Why is appointment setting so valuable?
According to Forbes, appointment setting is considered to be one of the most challenging parts of business development and also the most typical barrier in growing a company by increasing its sales. Selling won’t even be possible without directly speaking to a prospect first. This is especially true to start-ups and small businesses that are very eager to grow – and growth isn’t also possible without profitable sales.
To summarise, appointment setting is a crucial task wherein a company offers a first impression to a prospect through any means of communication in line with the goal of getting these prospects interested in meeting a salesperson, which will eventually turn into a valid deal and along the way, growth.
What Do Appointment Setters Do?
As mentioned earlier, the goal of appointment setters is to turn prospects into interested buyers. In order to do it, they must first contact potential clients to introduce the company and discuss its products or services. This is more of a ‘marketing’ task that’s why it’s important that an appointment setter has an educational background in business marketing and is also well-versed about the company, especially its products and/or services.
While appointment setting involves a ‘contact sheet’ wherein details or lists of prospects can be seen, it’s important that appointment setters are also technical and accurate, computer literate, have good record keeping skills, and can handle phone calls with etiquette. Appointment setters must also be dedicated; because the more appointments are set, better sales opportunities await the company.
Why Should You Outsource Appointment Setting?
The sales team should be more focused on closing sales and not on making cold calls – which is actually the job of an appointment setter. If your sales team spends more time on appointment setting rather than selling, then it’s better to outsource it. This gives your sales team more time to close sales. Bearing this in mind, there surely are a lot of reasons why you should outsource appointment setting:
- Time: Your internal sales representative probably has only eight hours a day to do his or her job – which consists a lot. If appointment setting is outsourced, your internal sales rep frees up a lot of time which can be useful in closing sales and making strategies to keep your company running.
- Cost and Management: Your in-house cold caller will require a manager – which will add up cost to the company. If you’re going to manage your appointment setter yourself, your worries will also just mount up. That is why it makes sense to partner with an outsourcing company that can manage your appointment setter so you don’t have to worry and manage additional staff.
- Results: If you do appointment setting internally, it could take you months to find the right person. Your objective to grow by selling might also be compromised and it could take you months to achieve results. Outsourcing speeds that up. It would also be much easier to see the results especially when your outsourcing partner gives accurate reports regularly.
There could be more reasons that every company can tell according to their experiences. Some companies might still be doing this and others have probably put this in the trash bin. However, it’s still important to know what appointment setting is and how significant it is to your company – be it large, small, medium-sized, or even just a start-up. It can hugely contribute to your company’s success.
