More and more "so what am I doing wrong" emails so I decided to post the results of the 31 calls I made this morning. They were all recent - had not been called before.
So let's go over this so everyone understands that you're not doing anything wrong and it's just about lead volume.
*I made 31 calls in an hour - between 10:10 and 11:10 this morning.
*9 call-backs since the prospect wasn't available, 8 voicemail, 12 dead and two great prospects.
*So out of 31 calls I spoke with 14 people who made the decision. Almost all had group and wanted lower rates and I simply don't mess with group. They got referred out to my buddy. (Yes, I took a stab at working some small group cases myself but found I'm not a masochist.) I have yet to get ahold of the other 17 but this was only the 1st call.
*I enjoy dialing numbers and when least half pick up the phone. It doesn't bother me in the least if they have group and just want some group quotes - that's an easy referral for my buddy.
Now let's talk about qualification and more about why marketers shouldn't do it. They are paid by the hour so what's it to me if I make an hour of calls and find two solid leads. I could easily call 30 leads a day every day since it just takes an hour.
I have a slam dunk in there - biz owner on GR and her "agent" failed to mention her depression would not be covered. He also talked her into a $1,500 deductible - $450/mo. rate she can't handle. So it's easy; lower rate and depression meds covered. Not a problem.
However, she was HORRIBLE when I first called her - very stand-offish and borderline rude. She said "I thought I was supposed to read over some information first." I told her I wanted to make sure the info matched what she was looking for. It took a few minutes for her to warm up and open up to me. If Lisa would have tried to qualify her that would never have been a lead.
The other point is I had 31 leads to call. A lot of agents don't get that in a week - then you're simply sunk. As you can see, I have 2 deals working, but only one immediately. The other, although she has high interest, won't go until after Thanksgiving.
Now if that's all I had to work with all week I'd be baked. Now I'd have to pummel the phones to get ahold of the others (I'll call again, but only 1 more time) and I'd also really have to dig into the other leads who simply weren't interested.
Instead, forget about them - move one. I'll have another batch of leads to call tomorrow and that's why I enjoy this job. I get to work with people who have high interest and not punish the people who don't.
There's no magic bullet. If you don't have the volume of leads it ain't happening. You can read all the sales books you want. If anyone has found a way to turn someone with no interest into a client please email me with your magical words.
Can all this work with profit?
Cost per lead = $4
Close 1 out of 30 = $120 cost per deal
Average commish = $1,000
Net = $880
So 30 leads a day would net $4,400. Even at half that commish - $500 per deal - it would net $2,200.
You can run that same math with internet leads and it also works. However, the twist with shared leads is 30 calls is only 3 to 5 people answering - not half like telemarketed. So now you really need tremedous follow-up and at 30 leads a day you'd be completely lost inside of 2 weeks. High volume really only works well with exclusive leads.
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