While this post specifically addresses cold calling financial advisors and cold calling insurance agents, it applies to most any “professional” who spends time cold calling.
Cold calling is the biggest waste of time. I’m not saying that you won’t get clients when insurance cold calling or being a cold calling financial advisor, I am simply saying that it is the worst possible way to use your time. It is highly inefficient and basically, diminishes the value of your time to something like $10 an hour. Why work as an insurance agent or financial advisor when you could more easily be a gas station attendant? at the same rate of pay?
The reason that cold calling is simply stupid is as follows:
1. Anyone with any money has placed themselves on the do-not-call list. They don’t want cold calls from insurance agents, brokers or financial advisors. So your cold calling will reach lots of poor people. That may be fine if you sell products to poor people such a final expense life insurance, debt collection services or some other service or product suited to people with little money. However, the majority of cold calling insurance agents or cold calling financial advisors have interest in reaching prospects with money, the more the better.
2. Cold calling substitutes marketing for the work of a “sales professional.” Firms that don’t want to invest money on marketing will instead ask their insurance agents and financial advisors to cold call. In other words, the firm has the following policy: “Rather than invest money on marketing, we will abuse our insurance agents and financial advisors to do grunt work because we don’t really view them as sales professionals anyway. We will have lots of insurance cold calling and cold calling by financial advisors to gain clients and save our money.”
Financial services marketing is what gets clients to call you. It’s what your firm or you have been unwilling to do. We have many other blog posts on the proper use of direct mail, seminars, use of telemarketers and other financial services marketing that insurance agents and financial agents can do to gain clients. But to substitute your time for marketing is inefficient and foolish.
3. Cold calling, if done at all, should be done by a telemarketer. Why are you doing the work of a telemarketer? Because you don’t have any money? You will NEVER have any money if you waste your time cold calling. If you allow some firm to tell you how to grow a business, realize that what they tell you is for THEIR benefit. They are happy to ride you as hard as possible and then toss you away after a year. They recruited you and left out one very important part of gaining success: You must invest in your business. They unfortunately misled you to believe that if you work hard (and cold call), then you could be successful. NO WAY.
I recently met with a very articulate guy who spent 18 months working for a large insurance company. He had done very well his first year. explaining why he left “I had no one to sell to after I contacted and sold all of my family and friends.” This very large insurance company taught him to insurance cold call but when he exhausted his list, he knew nothing about real marketing or client acquisition.
Look at any other business. Do they cold call or do they invest in their business? Does Coke invest money on TV ads? Does the Ford dealership invest money in newspaper ads? Does the laundry invest money in direct mail coupons? The reason these firms invest in marketing is because that is the efficient way to gain clients/customers and build a business.
If you want to grow a successful business, you will need to invest in it. If you are unwilling to invest or unable to borrow funds (like most businesses do to grow), then get a job with a salary and get out of the insurance or financial sales business.
Tags: cold calling insurance, financial advisor cold calling
If you take yourself seriously you should feel insulted knowing that no one respects telemarketers. Not to say that you cannot get success through cold calling but everyone already instinctively ignores telemarketers or even hate them inconciusly.
I can’t stand cold calling. It just pains me and I hang up immediately!
I definitely agree most of you. I recently used Cold Calling and my colleagues can affirm that its one of the worst method of marketing.
Quite reasonable and strategical point to consider and prove why cold calling is not so much effective. Thanks for letting me know.
I can’t buy if anyone just calls me up. That is why companies use professionally trained telemarketers who know how to sell products.
Thanks for sharing this article. In my opinion cold calling is not very efficient for companies. Although it can work when it is done properly and it is also very cheap, so the return on the companies investment could be high.Thanks for the great advice.
I used to be in a business where cold calling was routinely done, i have experience in insurance also, and i agree with this,
i hate Cold calling and when ever i receive such call i just say them i am not interested. I hate all the cold calls.
Ya, its is a job but most cold callers don’t have much success, not compared to some of the other forms of advertising.
I really hate cold calling though it can work if used effectively. The problem is that most people really just can’t get the hang of it, because it really is a unique skill.
I hate cold calling. But the bottom line is that it works. Quantity turns into enough leads for me to start building quality. But I also found that creating a blog that generates leads is helpful so that I am not only focused on cold calling.
Cold calling is indeed dead. With no call lists and the rise of telemarketing it no longer seems professional to receive a call from an “expert” of any sort. I run a dog training company and have access to customer lists but as a training expert I don’t feel professional making the calls.
I really hate cold calling though it can work.
Not only that cold calling is ineffective and inefficient, it’s also really annoying if you’re the one being called. But hey, cold calling for financial purposes does it job well since its not that expensive to put up.
There are many other much more efficient ways to grow your customer base, such as Social Networks and email marketing to name two.
http://www.bemovingandstorage.com
dc moving companies
I myself am totally against cold calling, 90% of the time the phone rings at work it is someone trying to sell us telecoms or computer systems, wasting our time.
