This question came in. 

If you preach two-step prospecting why are you dropping by people’s house unannounced?

Good question…

First, if you’ve been a reader of this site for any length of time you know I encourage you to do a two-step-approach to prospecting.

The prospects I’ve been dropping in on have already done business with the cemetery.   Also, I sent a postcard mailing to reintroduce me and the cemetery before I dropped in.

It is a two-step approach using in-person and a mailing strategy.  We’ve already done business with these prospects and have a connection.

Which, by the way, is the best way to do business.  Most pre-need sellers completely forget about doing business with existing customers.  This is by far the easiest way to do business because your customer has already made a commitment and has a connection with your company.

But, of all the last century style prospecting out there I happen to like door-knocking.

Mind you, I don’t love it, but I do like it.

Nothing beats meeting a prospect face to face to determine if they are a lead.

A lead is someone who doesn’t own arrangements but open to discussing it.

See my starter package for more on tapping into your warm market of leads.

Getting rejected at the door from a prospect who isn’t interested is not near as frustrating as it is on the phone.

Most people have a door-mat that says “welcome” and most will be nice to you at the front door even if they are not interested.

But, another reason why I like door-knocking is ‘birds of a feather flock together’.

When you combine strategies you develop a synergy that makes your prospecting even more powerful.

Let’s take our current series on “drop-bys”.

Check out part one here

Check out part two here

Remember the idea of combining strategies?  I had researched people we’ve done business with but forgot about some 15 – 45 years later.

I further went through those files to locate likely traditional casket burials.

I used the on-line white pages to match the prospects who were still living in the same homes years later (stability) and made sure the ages were within my range.

I then map-qwested those individuals and grouped them together to make it easier and efficient to drop-by.

I even sent those prospects a postcard mailing a week before I began my drop-by test.

Now, I could incorporate another strategy of door-knocking the neighborhood where the drop-bys are grouped and the odds are those people would be interested in traditional burial.

Of course, the above statement may or may not be true.  The only way to find out is to test it.

However, if true, I have a new lead source that is within my target market.

The point is; I’ve now combined yet another prospecting strategy with the previous ones.

And, I could also send a postcard mailing to the three or four block radius of my drop-bys before I begin the experiment.

This is how we intertwine strategies of prospecting.

For some of you this might be a little higher level for others you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

So, if you’re brand new to this site check out the catalog page for starter stuff.

If you’ve been around awhile look for my combined packages of more in depth prospecting strategies.

Finally, if you are in-house sales think about how you can incorporate some of these strategies to what you already do.

It’s a heck-of-a-lot easier to add something to an existing strategy than to start from scratch.

Let’s say you’re in-house sales and will be following up on an at-need family in their home.

Why not send a postcard mailing to a three block radius of your family’s home and door-knock those houses when you go to meet your family?

Further, why not research a three block radius of homes (near your at-need follow-up home) that your cemetery/funeral home has already done business with and include those folks for drop-bys when you go to meet your at-need family?

The more you combine these prospecting strategies the more likely you are to create a snowball effect and bring in even more business in the next 6 months than the last 12.

Happy Selling!

David…

P.S.  Remember, YOU and only YOU make things happen.  No one else will do it for you.  So, why not arm your self with the latest in proven strategies and techniques designed to make you a very successful 6-figure-income-pre-need-seller?

Click here for the catalog page

P.P.S.  If you haven’t already become a subscriber why the heck not?  It’s FREE and I’ll send you a series of emails designed to equip you with the latest high level pre-need selling on the planet.

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Let’s move the subject to snowballs.

Years ago I lived in a place where it hardly ever snowed.

But, one evening, for no particular reason it snowed quite a bit.

By the way, the snow disappeared by mid-morning the next day which is a lesson in itself to take advantage of opportunities when they arise and don’t wait or dilly dally around as the opportunity may soon disappear.

I had left work about 15 minutes before everyone else and decided to make a bunch of snowballs.

