Chapter 4 of Final Expense Boot Camp. How to Setting Appointments/ Door Knocks?

Before entering the chow hall, the recruits would line up into two rows, and you would be front to back with the recruit in front of you. The Marine Lingo was “Nutt to butt.” You were that tight to the recruit in front of you as you stood at the entrance to the chow hall.

Each Platoon had a chant that they had to say prior to entering the chow hall. There were usually 3-5 other platoons waiting on the parade deck to get to your position so that they could than enter the chow hall as well.

So, of course, this was the pride of your platoon when doing your war chant into the chow hall so that others would take notice.

Drill Instructor: “Platoon 3041, how many recruits do we have entering the Chow Hall today?”

Platoon: “Sir, there are 97 highly motivated, truly dedicated, rough, tough, mean and green, ready to kill and ready to die, hungry as hell but we don’t mind. First to fight, and first to die. Platoon 3041 will rock you. Semper Fi!”

We said that three times a day, unless we passed our rival platoon where we might have sneaked one in on them as they passed. The little games the DI’s played with each other. I am assuming that if we did the same thing over and over it would probably help us get in houses and make more sales. Let’s look into this a little closer.

We call knocking on doors when you stop by someone's house without a call “Door knocks” or “Stop bys.” I’ve heard some agents call them “Drive bys.” You have to have a script for this and you have to look down at your feet at the end and act like you're wiping your feet off as if you are about to enter the house.

You are assuming that they are welcoming you into their home. Here are a couple hints on door knocks or stop bys.
Prior to pulling into the drive, have everything ready so you can exit fast. Do not just sit there.
When you get out of the car, act like you are waving to the window because you know they're watching.
Friends knock on the side door, and businessmen knock on the front door. Try the side door unless the front is easier or open.
Open the screen door and keep it behind you so that you can walk right in after you say your pitch.
Make sure you smell good and look good. No one likes a smelly sales rep.
Ladies, put your makeup on and lip stick and run the brush through the hair a couple times.
You want to do one of three things:
Get in the house
Set an appointment to get in the house
Get a phone number or time to call them back to get in the house.
If you do one of the three things above, then that is a good stop by.
You aren't going to get into every house.
Accept that, and make it a positive.
Knock on the neighbor's door, beside them, or across the street. Make a friend while you are there. Don’t leave bothered. Make use of your time.
Here is a great door knock script that I actually learned from my brother.
Knock, knock, knock,
Hello, Mrs. Jones.
Hi, my name is Steve.

You sent this card in looking for some information about final expense.

I was in the area dropping a policy off and wanted to go over the information you requested.

It takes five minutes and I can answer any questions you might have.

LOOK DOWN AND WIPE YOUR FEET, and walk IN.

Setting appointments over the phone is a good thing to do. You have to do this every night when you don’t have appointments. I try to set appointments Sunday night for Monday and Tuesday and Tuesday night for Wednesday and Thursday. I then use the morning to fill in the holes. I do not call to set appointments after 10 am.

You should be out the door by then. If you don’t have a lot of appointments, then do drive bys. Why call someone to see if they are home when you have the whole day to stop in and see them? This drives me crazy. I call an agent and ask them what they are doing. “Well, I’m sitting in the park making phone calls.”

I say “WHY?”

“Well, I wanted to see if they are home.”
“Are you serious? They live three minutes from the park you are at. GO SEE THEM!” I’d much rather get a no to my face than over the phone.
Why would someone tell me NO on the phone?
Having a bad day
Dog just died
Have an arm full of groceries
Kids are screaming
Electric got shut off
Lost their job

THEY THINK YOU ARE A TELEMARKETER

Make the first call the least memorable as possible, if you don’t set the appointment. You then put that lead back in your binder and go see them the same time you called them but add 30 minutes to it. So, if you called them at 6:00, stop in at 6:30. Give them time to get settled in. If you do make the sale, then make them apologize.

They’ll ask you what for.

“Mrs. Jones, I called you two days ago and you hung up on me. Now, aren’t you glad I stopped by so that we could help you out?”

“Oh, I am so sorry. I thought you were a telemarketer.”

Here is a good phone script to set up an appointment over the phone or in person. Yes, in person when you can’t get into the house, so fall back and use this to set an appointment.

Ring Ring….

Hello?

Yes, is the Mrs. Jones?

This is ______ calling you about the low cost life insurance. You mailed a card in requesting some information. I just wanted to verify a couple things with you Mrs. Jones.

We have your address as ______.

You put your date of birth as ______.

How old does that make you today, Mrs. Jones ______?

Great.

I am going to be out near your home tomorrow dropping a policy off, and I wanted to drop the information off you requested. I have a ______ o’clock and a ______ o’clock available, which works best for you Mrs. Jones?

Great. Mrs. Jones, I’ll stop in around 6.

Just in case it’s dark out, what color is your house? ______

And is there a car in the driveway I should look for? ______

Great. Ms.Jones write this code down so that when you see me you know it's me. The code is MARINE. Ask me that password and you’ll know it's me coming to see you. I’ll look forward to seeing you tomorrow Mrs. Jones.

Thank you. Bye!

It’s that simple. You lead them, and never ask an open ended question. I gave her two choices. If those don’t work, then she’ll tell me, but if I don’t give her a choice, then no time is going to be good for her, which makes you broke.

I would practice that script 100 times. Set up a time every night to call, say 7 - 8pm. It takes 20 minutes to set your day up. If you don’t make calls, then you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

**The best night to make calls is SUNDAY NIGHT**

This sets your week up and gets you going! If you don’t take Sunday night and make appointments, then you have to get out there Monday and do Door Knocks. What happens is it rains? You lose a day! You miss four days in a month, which equals 8 sales!