How to Identify and Interview Appointment Setters

Appointment setters are becoming a popular alternative in the marketing and sales sector, especially for B2B companies. Making and managing appointments can get rather hectic; that’s why companies turn to delegate the role to a qualified professional.

In this article, we discuss how to identify and interview appointment setters for your company.

Who Are Appointment Setters?

An appointment setter is a member of a sales and marketing team in charge of customer relationship management. They’re the main communication channel between a brand or business and its potential clients and help sell its product/service and secure customers.

They report to the sales manager, and their roles typically involve cold-calling, follow-up on prospects, and lead generation and qualification.

Why Hire An Appointment Setter?

What benefits do appointment setters provide to business establishments?

1. They Provide More Opportunities for Sales and Marketing Teams

Appointment setters are an integral part of every sales and marketing team. They spearhead the lead generation process and help secure more clients. Ultimately, their connections increase revenue for companies.

By allowing appointment setters to take charge of lead generation and qualification, you create more time for your sales and marketing team to focus on other pertinent issues. That’s not to say that lead generation isn’t as important, but having a professional take up that role helps ease the workload.

2. They Capitalize On Your Target Audience/Market

The foundation of any business idea or venture is its intended market. It forms the basis of your company’s vision and operations. Having an appointment setter onboard helps tap into your target audience and create a rapport. 

Using appointment setters gives you more insight and a better understanding of consumer needs and the necessary strategies to capitalize on them. An efficient appointment setter will help refine and improve your lead pool and the overall qualification process.

3. They Build A Rapport With Potential Customers and Help Secure A Robust Client Base

Having an appointment setter on your sales and marketing team means they are your prospects’ first point of contact. They’ll represent your brand and thus help build and foster trust between your establishment and the potential customer. 

Through cold calling along with qualities such as charisma and professionalism, appointment setters create a positive impression of your brand to the prospect. Consequently, they might feel more inclined to engage your services or purchase your products, leading to a growth in sales.

Interviewing Appointment Setters

Here are a few pointers on the crucial qualities to look out for in an appointment setter.

1. Knows When To Cut Their Losses

Any experienced appointment setter will tell you the importance of knowing when to call it quits. Sales and marketing teams expect them to be persistent and charismatic, but there comes a time when there’s simply no progress. Those situations stress the importance of knowing how to handle rejection.

They won’t always win over that prospect or secure that deal, and that’s why you need to look out for a candidate who can take no for an answer. Of course, rejection can be pretty disheartening, but a suitable candidate will understand that it doesn’t translate into failure. They should be adaptable and able to bounce back despite the outcome.

2. Motivated And Always Focused On The End Goal

Efficient appointment setters should be familiar with your brand’s vision and base all their efforts on it. A good appointment setter understands their role and works diligently to ensure their strategies align with them. They should be driven, ensuring they maximize their interactions with each prospect.

3. Work Experience

When selecting a suitable candidate for the role, ensure they have the necessary work experience and exposure. These qualities illustrate their understanding and grasp of their requirements and job responsibilities. Additionally, work experience gives them critical knowledge on how to handle everyday challenges.

They should be conversant with effective selling strategies and interpersonal relations since they work directly with customers. Lastly, you can count on an experienced appointment setter to be keener and avoid making negligent mistakes.

4. Great Conversationalist and Sociable

These two qualities are incredibly critical in identifying the appropriate candidate for an appointment setter role. One of their primary duties is handling lead generation and qualification, and cold calling. Naturally, you’ll expect them to be personable and charismatic.

They should be able to warm clients up to them and extract valuable information such as email addresses. Ideally, the perfect candidate should be friendly but professional. They’ll be able to get clients to provide the data voluntarily, without any duress or coercion.

Lastly, they should be excellent communicators, capable of putting their points across in clear and concise statements.

5. Patience

Patience is essential for all customer relationship management roles. To establish a robust and fruitful working relationship with clients, appointment setters will need to cultivate patience. They won’t rush any business dealings or take too long to close a deal with potential customers.

Additionally, since they’ll spend more time listening to prospects than talking, patience will come in handy when holding meetings with leads. Rushing a conversation often leaves a negative impression on them. It gives the idea that you’re more interested in sealing the deal than actually paying attention to their needs.

Questions To Ask

Interviewing skills vary from organization to organization. However, there are some baseline questions that every HR representative or Recruiter will pose to the candidates. Such queries gauge essential qualities such as:

• Interpersonal skills

• Communication effectiveness

• Cooperation, and 

• Problem-solving skills.

Below are some brief examples of questions you might ask an interviewee for the role:

1. What strategies would you implement to ensure you secure an appointment with a prospective client?

Such a question points out their social skills and suitability for the role.

2. How would you handle a lead who tends to postpone appointments?

It’s an excellent way to gauge their communication skills.

3. A prospect won’t respond to any forms of communication. How would you handle the situation?

This question assesses your candidate’s problem-solving skills.

4. Do you view yourself as a capable team player?

Tests their interpersonal skills and their ability to work well with others.

Wrap-up

Hopefully, you will have a smoother experience when interviewing and selecting the best-qualified appointment setter for your company with this information.