Now, I could have made one or two snowballs and waited for people to exit the building and begin throwing them but if I had as soon as the recipient discovered what I was doing they would be able to retaliate before I could make a sufficient number of new snowballs.

So, instead, I made as many snowballs as I could and when the opportunity arose I immediately began to throw my snowballs non-stop until they were gone.

This is called massive action.

You need a sufficient number of leads (snowballs) for this strategy to work.

Here’s what happened.

All of the folks I threw snowballs at immediately took cover and were forced to defend.

They would defend by making a snowball and throwing it back wildly so they could make another snowball.

While I kept throwing snowballs.  While they were under fire it took several of them several more minutes to determine a new strategy to retaliate.  Hence, the sales associate who laughed when she saw me working 15 – 45 year old leads was left behind because I had a game-plan.

I continued to throw those snowballs and my aim became better and better the more I threw.

Here are the lessons learned in my drop-by test:

If I had only dropped by on a few prospects the system would not have worked (massive action was necessary and I dropped in on 6 – 12 leads a day).  With each new day I would get the number of drop-bys up in the 10 –12 range.

So, obviously I wasn’t as good at this technique when I began but because I had so many leads I could continue to practice and get better.

As I became better at drop-bys, I guess you could call it, more comfortable, I was able to drop-by on 10 – 12 a day consistently.

The more prospects I dropped in on the better I got at speaking to them (after awhile all of my prospects were reacting the same way to my unannounced visit).

Of course, many of these prospects were not home when I dropped by (I made 3 – 4 in-person contacts every day).

I spent maybe 2 – 18 minutes at the door talking.

Each prospect who invited me back at a future time purchased.

I warmed up some leads for a future undetermined time (I have no results from those yet but will let you know in a couple of weeks).

Those massive drop-bys turned into massive action and a snowball effect that allowed me to write new business.

As I continue this experiment for two more weeks I’m willing to bet that I’ll match the results of the first two weeks.

Additionally, I’m willing to bet that a lot of the leads I warmed up the first two weeks will meet with me over the next couple of weeks creating a bigger snowball effect.

I’m sending another note to the remaining folks that were not contacted as well as the ones I attempted who were not home for the initial drop-bys.

By setting up my drop-bys close together I was able to save an enormous amount of time prospecting for new business.

One other note:

When I researched this group of people I made sure ages were within my optimum range and the business would be high probability of traditional casket burials.

As I researched, if it appeared to be cremation I eliminated them from my list.

This is important because 3 out of the 4 agreements I wrote were traditional casket burials.  Segmenting your list of prospects helps you  focus on your target audience.

Next time we’ll talk about list segmentation and how you can put together targeted lists of folks with some commonality that fits within your target market.

By the way, it was the enormous amount of prep-work that I did that made the biggest difference.

You’ve heard me say this before; you’ve got to research the group of people you want to do business with and not allow the market to dictate to you.

I can’t tell you how many sellers of pre-arrangements waiting for business to come in the door.

These sellers have no idea what business is going to come in the door because they aren’t proactive in their prospecting.

Because I was searching for a particular segment of business the responses and attitudes were all pretty similar.

This made it easier for me to communicate with these folks.  Had I not done the early research I would have wasted a lot of time.

Click here for part one of this series.

Happy Selling!

David…

P.S.  We’re in a higher level Prospecting series for the next couple of weeks.  If you’re having trouble go back to my previous posts (Archive Page).

P.P.S.  Also, if you haven’t invested in your self yet you need to now.  No one can take away your education and experience.  If you don’t seek it out no one will do it for you.  The better your understanding of Prospecting the more marketable you are.  The more marketable you are the more valuable you become….you get to call the shots.

Click here for the catalog page of opportunities

BUT, you’ve got to take a little bit of initiative and go do it.  Head over to the catalog page and at least arm your SELF with the starter package, if nothing else.

