How to Build a Phone Script | 7 Figure Annuity Sales Podcast | Ep. 146

Hello, everyone. Welcome to this week's podcast. I am Chad Owen. This is my sidekick, Caleb North. And we're gonna try and help you get more annuity business by helping people. That's right. Problems, finding solutions. Will you stop that?

If you two guys don't watch the YouTube videos of these, you really should start because there's some funny things that go on on video that you don't get to hear.

Not many people get abused their son in law on live camera. Like this is like. You have no idea how many times I've stomped his foot with the back of my heel. Anyway, okay, so what are we talking about today?

Well, we've done a podcast last week where we talked about how to build a fact finder. Okay. And I want to give them kind of another version, not how to build a fact finder, but how to build a phone script. And again, if you go to theannuitysalescoach.com, you can actually download the PDF version of what we're talking about today.

Yeah. Because it's not just. It's important to know whatever lead type you have.

Absolutely.

Source you have.

Absolutely.

You want to definitely modify your scripts as necessary. And on the Academy we definitely have that laid out to where they get your own. Like they get my actual scripts. That's true.

The way that you do it.

Yeah. I have people. And once again, are we trying to push people to go into the Academy? Yes, absolutely. And remember, it's not because I need the money. I sell 25 plus million a year in annuities.

Yeah.

It's not like that now. I haven't drawn once from the Academy. Not once. Not once.

Thanks for bringing that up. But we're able to have an incredible team. I mean, that's one of the reasons why he's working with me now is because I want that to continue. But I love people being a part of the Academy because I know everything is covered in there. Everything that I do is in there. So. And unfortunately, it's funny, we'll spend $6, $7 on a cup of coffee, but we won't invest in our education for what we're doing. And that's why we created the Academy. It's literally I don't know of any other place like this. And once you're on the back end of that website, you will see, I don't know of any other place that has the amount of resources that we have available for our agents and that are part of the Academy to just, I mean, literally documents for everything, scripts for everything. And it's not necessarily a plug for the academy. It's just not. It's something that I can utilize and use to change this industry. And you say, well, then why don't you just give it away for free? If anybody knew the amount of people and man hours that go into this, it's huge.

It is.

So it literally covers the cost, which is what I'm planning on doing. Absolutely. But when you're trying to build a phone script, most importantly is don't cookie cutter it. Even all my scripts I have on the academy, they're pertaining to a lead type or a situation or the first call, the second call, the third call, the first appointment, second appointment. I mean, it's all pertaining to that. But the reality is you've got to keep your own personality somewhat.

Yeah.

Now, if you're dud, you know where I've had people. Hi, my name is Chad Owen. I am a. And I'm going, okay, yeah, you're done. Or they were. Hey, how's the weather today? Hang up. Yeah, you don't want to sound like a telemarketer.

Right.

Because telemarketers are great at what, sounding like a telemarketer, you know, and unfortunately, we got to remember, we got to be great on the phone because the reality is there's a lot of bad examples out there. And when you sound like you know what you're talking about, because you really do, you'll be blown away. How many people that keep talking to you just because you. You sounded right from the beginning like you were in an expert.

100%.

That's also why I'm really big on leads that are very specific to what they're going for because I want them to know. And if you guys hear a little bit of background noise, it's because we are getting a downfall right now. It's coming down, which we need it so bad.

Cats and dogs, as they say.

No, just dogs. Cats. No, Never mind. Anyway, I know we have some cat lovers on here. I love cats. They taste yummy. No, I mean, that is terrible. It is. Okay. But, you know, we. We want to make sure that you get to keep your own personality. But there are times where you have to pick. I mean, I've been on calls with agents. I'm going. I'm, like, ready to fall asleep right now. You've got to get some more energy. You got to have voice fluctuation. I even use. And people make fun of me at this. But when I'm talking the phone, I'm Using my hands.

Yeah.

And I'm actually sitting up or I'm leaning in a little bit. Why? Because you can hear that my voice if I'm back like this. Right. You know, and if you're not watching the video, I'm leaning back. But if I'm leaning back, there's always a voice fluctuation.

Right.

