Door to Door Vs. Telemarketing

[JosephWilson86]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone who has experience with both knocking and dialing has a preference?

I'm new to the business and will be a part time
producer for a while. I have experience doing both to make sales in other industries so assume an average level of skill for both strategies.

Time is more important than money, I already have a fairly high paying job but I hate it and want to go into insurance. Not bragging just trying to say that I dont mind spending moneyon marketing if I can break even on it and save a bunch of time.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Guest]

Hello,
I was wondering if anyone who has experience with both knocking and dialing has a preference?

I'm new to the business and will be a part time
producer for a while. I have experience doing both to make sales in other industries so assume an average level of skill for both strategies.

Time is more important than money, I already have a fairly high paying job but I hate it and want to go into insurance. Not bragging just trying to say that I dont mind spending moneyon marketing if I can break even on it and save a bunch of time.

Thanks for your input.

What LOB?

Selling over the phone you'll spend a lot of time dialing, listening to ringing phones, and getting rejected. But its cheaper than D2D.

With D2D you have quite a few advantages. You have the prospect right there in front of you when they open the door. Many people are more likely to sit on the front porch and talk to you than if you had cold called them. You have an instant connection with them. You'll see more people this way, talk to more people, and make more contacts.

Very, very few agents do D2D. Not because it isn't effective, but because we get lazy. So you will likely be the first insurance agent who has ever knocked on someone's door. I live in a nice neighborhood, and have been here for 6 years. I've had all kinds of salesman knock on my door, but never an insurance agent.

Recently we had one of those Kirby vacuum guys, an alarm system rep, and one of those guys who sells cleaning solution. All of them made sells in this neighborhood, and those were products people don't need. The alarm system guy did really well. After he left I noticed those little signs saying the house was "protected by Vivint." He must've sold at least 7 or 8 houses in this neighborhood alone.

If those guys, selling products people don't really need, were making sales. Just think how many people would be willing to talk about insurance, a product they need.

 

[HoosierLife]

Well I'm a newbie at this, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

For one, I would read every thread on here about TM sales and D2D sales, especially the thread called Survey Door to Door or something like that.

My plan was go out and door knock using the survey method and cold call at night. But seeings how I am in Indiana and its been cold, I just got a dialer and started making cold calls.

First week cold calling I got 20 leads off of 8 hours of calling. Now I have a background in telesales, but as long as you dont get discouraged, dont take things personally and smile and dial you'll be fine. I would highly recommend a dialer though. It really increases your performance from manually dialing.

From those 20 leads, I was able to get a hold of about 15. From those I closed 4 of them for 5 apps for a little over $3K in AP. Problem is I've got a pretty hectic schedule. I work at a church part time and go to school full time, so I was only able to get on the phone for a few hours and set up 5 new leads for next week.

I wish I had actually door knocked to give you some advice on that. I would think, if your working part time it would be more effective, as your in front of your prospect the first time you talk to them. With door knocking your "marketing" time runs parallel with your selling time. With cold calling you are taking x hours out of your week from selling to prospect.

All that to say, I will still use the dialer when I have time, but I am buying leads as soon as I get paid off my first commission.

 

[The Colonel]

One idea I've found useful during my career is when leaving an appointment at a clients home or business, go knock on the neighbors door and introduce yourself. You're already there so why not?

 

[HVelocity]

One idea I've found useful during my career is when leaving an appointment at a clients home or business, go knock on the neighbors door and introduce yourself. You're already there so why not?

That's my plan. I started as a Realtor, and this is how we did it every time we got a listing or closed a sale. We would canvass the surrounding neighborhood. We would leave "Sold!" of "Just Listed!" cards where people didn't answer. When they did, we would talk about the subject property, or other properties in the area.

For my wealth planning business I'm dialing B2B about supporting a program of mine, so when I visit I keep plenty of flyers and rack cards to bring to the neighbors (Business neighbors). The good thing about this business is that the gate keeper is also a potential client so not getting to the decision maker is not a deal breaker.

My pain point is the cold call. I gotta break through that barrier. I'm reading "Cold Calling for Cowards", and I'm working on methods to reduce anxiety. Unfortunately, I'm a solo act so I'm doing this without the benefit of a task master. Of course the need to eat and keep a roof over my head is a kind of pressure.

 

[Norwayguy]

My pain point is the cold call. I gotta break through that barrier. I'm reading "Cold Calling for Cowards", and I'm working on methods to reduce anxiety. Unfortunately, I'm a solo act so I'm doing this without the benefit of a task master. Of course the need to eat and keep a roof over my head is a kind of pressure.

Post your daily results here. I am sure many on here will help keep you motivated and if it works you can send Sam some bucks as thank you to the forum.

 

[Daytona_Guy]

First week cold calling I got 20 leads off of 8 hours of calling. Now I have a background in telesales, but as long as you dont get discouraged, dont take things personally and smile and dial you'll be fine. I would highly recommend a dialer though. It really increases your performance from manually dialing.

I think this is awesome, and really solves the mystery of door-to-door vs. Telemarketing. The fact that you are relatively new means that you have not been allowed to succumb to what many veteran agents do. They'll look for the easier method, cheaper method, least amount of work method.. and stop doing what WORKED.