You can achieve more in the next six months than the last 12 months combined.

Now, go do it.  Click here for the catalog page of opportunities.

If you aren’t a subscriber yet….subscribe today.  It’s easy and I’ll send you a confirm link so be sure and rescue the link from your junk-mail section.

……

I know we like immediate results when it comes to sales and sometimes you get a quick sale from your new system but it really does take several days maybe even a few weeks to really see the fruits of your labor.

I recently began doing drop-bys on some old files from the vault. These are folks the cemetery had done business with some 15 – 45 years ago.

That’s a long time ago.

I did this research in a way that I wasn’t noticed by my fellow sales associates but one associate found out and immediately laughed because those folks had moved, died, or were a complete waste of time.

There’s a lesson I could talk about just from her response but that’s for another time.

All told I came up with 289 leads that I managed to cross reference with the on-line white pages and used map-qwest to make a few notes at the bottom of each page and lumped them geographically together to save time dropping by.

Next, I used the Post Office to mail a postcard to those people with an offer.

One week later I began my drop-bys.

By the way, I received one response to the postcard and met that couple at the cemetery.

So, arguable, you could say I got an immediate result from the mailing.

There are many strategies for dropping in on families.

I dedicated two solid weeks to nothing but dropping by those 289 folks.  I only managed to drop-by 100 total in those two weeks. So, there are still 189 to go.

The goal?

Review the file with the prospect, warm the lead, and set an appointment or better time to drop by in the future.

Or you could say, warm the lead up or toast the lead.

Here are the results of this 2-week test. 4 appointments (not counting the postcard mailing appointment), 3 future “ok” to drop by, 12 warmed-up leads (no commitments), 6 “no”, and 4 contracts written.

And, a side note, several remembered my postcard mailing.

Here’s the point.

You can combine more than one strategy to create new business out of thin air.

Don’t rely on one strategy to generate new business.

Utilize several strategies and begin to merge completely different forms of in-person and non-in-person techniques.

Next time I’ll elaborate on the lessons learned from “drop-bys”.

Click  below for part one.

http://howtosellpreneed.com/prospecting/the-pre-need-seller-and-drop-bys-part-2

Happy Selling!

David…

P.S.  If you’re new to the site be sure and check out previous posts (archives).  Also, for the next few weeks we’re going to be taking it to the next level.  If you aren’t familiar with Prospecting 101 you might have a tough time keeping up so skip over to the catalog site and invest in YOUR SELF because if you don’t do it no one will do it for you (click here).

P.P.S.  If you haven’t subscribed yet, well, why the heck not?  It’s free and I offer special deals for subscribers only.  So, go to the top right hand side of the page and subscribe and don’t forget to confirm the email I send to you.  You might have to rescue that email from the junk-trash-can so don’t forget.

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So, I’ve made a slight turn again to cover a topic that seems to get ignored a lot.

So….Yes…

We’re still in our series:

Selling Opportunities Come From Everywhere

http://howtosellpreneed.com/prospecting/selling-opportunities-come-from-everywhere#more-2650

The above link will take you to the first part of the series but…

But, well, here I go again.

I received a rambling email and thought I’d address the rambling nature more than the problem which I think are one in the same.

You’ve often heard me talk about FOCUS and staying on track.

Even though I’m not a big fan of scripts it is important to outline where you are and where you’re heading.

So, scripts can help keep you focused on the task and yes, for some, internalizing the words of the presentation can help as well.  (I have scripts on the catalog page that will be available shortly).

By the way, this is another reason why I constantly preach the “4 Commitments to a Sale”  (check the catalog page)

Get those commitments and you’ll get the sale every single time.  Miss a commitment and you risk a “no” sale.

YOU are an expert Pre-Need Seller.

I don’t care if you’ve been in the business one day YOU are an expert.  You know infinitely more than almost anyone on the street including your prospect.

The worst thing you can do with all that knowledge is tell everyone you meet everything you know.

