Startup Costs For Telesales

Newby said:
My dog’s bigger than your dog
My dog’s bigger than yours.
My dog’s bigger cause he eats Ken-L-Ration
My dog’s bigger than yours.

If you remember that ditty then you are old.
Click to expand...

I heard the first two lines from my great grandma.
 
BarryNY said:
Not exactly KRobby.

We have to define what we're using for the numerator and denominator to get to the percentages....to compare. But the "hard numbers" after applying the percentages are what we're interested in....so I want to break it down another way cause the bean counter in me sometimes takes some shortcuts...

F2F gets 12 leads in from people who responded to the marketing (DM return/telemarket appt, etc) that are all "interested" in seeing someone. I'll assume that ALL 12 will let you in the door either by pre-set app't or a door knock - that's a "nice" 9 hour day of appointments. I said on avg. you'll close 2 of them = 2/12. That's approx 17% closing percentage of the 12 leads purchased. Would you agree, that by seeing and presenting to 12 prospects - that closing 2 of them is "reasonable"? Could a super star close another one or 3/12 - on a consistent basis?? I'm sure they can...

Tele-sales gets 40 leads dropped into their CRM - real time as they click the link. Of the 40 leads, you only get to talk to 20. Of the 20 after weeding out the dreck you only close 2 this was over the course of 4 hours. That's just a 5% closing percentage of the 40 leads purchased. And it's a 10% close of the leads spoken to and a 17% close of the "real" prospects. Does this make better sense? I apologize for short cutting to the bottom line in my last post...

FYI: Buy 100 tele-sales leads = a 5% close (5/100) for beginner. It's an 8%+ close (8/100 deals+) for experienced. These are PROVEN close rates directly out of the CRM. No BS here. No dispute.

Now if we can agree on these closing percentages - here you go...........

YES f2f will close at a higher percentage!!!

So then all we need to figure out is what was the cost to close them. You have the raw lead cost and your expenses.

AND - how much time did it take to close them???

The numbers work out below as I presented...

...12 "quality" f2f leads @ $35 = $410 gets the 2 deals or $210 lead cost/deal. On top of this you have all the car expenses for the day and the food expenses, etc etc. (you're not eating the food they're offering are you?)

...40 internet leads @ $10/avg = $400 (this is blended combo of real cost for 2 types of lead $7 and $11) gets the same 2 deals or $200 lead cost/deal. There's NO auto expenses, lunch is left overs from last night, no need for a dog walker, home to let repairman in or collect delivery, throw the laundry in for the wife, run a few errands if needed...etc etc. After the $600 investment in non-resident licenses for 2 years there's just the monthly costs. It's $40 for the VoIP phone.

This game is all about managing your lead costs / expenses while managing your time. I played this phone sales game big time but in a different industry.

You guys do not know me. I don't bullshit anybody about anything because honestly I don't give a f%#k what anyone thinks...ask my lovely wife...as it gets me into trouble all the time. I can prove to you anything I say... I spent tens of thousands of $$ each and every year on every kind of lead you could think of - in the mortgage industry back in the 2002-2005 heyday - . ALL my sales were over the phone. YES - you can gross well over a million $$ selling 100% by phone. YES it's hard work but financially rewarding. YES - I truly believe Anthony Martin grossed over a million $$ selling FE insurance by phone.

So at the end of the day what do we have:

The lead costs PER DEAL are EXACTLY the same.
The gross cash flow from each deal is EXACTLY the same.
The only difference is TIME and expenses. You cannot create more time. You cannot avoid basic expenses.

YOUR choice is to spend 9 hours to get to 2 deals face to face
OR
...4 hours to get to the same 2 deals by tele-sales.

Everyone has their own choice. I just cannot understand why anyone would work 9 hours to do what can be done in 4. Why anyone would sit in a house with (according to your own stories) fleas, bedbugs, roaches, cat piss couches, mangy dogs, etc etc. Why anyone would go on the road in all kinds of weather in and out of the car etc etc...

