Dialing For Appointments The Smart Way

Goodman further cautioned attendees against using antiquated phraseology that prospects now view with hostility. Among the out-out-favor words and phrases: “review” (as in, “I would like to review your portfolio”), which many clients now interpret as “replace”; and “we need to update your file,” which, said Goodman, suggests the caller is “administratively incompetent.”

Goodman further bemoaned the fact that agents too often ad-lib on the phone, rather than use a prepared script. One problem with “winging it,” she said, is that advisors are like to say something ill-considered. Or if they inadvertently say something that yields an appointment, they’re unlikely to repeat the success on the next call because the speech wasn’t scripted.

Similarly, many producers don’t prepare to handle prospects’ answers. Upshot: They become tongue-tied. Between 85% and 90% of responses, Goodman observed, are the following or variations thereof: (1) “I have an agent,” (2) “I’m busy,” (3) “I don’t have any money for this,” (4) “Send me something in the mail,” and (5) “This isn’t a good time, but I’ll be getting money later on.”

Numerous producers, Goodman added, are also guilty of being “Rottweilers,”–agents who overpower the prospect on the phone to secure an appointment, but fail to confirm the appointment at a later time.

“Nothing is more tragic than having a week’s worth of appointments penciled in when you wake up Monday morning, then finding when you go to bed on the following Sunday that you netted only 3 of 15 unconfirmed appointments,” said Goodman. “You don’t want to overpower someone on the phone; you have to learn when to back off.”

Goodman further argued against over-qualifying prospects. While not conforming to an agent’s targeted client profile, these prospects might nonetheless prove to be valuable source of referrals. She also noted that too many producers pursue “hard leads” (acquaintances who are easy to call, but are less likely to agree to an appointment) when they should be devoting time to “easy leads” (family and friends who are hard to approach in a professional capacity, but who also yield higher appointment rates).

“[Advisors] don’t call the people they love because they’re afraid of creating tension in an important relationship,” said Goodman. “These are the people you have to call. You are, after all, in the life-and-death business.”