Because most prospects…heck, all prospects…are interested in ME, the ME being YOUR PROSPSECT.

It is way more important to share information with your Prospect that is applicable to your Prospect.

How do you know what information to share with your prospect?

Well, that’s the point I’m making today and the response I sent our email friend above.

You’ve got to listen to your prospect to determine the information your prospect is looking for and not the other way around.

You’re not a Preacher….

You’re a Presenter of info….

And that info must be relevant to your prospect.

The only way of knowing what is relevant to your prospect is to ask questions and listen closely to the responses.

The old formula of listening 80% of the time and speaking 20% of the time with a focused clear path of where you want to go solves the problem of TWADDLE.

And, twaddle was exactly what I found in the email I received from our friend.

How do you eliminate the twaddle?

Go back to the basics.  Go through the presentation script.  Go through the 4 commitments to a sale.

Go through and streamline what you’re doing by listening to what your prospect is telling you.

In fact, when you get really good at this you’ll hear your prospect tell you how to sell them.

It’s that simple!

Happy Selling without Twaddle!

David…

P.S.  Most of the answers to selling pre-arrangements can be found on the catalog page.  I’m about to launch the Whole Enchilada (everything I’ve got including the kitchen sink!)

All subscribers will be notified when the Whole Enchilada is ready.

If you’re a member I’ve got something even more special for you.

Stay tuned…

Catalog

…..

He admitted that his email would probably be ranting in nature and his frustration was at a boiling point.

What was he so upset about?

He had just received his tenth NO today and he had it.

He was ready to give up and chuck it all for greener pastures.

No seems to be the hardest word for us to take as sales people.  Many times we expect to hear the no even when we are pleasantly surprised to hear the yes instead.

First, let me give you a couple of comforting words to live by.

When you get a no it is nothing personal.

Your prospect isn’t mad at you or even upset with you or even directing the no at you.

Your prospect says no for many reasons.

But, your prospect is never ever saying no to you personally.

In fact, it’s nothing personal.

Your prospect says no for many reasons including having a bad day like my friend who emailed me his “no” story.

Often I tell pre-need sellers to develop a thick skin to deal with those no(s).

But maybe a better approach would be to develop a different mindset.  Your new mindset would be to think of no as a positive, honest, answer from your Prospect.

Think about it for a moment.

If your prospect is honest enough to tell you no why is this a bad thing?

I’d much rather clear my lead box of prospects who aren’t interested and tell me no than those prospects who can’t say no. 

It helps a bunch to keep your lead box clear of clutter.  Allowing leads who aren’t interested to stay in your box clutters it and wastes money and time and efficiency.

For some prospects it is difficult to say no and they are doing you no favors by hem hawing around.

There really isn’t anything bad about a no.

The no response allows you to move on to the next prospect, the next presentation, the next sale.

From now on think of the no you get as a good thing.  Think of the no as a way for you to clear some clutter out of your lead box and move on.

Happy Selling!

David…

P.S.  The more leads you have in your lead box the less it bothers you to get a no.  I’d also suggest that you really should streamline your box of leads.  Keep your lead box clutter free.

Check out the catalog page for strategies and training to equip you sell more in the next six months than the last 12.

http://howtosellpreneed.com/catalog

…

I know we’re working through a different series and I’ve interrupted it twice now based on some emails.

I thought I’d address this point before we continue with our series, Selling Opportunities Come From Everywhere, part one:

 http://howtosellpreneed.com/prospecting/selling-opportunities-come-from-everywhere#more-2650

“Someone asked me if I could narrow everything down to one simple
concise “thing” to generate more business NOW
what would that thing be?”

Well, to keep it simple… And there is not magic bullet.  It takes a lot of bullets to succeed in this business.  In fact, you’ve got to keep growing and developing your selling skills and experience.

Anyway, the real answer to the problem of consistent selling and the one “THING” most pre-need sellers forget is…

It’s about your lead box

Many people use different terms to identify what I call the “lead box”.  If you’re the business owner it is about your customer/marketing list.

