Are you going to their home and they are not there or are they supposed to be coming to your office?
I Always send a postcard reminding them of the appt. I use postcard stock I buy at Sams and have generic cards I print using Publisher that we fill in the time and date of the appt and a short thing about how I looking forward to visiting them on such and such a date and time.
I have very few no shows, but all of my appts are at their home. Mondays are bad days for appts. People tend to forget after a weekend. On Monday appts the wife generally calls and reminds them when I am on the way, but as a general rule you do not call folks once you have an appt as it gives them the opportunity to cancel.
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Chuck
If you think your boss is stupid, remember: you wouldn't have a job if he was any smarter.”
I remember one agent saying at the end of the appt making,"some people can be forgetful about the appt. Would that happen to you?" Something on those lines - what most would consider bold. If you are having no shows, then you are overselling the appt and don't have an interested party. Or you aren't making them write it on the fridge or in their day planner. Or your aren't verifying before going. The longest in advance I would make an appt is 48 hours. I would make one call to give them the benefit of the doubt.
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"People who think they know it all really annoy those of us who do"
Asking for help on the best way to handle these people. Do you waste more time on them??
Also... for guys that do set appts? Care to share your FE appt setting script?? Merry Christmas Guys The Greenhorn
I don't have many no shows, but, I do have one occasionally. I only set appointments for the next day with FE. Another trick I learned from a seasoned agent, I ask for directions. Even if I know exactly where they are and even though I have a GPS in my car, I ask for directions. That makes it harder for them to forget and ends any confusion about where we are going to meet.
Gor the ones that no show me anyway. I will call them and make contact at least one more time. Sometimes there is a very good reason for the no show. Things do happen. If they can make me feel that the reason was valid, I will reschedule. If not, I won't.
The ones that honestly forgot your appt are very likely to not forget the next, plus they will feel guilty that they did forget the first time.
We sometimes set appts days and even months in advance. The postcard a couple days before the appt works.
Remember. Most of my appts are Medicare and Annuity related, not FE. YMMV,
I will set Medicare appointments a few days out. Having no shows with them is rare. For mortgage protection I always only set them in the next 24 hours and I continued that with FE. People don't seem to place the same importance on getting their FE needs taken care of as they do for health and Medicare.
I tell the clients that I'm writing this appointment down, are you writing this down also?
I want them to write down the appointment. Also it never hurts to call the client the day before the appointment or on the day of the appointment.
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Mark Rosenthal aka markingriffin
IMO/Ins Agent/Agent Trainer/Free Advice markcrosenthal@aol.comwww.realfastservice.com
Please visit mywebsite to learn more about me.
Email me for my Free Prospecting MP3 Tapes.
I no longer go on appointments, but in addition to the things mentioned above, here are a few others.
If you are meeting with a couple, set the appointment with both of them, not just one.
When you are qualifying the lead, get an emotional commitment from the husband (assuming you are dealing with a couple). Something like this. "Most of the husband's tell me they don't want to burden their wife by leaving her with bills after they are gone. I assume you feel the same, is that right" (Get commitment). After setting the appointment, get the wife on the phone as well, tell her why & when you are coming. Tell her "John said he is doing this so you won't be burdened with unpaid bills after he is gone. This is just one way of saying he loves you very much. Is tomorrow at 3 good for you as well?"
When I did go on appointments, I ALWAYS call first to confirm directions. I would also butcher the directions on purpose. "It's the 4th house on the right, correct?" No, it's the 6th house on the left (is their response). "Glad I called or else you would be wondering where I was."
Show up 10 minutes early. Sometimes, even if you double confirm, people will sneak out on you. A few times I caught folks leaving as I pulled up. Blocking them in the driveway has an impact. You may not get the sale, but you get the satisfaction of making them squirm during the interview.
A variation on this is to show up a day early, especially if you have other appointments in the same area. Sometimes by catching them off guard you can make an easy sale.
I realize some sales still have to be made belly to belly, but even with the cost of gas down (for a while at least) you don't need to be wasting time and money on unproductive appointments.
The key to avoiding no shows and one legs is setting the bar high and qualifying your prospects on the phone before you ever turn the ignition key. No shows and one legs are usually a sign you are weak in qualifying and getting a commitment on the front end. When you do your job on the front end you will find the sale is almost a foregone conclusion.
Wow, what a great thread! I'm giving FE another try. We were flooded in Iowa,and it put the brakes on door knocking for quite awhile.
I think its time, and want to thank all the agents who posted.
Any door knocking tips??
Greenhorn
I still just show up with lead in hand and maintain about a 90% success rate of getting in the door. I only call those that I can't find at home or they have unfriendly dogs!
I also try to knock the doors of neighbors and obtain referrals. I have done this throughout the midwest and southern states and find everybody to be pretty much the same.
They used to tell me years ago - "it's not the land - it's the man" I have found that to be very true over the years!
I just wrote a case that I had been trying to catch for over 6 months. I had to resort to the phone to catch him and scheduled a late night appointment to write the application. His needs had not changed in 6 months since returning the lead card - and nobody else were catching him home either!
Final Expense No Shows
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