9 useful tips for better Appointment Making

One of the quickest ways of generating more revenue in  tough times is to get in front of more people  and it’s easiest if these people are expecting you to call.

 Go for the low hanging fruit first  ( well you would expect that advice from this blog !) 

·         Your existing clients,

·         Your referred prospects,

·         Your past clients

·         Your purchased lists or leads  as these names have expressed an interest in talking to a specialist i.e.  you.

The  challenge is to get in front of clients.

      Pipeline management

Sales activity leads to sales. If you steer yourself to the right amount of activity you will achieve the sales you desire.

What do your activity metrics  tell you  at the moment ?

If you don’t generate such numbers yet here is a simple log sheet template to get you started

  OUTCOMES FROM DMContact

Client / Individual Name | DMContact | APPT | NI | SEND INFO | DIARY FORW | SIR | NIR | CALL BACK | NOTES

1                                      |                   |           |      |                     |                          |        |        |                      |

2                                      |                   |           |      |                     |                          |        |        |                      |

3                                      |                   |           |      |                     |                          |        |        |                      |

4                                      |                   |           |      |                     |                          |        |        |                      |

5                                      |                   |           |      |                     |                          |        |        |                      |

KEY:  Call back – simply (tick) if you’ve made a call and not spoken to the Decision maker: DIARY FORWARD – If you speak to a DMContact and they advise you to call back another time.  DMC – Decision maker – You only tick this if you have spoken to the correct person not a receptionist

SIR/NIR = Send information relayed & No Interest relayed. This means you have spoken to a third party e.g secretary, assistant, non DMContact

Once you have  data to work as above log which reflects your business ask yourself :

Three  key questions

•  How many sales do you need over a given period such as a month?
•  How many appointments with customers do you need to generate these sales over the same period?
• How many calls do you need to make, over the same period, to generate the desired number of appointments?

Now you need to plot these into your pipeline. Work back from the number of sales you need

Starting with the number of sales you need. Suppose you need 7 sales per week. Now to generate 7 sales, you need to be in front of 12 people. To generate 12 appointments, you need to be making 19 calls, over the same period. You have a sales ratio of 19:12:7. So for every sale you need to be making between 2 and 3 prospecting calls.

Start training your mindset  this way, especially if you don’t like making calls, and few salespeople do.

Set aside a discreet and dedicated hour

 It will help you focus and motivate you to make those 3 calls.

Set aside 1 hour split down by 5 minutes for preparation, 45 minutes  required purely focused at your desk to do your appointment calling and 10 minutes for tidy up add any extra notes  and maybe reward with a cup of tea/ chill out/ have a break. 

Like a fitness regime in the gym you a.warm up , b. exercise and c. cool down.  Whatever challenging goals you have, you need to develop regular disciplines.

So it is with making calls to arrange  appointments. It isn’t something every salesperson wants to do because you’ll get your fair share of rejections and no’s. It’s not an instant gratification hit. But it no making appointments doesn’t keep you appointment-fit either or slim etc....

Avoid Procaffeination ( Making a coffee to put off the dreaded task - Procrastination in the office !)

For the hour  do nothing else but make calls otherwise it’s very easy to be distracted .

The 45 minutes  active call making time has been shown to be the optimum length of time for making calls – any shorter and you won’t get through the calls you have to make and any longer and you begin to lose your sharpness and enthusiasm.

When you have done your 45 min give yourself a reward . A finger of Kit Kat perhaps (if that’s not banned on your diet !)

Plastic Charity bracelet/band

Charity bracelet ( Imaginary or literal)

 Attach a charity bracelet around your hand and handset This will keep the handset in your hand all the time.

This idea  of this is to help regarding the overriding concern of how easily distracted we salespeople can become.

 When you’ve hung up on the customer, keep the phone in your hand as if it were attached to your hand for a minute before you make your next outgoing call.

This  action will also   prevent you taking an incoming call but it will stop you doing much else apart.

Now make  notes or diary entries with your other hand. Use your non writing hand to hold the receiver thus freeing up your writing hand .

My fruits-of-success pear kitchen timer

Why not use a kitchen timer for the 45 minutes

Do not use a conference facility on your phone. The quality is not as good as handsets.

Please do not disturb sign .

Ask you colleagues to respect your 45 minutes dedicated call time

Prepare

Make sure you have everything to hand before you pick up the phone . Get your CRM system or rolodex  opened up, diary ready and pen that works with some note paper ready. It is a good idea  to switch off your mobile phone as well !

Remember your objective is to get an appointment not to sell on the phone

Your objective is a meeting either face to face or maybe via web conferencing or telephone. Don’t get drawn into discussing your product or service.

Have a list of reasons of why meeting face to face is better for them.

e.g. Confidentiality in face to face, to show samples, to demonstrate something, client can all in colleagues who might be interested  etc

If asked for more information, explain that this is precisely why meeting them face to face is best suited to  both  parties and you’ll be happy to do this for them.

