Ways to Maximize Your Appointment Setters' Time

Making sales calls in the spur of the moment without planning and strategy will produce less-than-ideal outcomes. The number of sales appointments established will significantly increase if you have a consistent, repeatable appointment setting. Such approaches support a robust procedure for delivering successful call scripts that help maximize your appointment setters’ time.

How to Make the Most of Your Appointment Setter Time

The outbound call team needs to have the tools to succeed, including compelling collateral, distribution strategy, and effective call script. After that, a marketing plan and the procedures that go with it must be created. Here is a six-step process that will ensure you maximize time and get the best out of your appointment setters.

Obtain or Create a Prospect List

Obtaining a prospect list is the initial stage in the process. The prospect list should be sorted based on parameters like your preferred vertical market, number of PCs, gross annual revenue, length of time in the company, and any other data reflecting your ideal prospect's persona.

Remove the Items from the List

A certain degree of cleaning is required for all marketing lists. Scrubbing is the process of calling a list to check its correctness and the information it contains. Scrubbing's objective is to collect and verify information, not run the call script to obtain an appointment.

One method to cleanse a list is to divide it into 100-lead groups and call each prospect to double-check the information on the list. The information includes if the contact person provided is the right person to talk with about your services and whether the mailing and email addresses are accurate. During the scrub, you can determine if the prospect has the necessary number of PCs and servers to make the offer lucrative for you.

Scrubbing a marketing list is the most effective method to guarantee that the money spent on printing, mailing, and contacting is not lost.  It also ensures leads are "Marketing Qualified Leads" (MQL), which increases your marketing Returns On Investment(RIO). During the scrub, inform the prospect they will receive critical information for evaluation and will be contacted after that for confirmation.

Promote to the Mailing List

The next step to maximize appointment setters’ time is regularly sending your marketing messages and material to the cleansed list. It would help if you staggered the distribution of email marketing with other material to optimize the marketing effect of each marketing contact. The purpose of the collateral is not to promote your services; instead, it is to pique the prospect's interest. It also helps to prepare them for a call from your appointment setters.

The Call to Follow-Up

Calling to schedule an appointment is a critical step to undertake. The appointment setter should be well-prepared to start a business at this point because they know precisely who to contact. They also had the chance to work with the prospects to build a connection and prepare them for this call. If the process was correctly planned, the prospect should have received your marketing material and message before the time of this call. 

Here, the appointment setter may check before performing their call script to emphasize the significance of the information included within.

The appointment setter may continue delivering their call script after the prospect acknowledges receipt of the marketing material.

Make an Appointment

It is critical that they properly make the appointment for the initial sales call during the call. The aim and objective of the meeting is to close a deal and offer your services. Therefore, it's crucial to properly prepare the prospect before scheduling a meeting with the sales professional. The appointment setter should be forthright and tell the prospective client of your goal: to meet and see if there is a chance for you to collaborate.

Follow-Up

If your cold-calling is successful, an appointment is scheduled on the first follow-up call or any subsequent follow-up contact.  There are a couple of key actions to take to improve your chances of completing the deal. The first step is sending the prospect a "thank you" email confirming the meeting through a calendar invitation. The second step is to send a simple "thank you" note with your sales representative's wet signature.

First, the more marketing touchpoints you provide a prospect, the more likely you will close the deal. The second advantage is in terms of customer service. The handwritten "thank you" card will significantly soften prospects for the sales professional in today's era of email and text messages.

The last step is to contact the prospect for a final confirmation 24 hours before the appointment. Because your schedule may change often, it's critical to double-check that the prospect is still available for a meeting. 

The follow up shows great customer service and the importance you put on the prospect's and your salesperson's time.

In Summary

A sound appointment setting system will follow these steps to maximize time:

• Accelerate the rate at which your marketing ROI is realized.

• Ensure that your marketing message and procedures are consistent.

• Provide prospects with a consistent sales experience.

• Give the sales team and marketers the information they need to succeed.

•Create a system for following up on cold leads.

• Shorten sales cycles