Can anyone tell me any different?
If your not in the south in Jan..Feb..Mar..are you really excited to get in the car for a 9 hour day in snow, slush, rain and freezing cold? And don't forget to take your wet shoes off before you step on their rug...
Click to expand...

It’s great that you love phone sales. But you have an obvious bias against face to face sales.
Yes face to face agents have car expenses. Yes they have to eat lunch. (Telesales agents don’t eat lunch?)
But face to face also has advantages over phone sales.
1. Way easier to review their current coverage and can often replace something they are paying on with a lower premium.
2. People can’t just quickly get off the phone and stop answering the call backs just because they have heard enough and think they are fine. They are a little more invested with an agent in the home and can be educated and sold even when they initially thought they weren’t interested.
3. Cross sales and referrals come much easier. I sold tons of Medicare, annuities, cancer plans, mortgage term to their kids, etc with face to face sales. I’m sure some of this is done with phone sales. But still it’s much more difficult to review their current coverages over the phone. Most people are not going to scan their policies and send you a PDF’s to review. So the only way you can understand what they have is by what they tell you. And it’s very common for them to not understand them self and tell you wrong information.
4. Persistency- persistency is decent with phone sales if it is done correctly. But it is still way under face-to-face sales. And that’s with the extra cost of having a dedicated person focused on business retention.

Face to face FE and Medicare sales is a thriving business these days. Phone sales is too. And both can be profitable. But it really comes down to the personality of the agent. Some love to spend each day in a comfortable room behind the desk. Others love to get out and see the people. You have to choose the path that is more attractive to you and you will thrive. Choose the wrong one and it will seem like a grind.
 
Newby said:
It’s great that you love phone sales. But you have an obvious bias against face to face sales.
Yes face to face agents have car expenses. Yes they have to eat lunch. (Telesales agents don’t eat lunch?)
But face to face also has advantages over phone sales.
1. Way easier to review their current coverage and can often replace something they are paying on with a lower premium.
2. People can’t just quickly get off the phone and stop answering the call backs just because they have heard enough and think they are fine. They are a little more invested with an agent in the home and can be educated and sold even when they initially thought they weren’t interested.
3. Cross sales and referrals come much easier. I sold tons of Medicare, annuities, cancer plans, mortgage term to their kids, etc with face to face sales. I’m sure some of this is done with phone sales. But still it’s much more difficult to review their current coverages over the phone. Most people are not going to scan their policies and send you a PDF’s to review. So the only way you can understand what they have is by what they tell you. And it’s very common for them to not understand them self and tell you wrong information.
4. Persistency- persistency is decent with phone sales if it is done correctly. But it is still way under face-to-face sales. And that’s with the extra cost of having a dedicated person focused on business retention.

Face to face FE and Medicare sales is a thriving business these days. Phone sales is too. And both can be profitable. But it really comes down to the personality of the agent. Some love to spend each day in a comfortable room behind the desk. Others love to get out and see the people. You have to choose the path that is more attractive to you and you will thrive. Choose the wrong one and it will seem like a grind.
Click to expand...

I agree 100% with everything you have laid out. Those are all key advantages for f2f.

I'm not biased against f2f...I closed my point (like you) with to each his own...Personally, I'm interested in maximizing my time and being ultra efficient and for me tele-sales will do that. And yes, I'm very comfortable selling over the phone - it's not for everyone and it's surely not easy or as we all would say "then everyone would be doing it"...

So - there's a place for everyone to prosper in a way that melds with their unique personality. I truly believe that "remote" selling (whether it be via a phone call or the prospect submitting a completed app on their own) is where the future is going. Some may differ and that's what makes a horse race.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
 
BarryNY said:
FYI: Buy 100 tele-sales leads = a 5% close (5/100) for beginner. It's an 8%+ close (8/100 deals+) for experienced. These are PROVEN close rates directly out of the CRM. No BS here. No dispute.

Now if we can agree on these closing percentages - here you go...........
Click to expand...

Are those proven close rates from calling through just once, like in your example, or after several attempts to present?
 
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