Do you feel like your appointment setting is lacking something, or your team knows what they need to achieve but aren’t sure how to get there? We’ve put together the following appointment setting tips to ensure each call really counts – share these with your team to boost their success.
1. Don’t interrogate.
Some of the world’s worst sales calls involve question after question being barked at the recipient, which will not deliver successful appointment setting. Listen to what is being said and try to expand on it; you don’t want to sound like a survey or a robot, intent on following a script.
2. Pretend you are meeting in person.
This is a really good trick to ensure your call sounds natural. Smile when you pick up the phone and carry on smiling throughout the conversation. Sit comfortably in your chair and relax. Listen and try to understand what sort of communicator the person is; try to mirror their behaviour. Don’t be put off with someone who is a little curt on the phone – this may be their way of communicating.
3. Two ears, One mouth – Use in that order.
This is some of the oldest “sales speak” around and is certainly true when appointment setting. What it means is, LISTEN hard to what the recipient is saying to you before you speak. You might find that listening properly gets you to the conclusion you’re after a lot faster than just sticking to your pitch. There is always the temptation when you’ve finally got through to a decision-maker to get your bit out there as fast as possible so you know it’s been said, but this can turn off the potentially willing prospect. Take your time, ask questions, and LISTEN for the answers and signals.
4. Benefits NOT features!
Don’t ramble on and on and on about your company, your service, and everything you offer. Think about benefits that are relevant to the prospect rather than features and convey these in a concise way. Tailored calls are much more likely to win prospects over than ambushing them with your whole portfolio at once! Once the foot is in the door, upselling other services is always a possibility but you have to get there first – tread carefully and you’re much more likely to get the sale over the line!
If your in-house appointment setting isn’t bearing the fruits you desire contact Virtual Sales Team and discuss how our Appointment Setting team can increase your sales. We’re experts in achieving real results for companies from a diverse range of sectors.
