I’ve broken this post into several parts because it covers more than one topic.

Below, part one from the Email bag:

The wisdom of door-knocking vs. door-hangers: I’m curious how you, David, and your subscribers in the biz feel about the relative merits of cold-call door-knocking vs. leaving door hangers.

Here’s why I ask:

50 years ago, when housewives were home all day; there was no Stranger Danger; no Caller ID; no Do Not Call Lists; no DCA strangling of the funeral/cemetery industry, door-knocking was probably a very effective means of reaching prospects.

I’ll be commenting on other parts of this email in the coming days.

Some thoughts on the subject of door-knocking vs. door-hangers:

First, how many doors did you knock?  What neighborhood?  Did you target the neighborhood?  Are there families in those neighborhoods you’ve done business with?

Second, I can tell you a story about a Sales Manager I know who went out and placed 1,552 door hangers and got exactly ZERO replies.

Third, I asked the Sales Manager the same question I’m asking you.  His reply was he would have door knocked the area he placed door-hangers.  But he only placed the door-hangers one time.

Fourth, split testing will give you the answer.  Door-knock some and Door-hanger others.  But smart prospecting should apply.  Smart prospecting is to combine both methods.  Door-knock an area and leave the door-hangers on the doors of those folks not home.  You should profile the neighborhood to know who lives in your area.  If it is younger people like your email mentions you must door-knock between 2 pm – 7 pm.  Why do I pick those times? Because your prospects are probably still working with children living home.

Fifth, you can door-knock anytime just remember who is likely to be home at certain times of the day.  In the day time you’ll find retired folks who probably have done some pre-arranging.  This would be pre-need funeral leads.  Door-knocking in the late afternoon and dinner time would be cemetery leads.  Most families will pre-plan the cemetery first, funeral second.

Sixth, a better strategy is to blend the two methods.  It is similar to “farming” a concept Realtors use by focusing on geographical target areas.  Realtors will flood the neighborhood with mail, phone, in-person materials to get their name out there.

Seventh, a tip to put on your door-hangers is to use a classified style ad.  A headline that gets the Prospect to raise a hand in interest for additional information (see Sales Letter Manual for details).

If any of the above techniques are not working it is because you are not targeting your Prospect.

For example, does your prospect own a home?  This isn’t a requirement but homeowners tend to purchase pre-arrangements more than renters.

The hard part of this email question is not the strategy it is the Target Prospect.

Clearly identifying the “WHO” your likely prospect is will answer the question about the methods of contact.

If you don’t know who your prospect is no strategy or method will work.  It’s much like shooting arrows in the dark at a target that doesn’t exist.

It isn’t so much door-knocking vs. door-hangers, it is communicating a message and delivering that message to a particular Prospect.  It is about knowing who your prospect is. 

If you don’t know who your Prospect is the message, the delivery, the frequency doesn’t matter.

So, the answer is to TEST, TEST, TEST, but figure out who your Prospect is so you can adjust the message to the person(s) and your delivery is just another step in the process.

Remember there isn’t a magic bullet.  It is many bullets and blending different strategies together.

One shot door-hangers are similar to one shot mailings are similar to one-time-door-knocking.  They never get noticed.  But, a mailer, door-knock, door-hanger, advertisement, drop-by, referral, combined with frequency does get noticed.  The magic is in the frequency but only after you’ve determined who your prospect is and developed a message for him/her.

Happy Selling!

David…

P.S. Good news/Bad news.  All of my catalog products will be coming down in a couple of days.  This includes the Whole Enchilada of everything I’ve got.  If you’ve been on the fence about investing in your SELF than I suggest you get off the fence pretty darn quick because you’ve got a few days to act or you’ll be out of luck.

This is good news for you because I’m having a fire-side sale.

P.P.S.  To all my subscribers and members you won’t see much of a change.  I’ll still be updating you and sending out tips, strategies, techniques, and other goodies.

But, Membership has privileges and subscribers get benefits.  If you’re not willing to invest in your SELF you might aught to look in the mirror for the reason your sales aren’t where they should be. 

No one can take away your education and experience.

NO ONE!

BUT, the key is YOU.  You’ve got to do something about it because no one will do it for you.  The fact that you’re here now going through this material is a good thing.  The next step is to invest in your SELF.

Click here for more …..

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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.

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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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The fear of rejection leads the seller of pre-arrangements to do nothing.  Most sellers rely on walk-in, slam-dunk, lay-down, easy business.

The problem is there isn’t a ton of walk-in slam-dunk business out there.  You’ve got to augment the easy stuff with your own outside prospecting.

This is another reason to prospect/present at the same time and have a referral generating program in place.  Follow-up and stay-in-touch programs are critical to your success.

But, we’re talking about fear.

Without getting into a lot of psychology one thing you can do is to confront your fear with the attitude of “what can that prospect really do to me?”

