Through my wonderful Aflac Networking group, I ran across this question and thought it was worthy of posting here, along with my response to Scott. Cold Calling applies to everyone in business.  How does yours measure up?

I’m finding that a lot of people are phone prospecting and I want to know what is being said that is getting people in the door. Driving around is becoming incredibly costly and the economy isn’t helping my business or my gas tank. WHAT WORKS BEST? – Scott, Aflac Agent

Hi Scott! Ah yes, cold calling at it’s finest. Well, the real issue is this- you are fighting against some bad agents who do NOT know how to call. For example, my mother owns her own business and got a cold call from an agent who said, “Hi, I’m Sarah with Aflac. How many employees do you have?” My mother relayed this info to me and I would say if I got 5 calls like that, I’d be pissed as a business owner and not want to talk to ANYONE. So here’s the deal. You have got to find your TAGLINE. Why are you doing Aflac and what makes you different? You have got to put yourself in your client’s shoes… but also, you need to understand that it takes 3 – 5 contacts with a prospect to convert to an appointment. So if you cold call once, stop by once, send an email once– that is 3 contacts. It’s all about being there when the prospect is READY to buy. The New Marketing replaces the OLD marketing. Old marketing is really called Interruption Marketing– your cold calls are interrupting a prospect, getting their attention, and hoping they will buy into your appointment. The problem is that time is of value and most businesses refuse to give you the time unless you give them a darn good reason upfront and something of value to them. Aflac saves employers money. Do you tell them that when you call? Probably not. Most people want to sell the benefits of the policies to the employer and the scripts written do just that. But the employer could give two sheets about the benefits to the employee. they want to know how it benefits them. And do you tell them it’s FREE to them? Insurance means COSTS for health, disability, etc… So in essence, there are two critical points to make. Cold Calling and prospecting is OLD Marketing. New Marketing incorporates providing valuable information from you, the expert, at the TIME the prospect is ready to buy. So how do you get in front of the prospect at the right time? Consistent marketing techniques. Just cold calling doesn’t work anymore. It does on luck because about 1 in 25 contacts you will find someone who had a need. Burning gas in your car? Of course. But that is the nature of the beast the way Aflac trains you. You have got to fill your pipeline of prospect constantly to see a trickle effect. Now, you need to develop your marketing plan to reach your contacts consistently and be ready to sell when THEY are ready to buy. What IS your marketing plan? I wrote the Blog, Quackerting Tips. Now, I’ve launched a new marketing company to help everyone in sales and marketing. How would you like to have an email campaign that reached your prospects on a weekly or monthly basis with little to no effort on your part? Will your phone ring? Absolutely. Good luck with your marketing plan- if you want to learn more about marketing yourself, visit my website and sign up– www.2DotsMarketing. Regards, Jenn