Appointment Setting Illusion #2 - Expectation of Perfect Appointments

Establishing an effective appointment-setting and lead generation process is a key component of any successful inside sales. While it's possible to just pick up the phone and start "dialing for dollars", making calls without preparation or strategy will yield poor results. So what is your expectation of perfect appointment?

First of all, make sure that the telemarketer who is calling on your behalf knows what to say and how to say it. This keeps your message consistent and effective, and it all begins with an effective call script. Once you have the call script, I strongly encourage you to purchase a prospect list. This prospect list should be filtered and scrubbed based on relevant criteria such as your desired target market, specific location, size and type of business, etc.

The next step in the appointment-setting and lead generation process consists of your agent actually calling your perspective client to set the appointment. At this stage, your Agent should be well versed in your business, and know exactly how to engage the decision-maker and/or how to warm up the Gatekeeper. You Agent’s primary responsibility is to establish a relationship with the decision-maker and prepare the decision-maker for the marketing pitch.

During the call, it is very important that your Agent sets the appointment for the first sales call or face to face meeting correctly. Remember, the goal and objective of each appointment is to ultimately close a solution or services opportunity for your business. Your Agent must be efficiently trained, coached and mentored to properly prepare the prospect to be closed while simultaneously setting the appointment for you to meet with the prospect. In order to accomplish this, your Agent should be candid and inform the prospect of your objective which is to meet with them to find out if there is a fit for you to engage in a long term relationship as the prospect’s solution or service provider. Setting the appointment becomes easier as the prospect is informed that the visit is free and there is no obligation on their part during or afterwards.

If the Agent is successful and an appointment is set on the first call or any follow-up call thereafter, there is one more very important step to follow that will increase your chances of closing the opportunity. This step is for your Agent to send a “thank you” email to the prospect that also confirms the appointment through a calendar invitation. This step serves multiple benefits, including the execution of another marketing touch. The more marketing touches you deliver to the prospect, the better your chances of closing business with them. The final step is to email and call the prospect again 24 hours before the appointment for a final confirmation. As decision maker schedules change frequently, it is important to make sure the prospect will still be available to meet. This step again displays excellent customer service and follow-up and demonstrates the value placed upon the prospect’s time as well as yours.