Yell?  Scream?  Tell you to get lost?  Delay meeting with you?  No show you with appointment times?

The reality is your FEARS are in your head.  Every “NO” you get brings you  closer to a yes.  In fact, I encourage you to get your prospects to tell you “no” as fast as you can.

Your Prospect is doing you a favor by telling you “no” as soon as possible in the process.

Confront your fears head-on, develop a thick skin, and realize that your reward for selling is way more positive than any amount of “no(s)” you might receive along the way.

Every yes you receive will make it beneficial to your bank account.

The difference between a mediocre producer and a Top Achiever is just a little bit.

For the Top  Producer that little bit is a little thicker skin and an attitude of getting the “No(s)” out of the way to get closer to a “yes”.

Happy Selling!

David…

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From the email bag

Question:

I’m new to the business and would like to get a quick start selling.  What do you recommend?

Answer:

This is a common question I get asked. 

A. If you want to get a quick start you need to get in front of as many people as you can in a short amount of time, develop a niche quickly.  

B. I’m not a fan of scripts but they come in handy to guide you through the presentation.

C. Go after your Natural Market

D. Search for a Champion Endorser®

Go through previous articles/posts on this site for more. 

Below are a few links to get you started:

A fast start helps.  You can accomplish a lot in a short amount of time.

http://howtosellpreneed.com/prospecting/accomplishing-huge-success-in-a-short-amount-of-time

Door knocking can be a quick fix.  It gets you in front of people fast.

http://howtosellpreneed.com/prospecting/short-medium-term-prospecting-thru-door-knocking

Get organized fast, it is best to know where you are going.

http://howtosellpreneed.com/prospecting/how-to-manufacture-two-sales-out-of-a-no-show-appointment

Always be learning….

http://howtosellpreneed.com/prospecting/a-real-world-story-of-how-to-improve-your-prospecting

The two-step-approach to prospecting requires more time.

http://howtosellpreneed.com/prospecting/ezine-article-prospecting

Mine Your Natural Market, it is the quickest, easiest way to get a fast start

http://howtosellpreneed.com/prospecting/how-can-i-tap-into-spheres-if

Massive action is necessary to succeed.  This strategy will take a few days.  It is always easier to contact previous customers.

http://howtosellpreneed.com/prospecting/a-cash-flow-surge-in-hours

Selling Pre-Need from scratch

http://howtosellpreneed.com/selling/how-sell-preneed-scratch

Consistency and synergy

http://howtosellpreneed.com/success/consistent-selling-is-nothing-more-than

You’re either growing or you’re dying.  There is no in between for the Pro.  Spend an hour a day improving your SELF.

http://howtosellpreneed.com/success/consistent-selling-is-nothing-more-than

You’ve got to have a referral mindset.  Ask for referrals throughout the process.  Presenting and Prospecting at the same time saves you a ton of time.

http://howtosellpreneed.com/referrals/how-to-save-time-prospecting-while-presenting

Time is critical.  You’ve got to take advantage of the optimum schedule of when to meet people, when to prospect, and how to time-block your schedule.  Check out the posts under Time Management

http://howtosellpreneed.com/time-management/time-management-for-the-pre-need-seller

I could go on.  Spend an hour a day improving your SELF.  Go to the archive pages to the right of this page and roam around for tips, strategies, and techniques that will make you a better seller of Pre-arrangements.

Happy Selling!

David.

P.S.  I’ve been receiving requests for expanded versions of many of my posts.  I’m working on it.  Many of these posts were taken from other materials.  The goal of this site is to help equip you to succeed at selling so I keep the articles short and concise.  I’ll let you know when the expanded materials are ready.

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I found an interesting quote from Winston Churchill that I think you’ll like.  It’s interesting because only YOU can do it…only you can make your DREAMS (goals) happen.

Sometimes you’ve got to turn the heat up to get the water to boil.

Emeril Lagasse likes to “kick it up a notch” whenever he yells, “BAM!”.

Well, it is the same for you.  There’s one weekend before Christmas and you can do it if you’ll kick it up a notch.

You can achieve your goal for the year.

Ok, yes, I’m prodding you to do it because YOU CAN DO IT!

Now, go do it.

Below is the Winston Churchill quote:

“If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed, if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”

— Winston Churchill

Dave’s interpretation:

“If you will not focus on selling for the year when you have plenty of time to easily win without panicking, if you will not grab your goals when they are easy you may come to the moment when you have to really work your BUTT off and the odds are against you (time is running out).  There may even be a worse case..and you may have to work double time to make up for lost time even when there doesn’t seem to be any hope of succeeding.  But, it is better to exhaust every ounce of energy you have NOW to succeeding than to give up a miserable failure…not trying.”

Next time we’ll talk about a couple of strategies to help you achieve your selling goals for the last few days of the year.

Yes, it involves work.

But, if you don’t have money you’ve got time.

Happy Selling!

David…

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