a bunch of women, an old list and a horrible script.

I used their script the first 2 days then trashed it for this.

"Hi this is Bob from We Lend Cheap. Are you interested in saving $100 or more off your current mortgage payment?"

Sure it sounds like a used car salesman, but so what? I made more appointments than any of the girls and got to go home early when I hit my numbers.

Everyone else was there for up to 4 hours while I was usually done in less than 2.

The manager fired me when I refused to work longer. She just wanted me to stay the full 4 hours to crank out more leads.

So grab them early then move on to warming them up. Jettison any extraneous words.

"The reason why I am calling is" can be canned right off. They know why you are calling. To sell them something. Doesn't matter how much you want to make it sound like you are their best friend, they know you want to sell them something.

Everyone you call listens to radio station WIIFM. Appeal to that early on.

 

[dukenasty]

"Everyone you call listens to radio station WIIFM. Appeal to that early on."

I love that line and it is completely dead on. A client of mine has a business and they provide lending and factoring of receivables for other small businesses. Very lucrative, but he is always trying to grow his practice so I helped him put together a cold calling campaign. I asked him, what is the biggest problem he solves for people and because he factors their receivables, he says I help them improve their working capital. BINGO! So, all his caller says when they call people is " Hi, my name is X with X company, we help companies increase their access to working capital and I wanted to see if something like that would be of interest to you". What small business owner is going to say they don't want access to more working capital? Every business owner worries about keeping the lights on and my client is having awesome results with his cold calling campaign.

In short, he finds people with a problem and lets them know he can solve it. Super simple. I told him to get his folks hooked up with Mojo or some other dialer and to start dialing other businesses at 8 am every morning , call for 3 or 4 hours, and bask in the ability to cherry pick which leads he really wants to do business with! Oh, and invest more with me given all the business he is getting from this!

 

[dukenasty]

Indiana,

The weekend is long gone (your calling campaign launch date). What were your results?

 

[Indiana_Adam]

My results are dismally disappointing. I wrote an auto and renters policy, pysched myself out, and did busy work to patch up my self-esteem. Basically, it was bust and I wussed out. Thank you for calling me out Duke, that's what I need.

This Saturday is out, as the wife and I are taking a day trip up to Indy. A little get away from the newborn before she goes back to work. I should hunker down and come in early morning or stay late and do a few to start getting my feet wet.

 

[djs]

Thats the thing with telemarketing, it takes a bit to get used to it. Cold calling is also much harder (for me) if I'm dialing by hand. This is why some sort of power dialing system is helpful. On a residential cold call list, multiple lines can be helpful as well.

You need to try again, even if its another day of putting your finger in the hole and turning the wheel. One day simply isn't a good test, whether it is successful or a bust. One day could be either, you need a bit more of an average.

Dan