But having said that, I have friends in the insurance business who have seen great success from cold calling, it was a great way for them to get the insurance
I started thinking of cold calling as introducing myself to businesses – and that helped a lot. I had to get past the idea that I was out to make a sale, and start thinking in terms of relationships. This is what sales is all about.
Cold calling may be annoying but if there is a sales call that people want to receive they must be financial products offer like credit card offer or loan.
so Cold calling is “sales professional.” They go to collects money to grow their business?
I just still don’t understand.
The power of getting offline and doing marketing to people in the real world (through cold calling or otherwise) can’t be underestimated. As a consultant, I’ve seen people spend countless hours getting an online client when they could’ve spent the same amount of time getting a offline client and made 5-10 times more money with a similar amount of work.
Learning client acquisition is the key to longevity.
I hate cold callers with a passion. Mainly because I hate to be rude to someone who’s just doing there job but you have to be assertive or they just keep talking. I never buy anything off them and I wish others wouldn’t because then companies wouldnt do it!
Honestly, I feel a little sorry for cold callers, as they must just get abuse 24/7 (or at least during their working hours!), though having your time continuously wasted is a drain.
Who doesn’t hate cold calling!? It only works on naive people, so I’d say it’s immoral to pray on these people.
I messed up the link name on the prior post. Cold calling is an old marketing art. Very few of us practice it any more.Tanks very good articul very good block..
i hate Cold calling and when ever i receive such call i just say them i am not interested. I hate all the cold calls.
Well, a few of us are still cold calling to make customers aware of our product. It’s a long day of being patient and polite, but given the right preparations, it still pays off.
Yes it’s true. Cold calling can easily be ignored by potential customers. But if we invest on real marketing strategies, it will pay off effectively for sure. Cold calling is one the earliest method of sales, and yes it can be annoying to do and annoying to be called all the time.
——-
Nancy
Yes it’s true. Cold calling can easily be ignored by potential customers. But if we invest on real marketing strategies, it will pay off effectively for sure. Cold calling is one the earliest method of sales, and yes it can be annoying to do and annoying to be called all the time.
——-
Nancy
I’m working in marketing and I see better results when I try to mail the potential cutomers. It’s easier to call someone when he knows a little about you.
Cold calling is a fact of life for many businesses, although I can see the point that for some industries it will just not work due to trust issues. Yet the act of generating leads on-line is still a faceless tactic as well.
I never give any cold caller the time of day. I just say “not interested” and hang up.
Good post regarding cold calling. I don’t know whether it proves beneficial or not. But a job is a job after all. And one thing i know about it is that is requires much patience.
Cold calling is an old popular method of advertisement. But now a days, i guess it’s less effective.
cold calling is part of business, thank you for sharing
Like the saying ‘Dialling For Dollars Like Morons.’ Why would anyone cold call when they could send a series of informative, helpful letters through direct mail? That is of course how the great divide in wealth happens. The few the analyze make most of the money.
it will pay off effectively for sure. Cold calling is one the earliest method of sales, and yes it can be annoying to do and annoying to be called all the time.
People who knows the real importance of cold calling, can raise their business with it. And i am in the favor of it.
@paint protection film , … sending informative material (email or snail mail) doesn’t really result in a lead/enquiry from the prospect. You’d have to arrange your material very wisely so that the potential client does react to it. The hard sale approach is often more efficient … IF done right. It is too easy to throw into a bin a few leaflets or spam-filter your emails … before you can get caught into the info-pitch.
great blog about Cold Calling for Insurance i agree in your opinion and must say that i also don’t like to work as a Cold Calling Insurance agent.Thank u
I like Cold calling. it will become so popular in the few years. Thank you for sharing.
What are the best methods for setting appointments through cold calling and are there any websites that would be helpful in obtaining statistical information on this subject
cold calling is good tool only used by person who now how to to it. Otherwise it only makes people angry
I work in an area that doesn’t necessarily do cold calling but we call people a little sooner than they might expect (I guess it would be luke-warm calling). I mean the ratio of gain to loss is a lot lower obviously but sometimes those people are just teetering on the edge of indecisiveness and need a little push
hey dude this is really nice blog and provides information regarding cold calling and also useful for marketing and adverticement. please continue posted this type another blogs and thanks a lot for sharing information
Our rental stores do cold calling to find rental customers and it has not worked yet. We get more customers from going onto the job sites and inviting customers to cookouts etc than from cold calling. It’s something about calling a total stranger, face unseen that turns people off. I don’t know suggest it at all.
I think you put it in a great succinct way when you said cold calling reduces your time to $10 an hour. You are so right that there are much more effective ways of investing your marketing time.
cold calling
Cold Calling is probably the hardest method to get any return of your time.
I did Primerica for a little bit, and I converted 2 out of 40 callers. That is low, but maybe my calling skills sucked xD
I have literally never signed up for anything after someone “cold called” me. Therefore – I know exactly what you are talking about. Personally, I will never add cold calling as one of my marketing strategies. It always has been, and always will be a huge waste of time and money. Thank you for the informative article.
I agree with you Cold calling is the biggest waste of time.