The Preeminent Producer Podcast

Is Cold Calling Still A Viable Strategy To Grow My Book Of Business?

• The Preeminent Producer • Season 1

Share episode

As An Insurance Producer, Is Cold Calling Still A Viable Strategy To Grow My Book Of Business?

In this episode of The Preeminent Producer Podcast, we tackle this topic of cold calling and dealing with the fear of cold calling.

...

Are you a commercial insurance producer struggling to stand out from the competition? Do you find it challenging to grow your book of business and create a fulfilling career?

Then welcome to The Preeminent Producer Podcast! Each week, we'll be tackling important topics, sharing proven strategies and insights from successful producers that are in the trenches and have traveled the journey to becoming a Preeminent Producer.

You'll discover what it really takes to become Preeminent & build your book of business, in a way that isn’t being taught anywhere else. Our hosts are experts in the field and have built thriving businesses by becoming the most trusted adviser to their clients. Welcome to your journey to becoming a Preeminent Producer.

Let’s dive in!

Ready To Grow Your Book Of Business?
For More Information go to:
https://www.thepreeminentproducer.com/

Also, check us out on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepreeminentproducer

Speaker 1:

Is cold calling still a viable strategy in growing your book of business as an insurance producer? That is the topic we are diving into in this episode of the Preeminent Producer Podcast.

Speaker 2:

Are you a commercial insurance producer struggling to stand out from the competition? Do you find it challenging to grow your book of business and create a fulfilling career? If so, then welcome to the Preeminent Producer Podcast. Each week, we'll be tackling important topics, sharing proven strategies and insights from successful producers that are in the trenches and have traveled the journey to becoming a Preeminent Producer. You'll discover what it really takes to become Preeminent and build your book of business in a way that isn't being taught anywhere else. Our hosts are experts in the field and have built thriving businesses by becoming the most trusted advisor to their clients. Welcome to your journey to becoming a Preeminent Producer. Let's dive in.

Speaker 3:

You know, there are a lot of ways that producers market themselves and there's networking and there's all kinds of things that you do with your centers of influence and getting to be known in your community as the insurance expert, those kind of things. But it seems like the industry always reverts back to cold calling and I read some reports recently that cold calling really is a very, very viable way to reach out to the community very quickly. We've had some folks in our company that have been doing drops, where we drop by an interesting little trinket and then you to get somebody's interest and you follow it up with a phone call and that has been very successful for some of our folks but is very time consuming and basically, when it's all said and done, it turns out to be a cold call. Hey, did you get the thing that I dropped off? Well, it's a cold call. So I think we have to know that it really is a very viable way to get yourself quickly in front of a whole lot of people. And the quality of your cold call really is a couple of things. It's the script, it's what you say, and if you join us we can help you with that. We can help you craft what you say and how you say that.

Speaker 3:

But the mystery is to all of us is the fear of making cold calls, and I've had it. I mean, you can tell by the gray in my beer that I've been around here for a little time and I've also made my share of cold calls and certainly in the beginning it was very fearsome, and I don't know why. I really don't, because they don't see me like this, they just hear me. And I had my share of people hang up on me. I thought, well, really it didn't hurt me, I'm okay, and I think I would bet you what Christian's going to talk about is practicing those things and preparing yourself to make phone calls.

Speaker 3:

But stop and think about what the fear really is, how you can conquer that fear. We can help you do that with our coaching and make it. We can turn it into a game. Actually we can turn it into fun and we can really help you get over what really is a harmless fear and remember fear is an acronym for it's false evidence. That appears real. I think is what I remember FEAR. And so there's no harm. You're not going to get hurt doing this, christian. You ever been hurt making a cold call?

Speaker 4:

Ah, not, yet I was listening to what you were saying and you know, rick, I think it's one of those things that, by the pure name it kind of makes my palm sweat, makes the hair stand up. Oh my gosh, I got a cold call someone and you know, I think successful producers look at it as there isn't really any such thing as an absolute cold call if you're doing what you should be doing before you pick up the phone and call someone. Okay, and what I mean by that is, you know, you should have done some homework on who you're calling, to know something about them. And as we talk and hopefully the listeners join us we talk about ways to get through the fear of it, but also doing your homework and making sure that you're calling someone with a reason, with an intent, and you should have a solution in your mind because, quite honestly, if not, then you're nothing more than a telemarketer and client and businesses are used to getting hundreds and hundreds of telemarketers and that's not an exaggeration, I mean and they hang up on them and they don't get through. So the only way you're going to be successful at calling someone is doing your homework yes, being different, which we talk about all the time and how to do that. But really look at it as it's not cold calling. There isn't really something as cold calling.