Well, Pre-Need Sellers are really in business for them SELF.

You really are in business for your SELF.

There’s no other way to describe it. I realize you might be a W-2 employee with the company (or W-4) and maybe even have regular set hours but none-the-less you are in business for your SELF.

For the Pre-Need Seller it really is about your Lead Box (or list of potential customers).

We’ve spoken about how you can tap into your own spheres of influence (these are potential leads and referrals sources).

We’ve spoken about generating new leads through a variety of sources (see previous archive posts)

What you truly want to do is warm up those leads. If you were to imagine all of your leads in one box….the lead box, how warm is your box?

Inside your lead box are various leads and previous customers and potential leads.

A lead is someone who doesn’t own arrangements and open to discussing it.

Your leads can be categorized and organized into different smaller groups with the same characteristics.

Champion Endorser® leads would be organized under a different tab.

Door-Knocking Leads would be organized under a different tab.

Follow-up(s) Leads would be organized under a different tab.

Cemetery Grounds leads would be organized under a different tab.

Stay-in-touch leads would be organized under a different tab.

You get the picture. Label your group no matter how large or small, categorize, and have a system in place that ultimately puts them into a different status in your lead box.

I could go on but hopefully you’re getting the point. Once you input your lead into your “lead box” the system takes over.

Now, I’m using a lead box as an example but the box can be your computer software program.

Your box can be your old fashioned 3×5 card box.

Your lead box can be an elaborate paper filing system.

Whatever it is you need a system to manage your leads because I guarantee you the number one problem with Pre-Need Sellers is FOLLOW-UP.

Most Pre-Need Sellers go for the sale and if they can’t or don’t get it they give up. I know some sellers of pre-arrangements who will call once or twice and forget all about it.

The reason they forget to continue to follow-up is they have no system in place to take over for them.

You can only remember so many names and soon the interest is gone and the note gets misplaced and they forget all about that Prospective New Sale.

So, get this picture in your head.

Organize your leads into categories.  Using time or number of contacts and you can put those leads into a follow-up program (it can be snail-mail, phoning, drop-by, or combinations of all the above) and systematize the program so you don’t have to think about it.

Each day you arrive in the office the system spits out what you need to do next.

Follow-up until your Prospect tells you to quit following up or buys.

Be persistent because I guarantee you no one else stays in touch with Prospects.

When you do the things nobody else will do
you’ll get the things nobody else will get.

Your biggest asset is your Lead Box.

So, for example, our current series covers places you can get leads.

There are plenty of places to get leads.  The bigger issue is; what are you doing with those leads?

Selling Opportunities Come From Everywhere, but successful selling comes from managing your Lead Box.

Remember no one can take away your education and experience.

NO ONE!

But, YOU are the person who’s responsible for getting the education and experience that makes you so valuable you get to call the shots with the company.

In fact,
top producers go from
the passenger to
the driver’s seat.

There are a lot of companies out there (especially with the New Economy) who want top producers. Head over to the catalog page and begin to equip yourself for the New Economy and get more sales in the next 6 months than you did in the last 12.

Take care of your Lead Box and it will take care of you…

Happy Selling!

David…

P.S. In today’s new Economy it is critical to your success to understand how to tap into your spheres of influence and discover new leads sources. You ain’t gonna do it sittin’ around.

So, get up and do something.

Head to the catalog page or become a new subscriber (subscribing is FREE) today….top right hand side of the page and I’ll send you a special offer only subscribers get.

Also, I’ll send you a series of email strategies to sell more pre-arrangements in the next 6 months than the last 12.

Get a move on. That’s right. And don’t forget after you subscribe you gotta hit the confirmation link I send you to confirm you’re you….

A little side note. You might have to rescue my confirmation link from the junk spam garbage can. So, get on with it and quit dilly dallying around…..

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