Prospecting is a very important part of the LTC sales process. For best results, it must be ongoing so that we can have a steady flow of people to contact and hopefully convert to clients. Bill Good's book "Hot Prospects," contains some excellent advice on prospecting:
- Focus on spending your time where it's most profitable — selling. Consider hiring someone to help generate leads; the pay should range from two or three times minimum wage. Bill has an assistant who takes care of many of his phone calls. Organize your day. Bill's day looks like this:
- 7:30 a.m. — Plan. Get the lists of people you will be calling and note exactly what you will be talking about.
- 8 a.m. — Make cold calls or make first calls to the leads not contacted. Take a 10-minute break about every hour.
- 12 noon — Lunch
- 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. — Make follow-up calls or lead development calls.
- 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. — Wrap up. Meet with assistant to review the next day's appointments.
Develop your leads by phone, supported by letters, faxes, e-mails and materials from your website. Good prospects are located, not created. When a prospect says "I'm not interested," believe him. Politely hang up and find someone who is interested. Even if the prospect appears only marginally interested, move on. Select a limited market and seek to dominate it totally.
The essence of your brand is a statement of who you are. Do you stand out from the crowd? Convert this into an elevator speech: "I help people plan for the final third part of life." Having a message is vital to market domination. Repetition is essential. Rule of thumb: it takes at least six times for a person to hear your name before he or she will remember it. Commit to a promotional campaign.