Get your voice warmed up - maybe exercise with some verbal tongue twisters e.g.

       

•   Seth at Sainsbury's sells thick socks.

•   Six 'slimy salesmen' sailed silently. 

• ·         2 Y's U R.

2 Y's U B.

I C U R.

2 Y's 4 me!

• ·         11 was a racehorse,

22 was 12,

1111 race,

22112.

Before you pick up the phone to a client  why not make a friendly call to someone else to get you in a more relaxed mood. The keys to your vocals for making appointments are

pace,

•  lowering the pitch your voice a little,
•  posture
• and facial expressions (smile, it can be heard over the phone).

 Some people like to stand to make appointments and this is a great tip. Not only does your voice have maximum capacity but standing also makes you feel more confident.

Introduction

Try using “ ( Their name) ,if it’s convenient right now this is Hugh Alford from ….”

You might find this template handy. If you want a script write you own it will sound more natural.

Opening

Good morning… ( Their name) ,if it’s convenient right now this is Hugh Alford from ….”

‘

Hook with an attention getter to help you position your questions

Relevant questions to help you establish the need

1. 2. 3.

‘Link’ to help you position the appointment

“From what you’ve said”, “Based on what you said…” “You mentioned…”

Close

Ask for appointment

Finally you ask for the meeting by giving them some suggested dates and times as this allows you to group meetings especially if you have to travel to the customer.

Finish off by confirming your name and the meeting arrangements, thanking them and say goodbye.

Good luck and Good Selling

Related links

7 step appointment making process

Making or Selling appointments and obtaining Interviews

 The challenge of getting in front of the right people at the right time becomes greater and greater.

  Making appointments and obtaining interviews with both new prospects and existing clients has become tougher.


There are three main methods available to you:

 1. Phone

 2.  E mail + outlook link Tutorial

3. "Cold" Calling


Other methods like email, advertisement returns and direct mail can be used either to obtain leads or to prepare the ground for you, but any of these is likely to be supplemented by one of the three main methods.

The basic sequence

This is the same whichever method you are using ( face to face or phoning) and is very similar to the sequence of an actual sales presentation:

• Clarify your objective(s): the primary one must be to get to meet the person, but secondary ones could be to obtain information or referrals.

• Prepare: remind yourself of the questions/facts/benefits you will use according to how the situation develops, and how you will answer the most likely put-off’s or objections; review the information you already have about the person/organisation; ensure you have your diary and other materials to hand.

• Be polite and respectful but sound confident: use your prospect’s name immediately; be sure to get it right; give your first name and surname; never appear apologetic for interrupting but thank the prospect for speaking to you if he/she has done so at an inconvenient time.

• Obtain attention quickly: use a question, a referral, a previous request to “contact me again”, a factual statement or some other ‘attention getter’ as soon as possible; don’t waste time.

• Explain the benefits of a meeting: motivate the prospect to want to meet you by giving a beneficial reason for doing so; but remember that at this stage you are selling the interview and not the product/service.

• Answer objections and avoid put-offs politely but firmly: always appreciate the client’s point of view; never argue; emphasise that the meeting can be brief; explain why a personal meeting is necessary in the client’s interests; don’t be led into making your actual presentation by phone (unless this is appropriate).

• Close on your objective: ask for the appointment directly, with or without one of the back-up closing techniques (e.g. offer alternative times/dates); be as flexible as necessary in terms of when/where; resort to a secondary objective only if you completely fail in your primary one.


Special considerations

• PAs and contact's coworkers: they must be your friends and allies not your adversaries; be polite and never ‘talk down’ to or patronise them; always introduce yourself with first name and surname and be careful about the use of their first names (if in doubt, don’t); ask for their help; smile (even when on the phone); be friendly but don’t waste their time; ask them for information; if they ask for further details before they will put you through, keep it short and simple and politely repeat your request.

• Receptionists: Although there a less around compared to 'back in the day' if you meet a reception desk do exactly as for PAs and the contact's coworkers above but when cold calling be patient and do not rush them; offer to speak directly to your prospect on the receptionist’s phone if preferred; be confident but not aggressive.

• Literature: emailing pdfs, mailing or leaving literature is seldom effective by itself; it can even be counter productive because it gives a prospect a reason for not seeing you personally; always be prepared to explain why it is not a substitute; have ‘mini literature’ which you can send if necessary which will simply whet the client’s appetite; if you have to send full literature then use it as a reason for calling back for a personal appointment.

• Business cards: try to avoid giving them to receptionists straightaway, as a snap (negative) judgement may be made by a prospect if your card is read over the phone or presented ‘cold’.

Related Links
:
Click on these

Planning and Prioritisation

Research

Selling by Objectives

Getting and maintain Buyer Attention

Investigation skills for Salespeople

Benefits and Personalising the Client Benefits

Answering Objections Behaviours to avoid

Answering objections such as "Price, happy with present supplier, what's the added value, I need to speak to my boss, Leave it with me..."

Gaining commitment and Closing