And so you want to be engaged in the call. And remember there's times I worked the entire day running multiple companies and guess when my calls are 4 to 7:30. And lately it's been 5:30 to 7:30 because I haven't been able to get to the calls any earlier than that. And right now, as of this week, I already have it almost. I have four spots that are available, three spots that are available next week to rent appointments. Why? I'm a calling machine. You do call a lot, you know, and people are always surprised when. Well, you do this amount of. You do 27 million and you make all your own calls. Yeah, when I tell you I make my own calls, make my own appointments, do my own follow ups, do my own pending business, do my own. I mean I literally do, I fill out the applications, I do it from beginning to end.

We literally just had an argument earlier about whether or not you were gonna let me run an illustration for you. Because you always go online and run your own illustrations. As simple as that.

I want it done, you know, to my standard. Actually, I can't say that. You do a really good job on illustration. I'm going to take a moment to shout you out.

Well, I appreciate it.

I actually called Caleb the other day for product information. Believe it or not, I was going from one appointment to the next and I was like, hey, do we have a product that does this? And I got off the phone and the first thing I thought is, God, that guy's head is going to be so big now. Because just me calling him to get advice on what was the best product, that was a major step for me. So if I can trust him. You can trust him. And fortunately, you know, he, he didn't know the answer right away because I didn't know the answer, but he found it really darn quick. And so, I mean generally there are, there are product changes that happen consistently where we don't know and there could be a new product shift or change. So you know, just be sure you're being yourself when you're on the phone. Well, that's.

And it's funny you say that about trust. If I can trust him, you can trust him. It's funny, because that's literally what what that call needs to be. You need to be able to convey that you are trustworthy. And if you're trying to sound like somebody else or be somebody else a lot. I've even seen and talked with agents that are like, I'm trying to figure out how I can be more like Chad on the phone. I'm like, okay, listen, first of all.

Don'T be like me. You do not want to be like me.

I get what they mean, right? They're wanting to tap into the same level of success that you've had, and they think that by being more like.

You, they'll end up by the same truck.

I have.

I heard one guy say one time, he goes, chad wears polos, polo shirts, jeans, and boots. I'm never wearing a tie again. And I was like, okay, you could probably get away with that. But consider your market.

Yeah. I was gonna say there are certain areas where. Now tie. I don't know, hardly anywhere where you need to wear tie anymore, but definitely slack.

Consider your.

Yeah, there. There are some areas where you don't want to show up that way.

But I tell them, I always tell them, you've. You've got to be you. You've got to.

Because that if you're in Hawaii, you can wear slippers, tank tops, flip flops.

That's a place. That's a place for some annuity business. There you just roll around in your.

In your swim truck, coconut wagon, and you're right. You want to go surfing after. Yeah. Oh, man. They're the pigeon kids.

The pigeon Chad's. Chad's former life coming out.

Yes, exactly. I lived in Hawaii for years. Loved it.

But it's so important. It is. I mean, we keep. We keep just kind of beating that nail into the board, but that's the reality. You've got to be. You talk like you. It's funny, because there are. There are things that you can do that may not be necessarily your natural way of talking to people. I remember when I first started getting on the phone talking, even with agents. Okay. Again, even with the academy, trying to figure out if this is something that's going to benefit them right where they are right now, or will this have an effect in their immediate future? Most of the time, that's absolutely the case. There's only been a handful of cases that I've been on the phone and said, no, actually, this is probably not going to be the best for you right now where you are at. That said, when I was first, starting with my calls, I remember you talking to me all the time about confidence. Confidence, confidence, Caleb, you need to be more confident.

Stop saying, oh, my gosh. I don't say them. Yes, you do. You just did six times.

And listen to it now.

There's a.

There's a tip there.

It is a tip when you're making.

Well, if you're using your cell phone.

But you know, it's just like God. Because anytime. The reality is the subconscious makes more decisions for ourselves than we ever know.

Right.

So the subconscious picks those. But as you don't know what you're talking about, they're fillers. So you pause, and then you wonder why the client doesn't feel that comfortable with you. It's because you use too many fillers, too many pauses. How many times, even in our podcast, do you hear me say, well, you don't.

Right.

It's a flow. It's very flowy. Like a nice, elegant dress that my wife wears. But anyway.

All right, anyway, back to annuity.

I'm taking her on a date tonight. So I was like, hey, I hope you wear a dress. Actually not. It's going to be a place by the water, so where she's probably going to need to stay warm.

Yeah.

But anyway, you say stay warm in Texas.

Yeah, in Texas.

We're going. Yeah.

