Thursday, August 23, 2007

Generating local leads

Doing well this week - 2 applications written and 9 more phone appointments set. The marketers are all over the place and don't work every day so the leads are inconsistent. The last time I telemarketed my own area was around 8 months ago with great success - nothing beats telling people where you live and people have more trust in a local agent. I think 8 months is enough time to market my area again.

I'll be on the phones again myself since I don't want telemarketers calling my own area - those calls are very easy to make.

I'm also still bored sitting in the house all day and one thing I really enjoy about local marketing is face-to-face appointments. I do quite well with phone sales but the closing percentage is at least double when you meet face to face. Selling over the phone takes experience and unique skills. I don't think anyone new in this business should attempt phone sales. If you give it a shot and it doesn't work at least back off and start in-person meetings.

If you're wondering why I don't just meet all my clients it's because of distance. When you have 3 or 4 marketers calling and they've been calling for months (I've been using telemarketing now for just over a year as either a main source of leads or supplement or other sources) you obviously go farther and farther away from your area. Right now I have marketers calling southern MD and I'm not driving 3 hours each way for an appointment.

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