No matter how one initially finds a lead, whether from a referral, a networking event or simply a cold list. At some point, you must pick up the phone and speak with that prospect. That’s appointment setting 101. If that initial telephone conversation does not go well, you will not move to the next step in your sales cycle. A phone call normally “gets you in the door” and facilitates a sit-down face-to-face with a prospect thus having a selling conversation.

Build it and they’ll come

Let’s discount the myth straight away that if you build it, they will come. How many times have you seen that happen immediately, it just doesn’t happen, does it? In fact regardless of how good you, your team or your business may be. Likewise, the truth is if your prospects don’t know you how will they ever buy from you? Managing a business doesn’t need guesswork or cram-work, you have to make accurate decisions or else you will fail. If you are not relevant to the type of lead you want to generate, then you’re on the wrong boat.

The important questions

First of all, effective appointment setting involves a lot of due diligence. When dealing with clients at T3 Direct we think about an ideal client deeply. What makes them ideal? Which the parameters that make them tick? What size company are they? How many employees do they have? How much do they do in revenue each year? Who do their own potential clients behave? What is their product or service? How many locations do they have? How do they go to market for example direct versus indirect sales, retail, and channel sales? Do they do repeat business with their own clients?

The B2B Approach

We ask all the above questions when designing campaigns for our clients. We understand too that in the B2B world very few decisions are made quickly. Especially when big investments, purchasing or business changes are involved it’s never a rush. We are prepared to be smart and patient at the outset of our appointment setting campaigns. But we also make it clear that clear goals and objectives are important for effective approaches. Appointment setting in the B2B world provides a clear, track-able and accountable return on investment compared to other forms of marketing.

Why do goals matter?

Let’s add more context to the process. To effectively set new business appointments, it is important to determine the goal of the initial telephone call. The goal of the initial call may actually differ from your ultimate goal. Furthermore, however, is not usually the goal of your first telephone call in appointment setting. If you want a face-to-face meeting with a prospect then your goal on that first call is to set the appointment and only to set the appointment. In addition to qualified, directly targeted sales opportunities, appointment setting campaigns to build effective foundations for long term sales success.

More to picking up a Phone

Most noteworthy, appointment setting is more complex than just picking up the phone and babbling.  Sometimes there’s the Gate Keeper to contend with, and ensuring you have the right contact in the first place! It involves making sure you are speaking to influencers or decision makers. Sometimes you need to send an email first or wait until you’ve picked up the phone. What do you do when they say they aren’t interested because it doesn’t quite fit them? It can be a minefield of challenges to overcome when trying to appoint the right person for the right time with the right expectations.

A skill and art

Consequently, to get the most from this approach involves some moving parts. From objection handling, diary management, pipeline nurture, making enough calls, conversion rates, correct meeting details. There are so many potential minefields to cross, it is most definitely a skill, an art. In defining your goals you can begin to focus only on those clients who fit your criteria. This also allows us to quickly identify someone who is not an ideal client and move on to someone who is. It’s all part of the journey that makes appointment setting effective.

The foundations

In this channel, the core foundations to be successful include:

  • – Quantity & Quality balance
  • – Knowing your prospect
  • – Knowing your message
  • – Pitch and Tone
  • – Data Quality
  • – Pipeline Management
  • – Experience

When done right

  1. Who to call: When calling on corporations that are non-retail, non-government, or non-profits. It’s important to know the right target
  2. The number of prospects: they could be up to 1,000 potential companies in your projected territory. Those are companies that have 10 or more employees. In addition to 500 companies (non-retail, non-government, non-profits) that you can call on that have 5-10 employees.
  3. When to call to get the appointment: timing is really key and could make or break.

Communication Skills

Sadly there is no point in making thousands of calls if the message isn’t working. Or worse, the prospects have no requirement for your solution. Ensuring that your own prospect data is well researched, well targeted and relevant increases conversion rates and helps create quality B2B Appointments. The message has to be clear, concise and relevant to your prospect. Being clear on exactly how the solution can help them and their business. All with having examples ready and a defined call to action is key before picking the phone. And the results can be unbelievable.

Business Conversations

B2B appointment setting is not about making sales on the phone but persuading the prospect to start a business conversation. Doing research on prospects is important too. Finding out their challenges, what they need to achieve, what’s really going on in their sectors? This all leads to efficiency and tailoring your message based on prospect knowledge can make the difference.

T3 Direct Appointment setting Services

At T3 Direct some appointment setting and marketing services performed by our B2B Team include:

  • – Market research
  • – Lead generation
  • – Appointment setting
  • – Email marketing
  • – Cold calling