Creating high-quality new business appointments is one of the most undervalued tasks sales teams have. We fully understand that sales teams especially want to learn the best tactics for negotiating and closing deals. To give them full attention for that, we put the focus on making those appointments for the sales teams. Closing a deal becomes difficult with an empty colorless pipeline. That's why we like to tell you how to generate more appointments and make your pipeline more colorful.
First the Appointment, Then the Product
In a good sales appointment, you don't immediately start telling all the ins and outs about your product. The same exact thing applies to making a sales appointment. Making appointments is both a science and an art. Of course, there are tools and techniques that have been proven to increase response rates. However, the art is in how you sell the appointment.
Logically, most sales teams do not have enough time or knowledge for this. We assume that everyone knows what a product demo is and why anyone might spend their time going through one. The only question is why the prospect should devote his time to you.
For example, think about the last time someone called or emailed you to ask for a few minutes of your time. If you said "yes," it was probably because they showed you the value of the appointment.
That is exactly what you want to do when you are trying to generate more appointments. Please don't give a long tedious request or backstory. Get to the point of your story and show the prospect that making this appointment will save time. Show that it will therefore help him or her reach a better decision faster.
The last thing you want is to fall into the trap of the "show up and throw up" appointment. These are appointments where you list all the great aspects of your product, hoping one of them sticks. The prospect doesn't have time for this at all. Besides, they don't really know you yet. Why should they take that from you? You can sell your product much better if the deal is also sold with the same level of enthusiasm.
Cold Calling - Cold Mailing
One of the biggest questions in sales and when making an appointment is whether to contact by email or phone. Both, of course! However, it depends on your team and the customer.
Ask yourself how big the sales opportunity is.
Is it an urgent situation where you need an answer now and need to call? Or is your sales process long and it's fine to email and follow up online?
Where and when is the customer most likely to respond?
You know your prospect better than anyone else. Do they respond better to cold calls or emails? Do they see your number pop up on their screen and take that call? Or should you email them when you know they're at their computer?
Cold calls and emails are not the only options. When trying to get more appointments, you need multiple touch points with your prospect. Therefore, add them on social media or comment on one of their latest updates. Let them know who you are and that you are interested in engaging with them.
Whatever method you choose, when a prospect contacts you, you want to schedule the appointment as soon as possible. Ideally, within one week. If you set an appointment too far ahead, you will have to continually meet with them to get commitment. Capture the momentum of a phone call and guide your prospect to your pipeline.
Email Appointment
Like all cold emails, appointment setting messages will do better if you use exactly knows to who you send them. This means having deep insight into what your best-fit account looks like and how to sell the value of the deal.
Pay particular attention to the following points when drafting such an e-mail:
– Personalized: Show the person that you have done your homework and know who you have in front of you.
– Short and sweet: Your messaging should be compelling and attention-grabbing from the start. So don't start with a weak "hope you're doing well" or similar openings.
– Respect your prospect's time: Get to the point quickly. Show understanding for the prospect's busy schedule. Then tell why you are asking for his or her attention.
– Clearly explain how you will solve the prospect's biggest problems: What keeps your ideal customer up at night? How will your product solve that problem?
– Tell them exactly what the next step is: Should they answer? Click on your calendar link? Call back? Be clear about what the next step is.
It's a lot to pack into a few sentences. That's why a good tip is to share your e-mail with the best-fit customer within your own company.
For example, if your best-fit client is a Marketing Director, show your drafted email to your own Marketing Director. Is it something they would open and read? Do they want to get in touch with you now? Ask their honest opinion, because they know better than anyone else in this case.
More Appointments with Telemarketing
Depending on the prospect and the industry, a cold email is not the best way to make sales appointments. Plus, you don't always know if they end up in spam or just ignored.
This is precisely why the combination with calling is an intelligent appointment setting option. Calltraders makes highly qualified B2B appointments on a no-cure-no-pay basis with a fixed price per appointment. In addition, our campaigns follow an Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy. An excellent investment to get in to your best-fit target accounts. No coffee appointments, but meetings where healthy interest and need bring B2B companies together.
In our next blog, we will talk about the following points:
- When and how often you can send reminders
- What you can do after the interview
- How to turn "No-Shows" into "More-Shows"
