Cold Doors 2020 - Discussion Thread

[WinoBlues]

OK, this does not really pertain to your posted but it and a previous post of yours made me think of something.

So, I used to send out these simple CS reply cards. Old school. Worked very well. This post has me thinking I am going to do it again and track the results.

 

[DayTimer]

So, I used to send out these simple CS reply cards. Old school. Worked very well. This post has me thinking I am going to do it again and track the results.

Yesterday I was on the phone with @DHK and he mentioned Frank Bettger's book How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling. That was quite a coincidence as I hadn't read it in years and I had been listening to the audio book while driving between doors yesterday. Your post brought to mind two different sections.

In this section, Bettger talks about how tracking his calls to interviews to sales helped him discover the value of each call whether he spoke to the prospect or not.



And in this next section, Frank Bettger tells how he discovered that the surest way to a sale is to help a man discover a problem he didn't know he had, and then show him how to solve it.
I especially like this clip because Bettger mentions that in this case, the prospect he was visiting had sent in a direct response direct mail lead card requesting a "Free Memo Book."

The life insurance industry sure has been using direct mail for quite a long time. Bettger's major league career ended in 2010. His first year in life insurance was 1911-12. He then briefly failed out before coming back and meeting with success. This particular prospect interview seems to have taken place within the first year or two of his return to the insurance business, so probably 1913-14.

It is also interesting that the offer was for a free "memo book." Not a memorial guide, not "free information about a state regulated life insurance program." Just an offer for a free memo book.

The prospect asks, "Life insurance, huh?"

Bettger answers, "That's right. Now these little books never sell us any life insurance. But they do get us in and give us the opportunity to tell our story."

It is also interesting how Bettger makes this sale by helping the prospect become aware of a problem he was unaware he had and then showing the prospect how the problem could be solved with life insurance.

 

[DayTimer]

https://www.fa-mag.com/news/advisor-finds-a-way-to-help-clients-achieve-retirement-goal-53070.html

 

[Life Hawk]

OK, this does not really pertain to your posted but it and a previous post of yours made me think of something.

So, I used to send out these simple CS reply cards. Old school. Worked very well. This post has me thinking I am going to do it again and track the results.

The Beauty of the forum... BACK TO THE BASICS! I'm telling you, there a few guys on here that would be great just to sit around and have a cup of coffee with once a week so that you are forced to review, re-think, and reset.

 

[WinoBlues]

It is also interesting how Bettger makes this sale by helping the prospect become aware of a problem he was unaware he had and then showing the prospect how the problem could be solved with life insurance.

That.

"The premium is not the problem. The premium is the solution to the problem."

Not positive of the origin of that. However, it is a mind set for me. We do not sell so much as offer solutions to their problems.

 

[rousemark]

OK, this does not really pertain to your posted but it and a previous post of yours made me think of something.

So, I used to send out these simple CS reply cards. Old school. Worked very well. This post has me thinking I am going to do it again and track the results.

CS cards??????? Drawing a blank on the meaning of CS.

 

[rousemark]

Yesterday I was on the phone with @DHK and he mentioned Frank Bettger's book How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling. That was quite a coincidence as I hadn't read it in years and I had been listening to the audio book while driving between doors yesterday. Your post brought to mind two different sections.

In this section, Bettger talks about how tracking his calls to interviews to sales helped him discover the value of each call whether he spoke to the prospect or not.



And in this next section, Frank Bettger tells how he discovered that the surest way to a sale is to help a man discover a problem he didn't know he had, and then show him how to solve it.
I especially like this clip because Bettger mentions that in this case, the prospect he was visiting had sent in a direct response direct mail lead card requesting a "Free Memo Book."

The life insurance industry sure has been using direct mail for quite a long time. Bettger's major league career ended in 2010. His first year in life insurance was 1911-12. He then briefly failed out before coming back and meeting with success. This particular prospect interview seems to have taken place within the first year or two of his return to the insurance business, so probably 1913-14.

It is also interesting that the offer was for a free "memo book." Not a memorial guide, not "free information about a state regulated life insurance program." Just an offer for a free memo book.

The prospect asks, "Life insurance, huh?"

Bettger answers, "That's right. Now these little books never sell us any life insurance. But they do get us in and give us the opportunity to tell our story."

It is also interesting how Bettger makes this sale by helping the prospect become aware of a problem he was unaware he had and then showing the prospect how the problem could be solved with life insurance.

Bettger was a great salesman and motivator.. Unfortunately, he was like many of us and did not follow his own advice.. He was impoverished when he died. But, at least he did have life insurance to pay back the money others had given him.

Frank Bettger - Wikipedia

 

[WinoBlues]

CS cards??????? Drawing a blank on the meaning of CS.

Sorry, Customer Service cards.

Cards we would send to clients and especially orphans. Very simple piece with 5 or so check boxes. Mailed with an enclosed #9 return envelope. Many times I would time them on policy anniversaries so after the company touches them with an annual statement I touched them with some questions that had the thinking.

Worked so well, I stopped doing it.

 

[rousemark]

Sorry, Customer Service cards.

Cards we would send to clients and especially orphans. Very simple piece with 5 or so check boxes. Mailed with an enclosed #9 return envelope. Many times I would time them on policy anniversaries so after the company touches them with an annual statement I touched them with some questions that had the thinking.

Thought that through the years I had seen it all but I haven't seen that particular direct mail card. Thanks for the explanation.

Worked so well, I stopped doing it.

Yelp! That is the way we are supposed to do it..

 

[PA Bill]

Why are you going away from FE?

Maybe because selling FE has become too much like selling life insurance?