Laid Off (Again)

Last years (07) a "real estate agent" friend of mine (also with a family) asked me if I knew of a way he could make some money "until the RE market comes back".

I asked him to "put yourself in the mind of someone who has just bought a home"! WHAT do these people NEED!

Well...they "need" a telephone....the "need" HEAT in their home.

Oooppps! Hold it! Stop right there! If they have gas heat, they can call the local Gas Co who has the franchise for their area HOWEVER....the "Fuel Oil Dealers" are FREE to go where they want and...in my area, there are 3 Fuel Oil Cos VYING for customers.

Well...these Fuel Oil Cos are NOT "Marketing" people. Their main way of getting New Customers is by advertising in the Yellow Pages...where none of the 3 give any "reason why" they should be called instead of their competitors.

(I call it "Tombstone Marketing"; "Here Lies Company A. We've been in business since 00 and we can fill your fuel oil needs!" Yip! Yip! Yahoo! There's some real reasons for calling them instead of a competitor. Yeah Right!)

What if someone were able to...."GET NEW ACCOUNTS FOR AN OIL COMPANY?"

Well...I took my buddy to see one of the fuel biz owners and asked him if he'd be willing to "Pay a Commission to a Salesperson who brought them New Clients!"

The fuel co. owner agreed he would. So, the deal we worked out was;
My friend would get paid $300 for each homeowner client he got for the fuel oil co.

My friend would "get a verbal from the homeowner" and the Oil Co driver would stop by and "sign up the homeowner" and fill the tank and the fuel oil co would issue a check for $300 to my friend for each new client.

So...I knew that our County Assessor's Office registered each and every home sale on the day the home sale was finalized....and...they listed these sales, along with Names, Addresses and Phones (when available)(If Not available, we could call Information and get the number....or, we found a List Co that got their list from "New Phone Hook Ups" which turned out to be a great source of "Fuel Oil Prospects")

So...we "went to work".

Remembering the days I sold Storm Windows...I just called people at random (using a Cross-Index Directory) asking 2 questions after introducing myself;
1) Do you own your home or rent?
2) Do you have Storm Windows?

If they answered "Yes" to 1 and "No! to 2...I then explained how I could save them money...etc...set an appointment, give them an estimate and close the sale.

So...with our "Fuel Oil" program I did the same thing....calling "New Phone Connects" asking them (after introducing myself)....
"Do you have Gas or Oil Heat?"

If they said, "Gas", I thanked them for their time and went to the next call.

If they said "Oil Heat"...I told them about our "Special New Client Fuel Oil Program that could LOCK IN fuel prices and save them money!"

With each one who agreed to have us deliver....we got a check for $300.

Now...before poo-pooing this idea...my friend made OVER 100 GRAND LAST YEAR with THIS program.

He sells 2 to 4 accounts a day...simply by making phone calls...$600 to $1200 a Day!

Granted....this is a "grinder on the phone" but...he LOVES it. Allows him to "work" at home and be with his family while earning GOOD money.

Now...I have NOT heard of this being done anywhere else in the country so I'm thinking a Fuel Oil Co in YOUR area would be open to this.

Ya never know unless ya try. And, with your "Sales Ability" and "Gift of Gab" you should do well with this.

I wish you great success,

Don Alm