Right. Well, when it's raining and nasty and muggy.

The other thing about the calls, okay. That I've noticed, you do a really good job of. I've talked about it before on the podcast. But you. You ask them, in essence, what questions they have. But here's the key. When you respond, you follow up with your own questions to them, and it pulls this conversation along. And I'm telling you, that's like one. If I could give you one piece of advice that I've given dozens of times to other agents that literally this one thing has changed their whole call process. It's ask questions after you give an answer.

So give me an example. Caleb North.

Well, if you were to say, Caleb, you know, I'm an expert in this area, whatever. What questions do you have for me? And I were to start. A lot of times it throws them off, right? They're like, okay, oh, then I know they feel this. You know where I'm going with this? Now they feel like, oh, now they just, well, I've got a 401K. That's. And they just start kind of talking because they weren't necessarily expecting you to open the door for them to ask questions.

Yeah. So here's the telemarketer. Hey, this is Chad Owen. How you doing today? They are going to go.

What?

I'm fine. Why do you care? You know, instead of, you know, one of the ones they say it quite often is. Why? I was just looking for the book. Well, which book were you looking for? Which company were you looking for? You know, it's. It's something that you're trying to get with them to where you're stimulating them to be a part of the conversation.

Exactly right.

And that's where the phone call comes in, the appointment. You're the one preaching selling to the client. They're not involved in the decision process, but when you ask questions, they get to become a part of it. And guess what? It's their money, right? It's their retirement, it's their life. So why would they not have a right to be involved in this conversation? So every question or everything, I'm trying to get them to understand, I. I asked them a question to stimulate why they think the way they do. So what is it that wants you? Like, why just want my money safe? Well, what is the main thing that you. Why is. Why do you want this money safe? What happened to where you got to this? Well, man, I lost money 2007, 2009, and I don't want to lose it again. Right, so what you're saying is you want to make sure no matter how long you live, you're never going to run out of income and you don't want to worry about market volatility anymore. Yeah, that's exactly it. So I'm going straight into their answering the questions because I could care less what I think about their situation. What do they think about their situation? And the only way you're going to find out what they think about their situation is if you're asking them questions. Right. And analogies, you know what we need to do that. I'm not going to get in that one right now. Analogies are really big. That's a whole podcast.

It is.

But, you know, when you're asking them questions, that creates them to come up with their own concerns and their own solutions. You think you really have to ask for the sale? No, no. They're like, man, this makes sense for me. This is what I want to do. And all you're doing is you're making sure. And now you got to have it in the tone of your voice. Once again, if I'm talking to somebody, you know what I really want, what's best for your situation. I want to make sure you don't have to worry about market volatility anymore. They can tell my voice, I'm all in, in their situation, I'm really vested and what they can do. That's why if I find out there's been times where I met with someone and I can't help them retire. I mean I flat out told someone, they go, why am retiring? Sir, you're 68 years old. Your Social Security means half of your mortgage.

Right.

And that's. And so how are you going to retire? Why just stamp. You can't, you don't have enough money here. And so I've been that blunt. And the reality is this guy probably still retired, but he's probably end up losing his home. But he had to because he had health issues. But I tried everything. I knew I wasn't going to get a deal there, but I tried everything I could to convince him he needs to try something differently because if he did it the way he wanted to, he was going to be set up to fail. I had no vested interest from the standpoint, no commission. I already knew that.

Right.

But man, if I could just try and help him come up with a better solution in this problem. And part of was his son was living with him. I think well get him to start helping pay part of the rent.

True.

You know why I can't do that? Well, you're an enabler, so you know, enabler. Enabling. Enabling. Enable.

An enabler.

Well, enabler.

I want to pipe in one other thing too that I've noticed. I get a lot of questions about getting Caleb. If Chad is getting this information on the call and all this stuff, it must be a long call. And I'm like a good point. Usually, you know, 15 minutes typically max.

Oh my gosh, if I had all 15 minute calls, I would never get through. No, a lot of them are five to seven minutes and you're, and you're.

Getting an appointment with the information you.

Need because it's a mini fact finder. It's not a full fact finder. You're doing a mini fact finder.

That way you're getting the basic information you need.

So keep it short, keep it sweet, ask questions, listen a lot, be truthful, be you and be genuine. That's it.

Okay, well I hope this helps you guys. You have a great day and happy selling.