As the saying goes, “nothing happens until a sale is made.” Unfortunately, getting your sales reps in front of prospects to make sales has never been more challenging. One solution savvy sales executives are turning to in solving this problem is the use of outsourced appointment setting services.
While experienced appointment firms will fill up your reps’ calendars with meetings, they often provide additional services, like event registration, securing calling lists, and list hygiene.
Why Use an Appointment Setting Service?
Which would you rather be a witness to: Watching your sales reps close one opportunity after another or watching your sales reps place call after call trying to schedule a sales meeting?
If you’re interested in getting the most out of your sales team – by putting them in a position to sell – as a manager, you have to do everything you can to remove obstacles to sales. Using an appointment setting service removes one of your reps’ biggest obstacles: the time sink of trying to schedule appointments.
Plus, think how much happier your reps will be when they get to spend the majority of their time closing. Now think how happy you will be when you realize hitting (and exceeding) your sales goals are more attainable than ever.
6 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Appointment Setting Service
Now that it’s clear you have lots of upsides when using an appointment setting firm, use the six tips below to maximize your appointment setting program:
1. Ensure Your Reps are Flexible
Make sure your reps are flexible when it comes to meeting with prospects. It’s hard enough to get sales meetings scheduled. Throw in the antics of a picky sales rep and it’s enough to drive you crazy. Remember, you need to cater to the time constraints of the prospect – not the other way around.
2. Collaborate with Your Appointment Setting Partner
Collaborate with your appointment setting partner on the script they’ll use when contacting prospects. No one knows your prospects better than you do. And you can count on your calling partner to be an expert at preparing a script with the goal of getting an appointment. To be truly effective, you and the appointment caller need to collaborate on the script.
3. Follow-up with a Calendar Invite
Your appointment setting partner should follow up a meeting confirmation with an email and a calendar invite. Remember, your appointment setting partner is an extension of your brand. That means they need to be professional in all aspects of their encounter with your prospects. This includes immediately sending a confirmation email after scheduling an appointment – as well as a calendar invite – to reduce the possibility of your prospect being a no show.
There’s an estimated $150 billion in annual losses due to medical appointment no shows. Don’t be part of that statistic.
4. Keep an Eye On Your Analytics
Watch your numbers closely. Your appointment setting firm should provide you with program analytics so you can see how the program is performing. Without analytics, you won’t know how to optimize the program.
5. Understand Your Target
Find out exactly who you’re targeting so that your reps know how to communicate with them. Before starting your new appointment setting partnership, take time to research your target audience. Look at their websites, social media, and About Us pages.
Pay close attention to the language they’re using and the content they’re interested in. Use this knowledge to better equip your call center partner for the challenge ahead.
6. Consider the Timing
To maximize your effectiveness, your appointment setting team needs to catch prospects at the right moment. You need a strategy to manage your call schedule as well as fully understand your prospects’ schedules. Take a look at their niche industry and find out how it works.
Ask yourself questions such as: when is the best time to schedule an appointment? Are they generally closed on Mondays? Do they have a typical 9-5 schedule?
Get Started With a True ‘Pro’ in the Appointment Setting Space Today!
Finding and securing an appointment setting partner that you can easily collaborate with can be a challenge. Take the hassle out of your search and choose a proven leader that guarantees you’ll exceed your goals.
AnswerNet Appointment Setting specializes in scheduling appointments for sales reps and also provides event registration services, list hygiene, and lead generation. Why go anywhere else?
Ready to talk now? Schedule a call with one of our experts or request more information today.