Speaker 4:

If you're going to be a successful producer, okay, now that may sound like arrogant or pompous and saying that, but that's the truth. If you just pick up the phone and call someone, sure that's a cold call. Why would they answer? Why would they take your call and chances are they're going to hang up on you. But your question, rick, I think, is very valid.

Speaker 4:

I've never, never, been hurt cold calling, other than hurting myself out of the fear. You know the fake fear that I kind of it generates inside of me. But it is something that I think is absolutely viable. And you know me, I'm all about being different and I think in this age of everything being a text or an email, people are becoming numb to personal touch, and personal touch through voice is just one more way to get to that customer. That is different. So if you can master calling and not necessarily cold calling, but calling someone, knowing why you're calling, knowing what your proposition is, knowing that they're going to probably want it, the fear subsides. And I think the fear subsides because you have success. At least that's how it is with me.

Speaker 3:

I think you brought something up that's really simple and good, and that is we all know the word cold call and I think you're right. There's shock value to it as opposed to I'm going to go make some introductory calls, I'm going to go do some marketing calls. I mean, it's the same thing, but sometimes when you change that first word, it has less energy and it has less fear it has. So maybe that's one of the things that could help. You know, one of the other things that to our folks, that we're doing the pre, that we're doing the drops and then following up with calls that still are a cold call, think about a pre-approach letter. Now, we used to do that. That's really old school stuff, and it's no surprise I'm an old school guy.

Speaker 3:

How many letters do we get anymore? We got almost none. I mean, really, if I get a letter, I open that side of the gun up and I'd look at it. It goes oh my God, it's a letter. It's like a carrier pigeon just brought me a note or something. So how about an old fashioned pre-approach letter? Hey, paul, this is Rick. Blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 3:

That letter has to be specific. It can't be too long. What's in it for Paul to talk with me and then I call it up. It's not quite as cold, it's a introduction call, a marketing call. Paul, this is Rick sent you a letter the other day. You remember getting it and we can help you with that as well. And I think it might warm it up a little bit and especially if you put something a little bit unique in the letter. And let's let, for whatever the price of the first class stamp is now I buy the forever stamps and I don't even know what it is but let's let Uncle Sam deliver that first call for us for less than a buck, and that's a deal. I mean, if I send something to Alaska for less than a buck and they get it a couple of days later, I'm all over that kind of thing. So we can do it right here in our community and deliver it, put it right in their mailbox. The man or the woman's going to open it up.

Speaker 4:

Oh my God, a letter, yeah, what do you think, yeah, you know, rick, some of those old school tactics or ways of approaching people really have in today's world a value that's being lost and you know that's fine for others but that's not fine for somebody. Wants to be that preeminent producer. It's about connecting to that prospect and getting that connection. We talk about all the time ways to really enhance that putting your arms around your client, so to speak, and keeping the competitors away. So, you know, kind of like Warren Buffett, you know his thing is, you know he does what people, the opposite of what a lot of people do. And what you're talking about is something that a lot of people used to do and they used to get inundated with mail and get, oh, blah, blah, it ends up in the circular, can You're? Right? Now you just get a few pieces of mail and I find myself being more intrigued about it and opening it up. And if someone did that and then called and said, hey, yeah, I dropped you off that letter, that's an icebreaker too, you know. Again, you know it's funny, cold calling and ice breaking, like it's some like oh my gosh, I got a fear, I got to be away. You know, stay away from the other person. But yeah, I mean calling people doing the drop buys, sending a letter, being careful that if you're sending emails they're getting inundated with emails. It's a reverse of what happened 20, 30 years ago. But you know, calling. I will say this, rick, and I tell my new producers this all the time. You know they can't get through the phone right so they can't reach out and grab you. The worst they can do is hang up on you. But really make yourself comfortable and have fun, fun with it. And I know that sounds may sound trite, but I remember some of my greatest successes before the use of email and computers. I was making the calls right and paper and pen. We didn't have carrier pigeons like maybe you had, but we had paper. And you know I take off my shoes, I do the trick with putting a mirror in front of me. You know I'd roll up my sleeves, I'd shoot hoops in my office which I still have, you know and I would have fun with it and just figure how many can I get in today. But when I look back on that, I think you know I could have done it a lot better, or what I could have done better. And I could do it better now because of the internet and things. No more about my prospect.

