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
Well as a telemarketing company we have a vested interest !! But cold calling as a way of introducing a new product or service is still valuable and still works !!
John
Hug Telemarketing
a href=”http://www.hugbusiness.com/”>Telemarketing Company
I used to hate cold calling and i’ve worked in a few jobs doing that myself but theres lessons in marketing and selling to be learned from cold calling. For example when i get someone calling me on the phone nowadays i like to listen to their pitch and see if theres anything i could learn from them. Ofc that doesnt mean im guna buy into what they are selling hehe
I am not surprised there are so many comments on the subject of “cold calling” because we are all plagued by this annoyance everyday. I am also suffering from mobile phone cold calling recently but at least I can switch that off!
Free cold calling tips that will help you get more qualified appointments and make more sales.
Hi, I’m cold calling to the list of people that I have just to setup appointment for the financial services that my company provide. Do anyone have an effective scripts to double my appointment fixing?
Hi! few times back i don’t know aware about cold calling, what is the cold calling, but when i read this really it is awesome for introducing new product. Nice post!