Telemarketing, with a predictive dialer specifically, allows you to be reaching out to 3 or 4 people at one time until you find someone able to hear you out. Door knocking involves not only the travel from door to door, but also the limitation of a best case scenario that one person at a time will be there to hear you out.

With telemarketing, you go from one "no" to the next "no" in record time, thus sorting those out from the eventual "yes" and you will find the yes more efficiently.

In order to continue to do something that, at first, appears painful, you must have a consistent set of rewards along the way. Otherwise that painful behavior will not be continued.

When calling folks about Medicare Supplements, in particular, I know that the sale that eventually happens has done two things.

One, it has put more money into the house of a senior who usually desperately needs it, as they're on a fixed income. I've not take anything from them, I've provided money back to them. This is a much easier transaction.

Two, it has provided an on-going income stream to my business and reduces the amount of future calls I'll have to make as I proceed toward my target number of clients. If you're on a constant rat wheel of having to find the next sale in order to continue your flow of income, you'll eventually fall off from fatigue or old age. Or worse, if you're prospecting for final expense, the minute you stop prospecting and going on sales calls, the chargebacks come slap you from behind on that 15% to 20% that cancel in the first 9 months.

Or you could make every sale turn into a stream of residual income so that your one effort turns into a walk-away income from your existing clients and the phone ringing with referrals all the time. This is a big motivator for me as I continue to smile and dial.

 

[JosephWilson86]

I'm just starting out in the business but I'm more interested in being able to build up renewals/residuals so I can eventually build a team. Im thinking call/knock for commercial during the day and knock for personal in the afternoon and part of saturday. I know people tend to do one or the other but I think Ill do both until I get good enoigh at commercial to focus on it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That's my plan. I started as a Realtor, and this is how we did it every time we got a listing or closed a sale. We would canvass the surrounding neighborhood. We would leave "Sold!" of "Just Listed!" cards where people didn't answer. When they did, we would talk about the subject property, or other properties in the area.

For my wealth planning business I'm dialing B2B about supporting a program of mine, so when I visit I keep plenty of flyers and rack cards to bring to the neighbors (Business neighbors). The good thing about this business is that the gate keeper is also a potential client so not getting to the decision maker is not a deal breaker.

My pain point is the cold call. I gotta break through that barrier. I'm reading "Cold Calling for Cowards", and I'm working on methods to reduce anxiety. Unfortunately, I'm a solo act so I'm doing this without the benefit of a task master. Of course the need to eat and keep a roof over my head is a kind of pressure.

Little Voice Mastery by Blair Singer is pretty good for learning how to toughen up for cold calling. Thetes a cd too I think.

 

[Idahotransplant]

I have done final expense for three years and door knocked very effectively off leads that I had in hand. Instant connection. I could over come objections while face to face. Most that would blow me off on the phone at least had to look into my eyes and blow me off....very hard for most people to do. Those that might blow me off at the door I could set an appointment for another time after I gently dug out the real objection. All of this I found hard to do on the phone. I am good on the phone as I did it for years at my dads store. I just feel that the older generation are use to "friends"stopping by for tea. Above all they must trust you so therefore be trustworthy. They will buy your product if you are trustworthy and they like you(assuming you can help them see the need).
My thoughts.
Thank you

 

[Daytona_Guy]

Above all they must trust you so therefore be trustworthy. They will buy your product if you are trustworthy and they like you(assuming you can help them see the need).

That's the whole thing right there.. exactly. They must trust you and this is the biggest obstacle to overcome.

If you're working the Medicare Supplement market, with targeted demographics in the upper income range, you'll find more and more seniors with computers. If they can receive an e-mail, which the overwhelming majority of our potential clients now can, you can send them an e-mail where they instantly join you in a secure session.

There, you can show them your "credibility piece", I call it. You can just run a simple Powerpoint-type slideshow, showing your background, licenses, family pictures, etc. This really breaks down the walls of trust. Then, you can show them the quote engine, and why you're recommending who you recommend. You can show them the Medicare & You guidebook page, where it states that all Medicare plans are the same and the only difference is in the premium.

Then, the trust is there. The only questions that remain are usually, "Will my doctor accept that company, whose name I've never heard of before?" And to answer that, you can simply call their doctor on a three-way call where they listen in and are satisfied that yes, their doctor takes that plan all the time.

Yes, the trust piece is critical. When you're in a demographic more likely than not to have access to a computer, you can be right there in their house with them and solve it immediately. Some people don't even have this issue, but for those who'd rather "see" you, you can pop on your webcam and drag it into the screen share. Now they can "look you in the eye". I do it all the time. This is great to build a bond - right on the phone, and you couldn't do this five or ten years ago like you can today.

Using these methods, I bet you could talk to 20 times more people than you could with a lead card in your hand, $3.70/gallon gasoline, and lunch at BK every day. You can help people from your air conditioned/heated office without putting one mile on your car. If I had to dial 10 people to get a more qualified person that'll listen, I'd much rather do that, knowing what I know now, than putting their address in my GPS and taking the time to drive there.

But we're all different and have differing preferences. I just know that technology can help defeat the skepticism and build the trust and has made my business infinitely more profitable as a result.


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