Speaker 4:

Before I call them, take the time because I think they can really sense that when someone calls, is this a salesperson just calling? You know, like good Lord, don't get their name wrong. Don't get their name wrong, don't call them. You know, rack, when their name is Rick, you know? I mean, it's just that kind of thing. And if you don't know how to pronounce their name, you can always call.

Speaker 4:

I did this and I would intentionally mess it up when I talked to the receptionist to say I just I don't want to make a fool of myself how this name and I would like fumble over it, and then inevitably they would tell me the name if you can get a receptionist. But anyway, I digress. I mean, I think that it definitely has that spot. There are ways to get over it. You got to do it. You got to have fun at it. Do your homework and absolutely, rick, practice it, absolutely practice it. That's why I like having the mirror in front of me when I started, because I could practice. I could practice my own facial. You know how was I? Was I? Was I smiling? Was I just angry? My gosh, people can hear that through your voice. So practice, practice, practice and then go.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I received a cold call from a guy a couple of years ago. I don't even know what he was pitching and whatever it was pitching, we weren't a market for it, we weren't a buyer for it, but at the end there was just a lot of silence. He asked me a question and my response was Dan, you are good at this. And he laughed. He said I am really good at this. It sounded like somebody I had known for five years and I said and it was not it, he was not a young guy. And he said not only am I good at this, I have fun at this. And I said we are darn good.

Speaker 3:

I know, the first time I did a podcast I had, I was podcasting to this guy right here. He was what's that? What is that? That is a Fox. And I had a very large client with a similar name and so I set him down in front of me and I was I was podcasting Mr Fox.

Speaker 3:

I guess I got this because I went into a radio station back when we had a radio stations and I was a young kid and I was taking a tour of the radio station. And here's the disc John Yon there telling about the doobie brothers and and I see this little guy, this little figurine in front of the guy. And so when the song went on, we were allowed to go into the DJ booth and there it was, and I said what is that? He said that's who I'm talking to, cause I can't see who's Out there listening to me. So I've created a little guy, this little figurine, and every day I talk to him. So the first I don't do this anymore but the first podcast there was Mr Fox. Mr Fox, oh, I love it. Yeah, anyway, sophisticated stuff. But there's an expression everything old is new again. And you talk to making cold calls or marketing calls or an induction calls, free approach letters, having fun doing it with some sort of animal or whatever, or taking your shoes off or I know we're in your bell bottoms.

Speaker 4:

They're probably back in, aren't they?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, let's hope not. How about? How about a lime green leisure suit? There you go, I love it. Anyway, I think that's part of what you're seeing here and I hope, if you join us, that you'll see that these, these calls, can be very fun. And I think the final thing I was like to say, just you being on this, just you watching this, means you must have a desire to get better. You must have an uncomfortableness maybe in your career, that you like your career I hope you do, because it's a fabulous career but you're not happy where you are and you're looking for ways to get better. And that's what we're trying to do. Try to help you get better. And you've already taken the first step by just watching a couple of us Yahoo's. They have a lot on about how I hope we can help you.

Speaker 1:

All right, I hope you enjoyed this episode talking about cold calling and overcoming fears of actually cold calling. A big part of this is acquiring the proper skill sets and getting over ourselves in order to implement the strategies that we know need to be done. If you find yourself struggling with whether it's fear of cold calling or fear of rejection, or just even feeling like I don't have the proper scripts in place to be able to effectively cold call, and I could really use some coaching on this.

Speaker 1:

If that is you, I really encourage you to check us out at thepreeminentproducercom to get personal coaching from the coaches that you just heard in this episode. So check us out at thepreeminentproducercom and we will see you in the next episode of the Preeminent Producer podcast.

Speaker 2:

Thanks so much for joining us on this episode of the Preeminent Producer podcast. If you're enjoying the show, please feel free to subscribe, rate and leave a review wherever you listen to your podcast. That helps others find the show and we greatly appreciate it. Once again, thanks for joining us and we'll catch you in the next episode of the Preeminent Producer podcast.