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As a salesperson, your ultimate goal is to find leads, make sales, and boost your revenue.
But as you know, not all leads are equal.
Some appear to be the ideal customer for your product, while others waste your time and money.
It's frustrating, to say the least. But don't worry!
The solution is a qualified appointment.
In this article, we'll discuss what qualified appointments are and how they can help you as a salesperson.
Let’s dive right in!
What is a Qualified Appointment?
A qualified appointment is a planned follow-up meeting between a salesperson and a prospect who has completed the lead qualification process and shown interest, need, and financial capacity to purchase the provided goods or services.
Meeting with someone who can decide whether to purchase is considered a qualified appointment.
Contrary to popular belief, buyers are open to meetings with sellers and prefer to have them early in the sales process. Yet, in these interactions, sellers need to deliver.
58% of sales encounters, according to buyers, are not worthwhile.
The goal of the meeting is for you and your business to demonstrate why customers should choose you over your competitor.
You need qualified appointments because you would have no consumers without them!
First up, determine what you must do to make a qualified appointment.
What Are The Key Factors Of A Qualified Appointment?
The phrase qualified appointments refers to a sales representative from a company meeting with a potential customer with the desire, need, and financial means to purchase the promoted good or service.
Unlike a meeting where these essential components are absent, a qualified appointment is the perfect blend of engagement with the appropriate person at the right moment and place.
It's like striking the trifecta in sales.
Forbes says that 90% of decision-makers never react to cold outreach, so ensuring that every appointment is good is essential.
Get it straight.
Here are some of the most significant things that make an appointment valid:
- The right Decision Maker (DM): McKinsey says that the sales rep who gets to the decision-maker first wins 50% of deals. So, finding the right person and meeting with them is essential since they can make buying decisions.
- The person making a decision has said that they need or want your services: Forbes says that 82% of buyers research products and services before they talk to a sales representative.
So, ensuring the decision maker needs or wants what you're selling is essential. It increases your chances of making a sale.
Before setting up a meeting, ensuring the company has a budget for your services is essential.
It makes you more likely to make a sale and keeps you from wasting time on people who can't afford your services.
Ultimately, a good appointment comes from careful research and planning.
You can improve your sales stakes by meeting the right person at the right time and place.
Remember that it's not about making more calls or sending more emails; it's about prospect qualification and attempting to make each contact count.
How do you set Qualified Appointments?
Qualifying appointments are the first step to successful lead generation.
Tracking appointment setting KPIs can provide valuable insights into the quality and impact of your meetings.
But there are different ways to take care of the situation to make a point, so it's essential to determine which one suits you.
So, here are five important steps to help you set up qualified appointments and get your prospects to buy from you.
Pinpoint your Target Market
Imagine that you have an interview coming up.
Would you go straight to the interviewer without knowing the company's history, goals, and other essential facts, or would you take time to learn about the business you're applying for and get to know it?
The same goes for people who set up B2B appointment settings.
You have to understand certain facts about the b2b sector.
For instance, do you know that according to general appointment scheduling surveys, 67% of all appointments are made online by clients, while employees make 54%?
Moreover, 40% of appointments are set during times other than regular office hours.
Plan as much as you can.
Make a script and a list of things you want to know about the organization's decisions and questions you might want to ask.
It will help you hear the answer you hoped to be privy to and develop a good solution.
You make the scripts to give you and your sales team a plan to follow.
It will help appointment setters get along well with prospects, get past gatekeepers, deal with objections, and determine if the prospect is the right candidate.
Use Your Listening Skills To The Fullest
When talking to prospects about your product or service, you should listen 80% of the time and talk 20% of the time.
It is a crucial communication principle in marketing and sales processes.
Why?
New and old businesses want to find partners who will listen to them and fix their problems. It could also make them more likely to believe what's said to them.
So, listen to them and feel deeply connected to them while you think about how your product or service can help and what other benefits you can offer that isn't financial.
You don't need to be too formal or sound like a robot. Resonating can also mean connecting emotionally with people who want to let their feelings out.
Making money is essential, but it's only some of it. Mention the quality of your products or services, the support team you can offer, how your business can grow, and any other benefits that don't involve money.
Listen carefully to what your prospect is about to say to learn as much as possible about them, analyze them, and develop sales and marketing ideas.
Secure Timing
Appointment setting is just as important as building relationships with prospects.
Ensure that you have a water-tight ideal customer profile in place. Otherwise, your efforts will be useless.
Since you know your target audience, reach them at the right time and avoid them when busy.
For example, let's say you want to send follow-up sales appointments to qualified prospects.
Would it happen before or after lunch?
According to experts, there is a best time. So, when is that?
The best time to do cold calls is between 11 and 12 am or 4 and 5 pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
But if your prospect tells you the best time to email or call them, make an appointment for that time and date.
You can also find the right time to suggest an appointment by asking questions, determining your product's or service's value, and confirming qualifiers.
It will not only help you gain their trust, but it can also help you build long-lasting relationships.
So, to harness the most out of your appointment-setting services, talk to professional appointment setters or companies that can help you.
Make a list to see if the company you're thinking about can communicate well, tell them about your plans and goals, and look for ways to improve things.
You can set up an appointment with decision-makers, and your team could also benefit from their knowledge.
Know Your Target
Before you reach for the phone and spend a few hours pitching, you must ensure you're talking to the correct prospects, following your ideal customer profile.
Every company has its buying process and roles, so you must determine who can approve your proposal.
Ask yourself these questions to avoid going on a wild goose chase.
- Who is the person who signed the contract?
- Does someone else have to agree for them to sign the contract?
- Who would you work with after you've made the sale?
These questions help you set the record straight because one of the most common mistakes sales development representatives (SDRs) makes is putting an equal sign between a decision-maker and a specific job description, thinking only one person is in charge.
The name of a person who makes decisions depends on how big the company is.
Larger companies, for instance, have buying committees or decision-making units (DMUs), so it's essential to know how many people are in charge of making a purchase decision.
Most of the time, one person decides on a small business.
Lastly, if your product or service gets used by more than one department, the level-C leaders of those departments will probably want to be involved.
When making a call list, consider taking all of this into account.
Then it's back to the long game: stay on course and keep calling.
Remember to stand out from the crowd by driving attention to your social media presence and footprints.
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Share Social Proof
The social proof you garner has a potent psychological effect that you can use to change how people act and make decisions.
91% of shoppers, according to a BrightLocal survey, examine internet reviews before purchasing.
When you ask someone to meet with you, social proof makes it more likely that they will say yes.
Below are a few ways to use social proof when making an appointment:
Share Success Stories
Let's say you've worked with customers in the past who benefitted from your services.
You should inform those individuals you're trying to schedule an appointment with about them.
Success stories can also increase client happiness and retention. According to a HubSpot poll, 77% of customers had a more favorable opinion of a business after reading a success story.
It can help you build trust and show how valuable your services are.
Use Testimonials
Your business can develop credibility, create trust, and sway consumer decisions by providing examples of how your goods or services have assisted other clients in achieving their goals.
If you have testimonials from happy customers, show them to the individual you're trying to schedule an appointment with.
According to a Corporate Executive Board poll, buyers make over 60% of purchase decisions before speaking to a single supplier after seeing how previous clients interacted with the brand.
Testimonials are social proof because they show that others have enjoyed working with you.
Find a space in your leads' thoughts without a sweat using a good testimonial such as this one here from AI bees.
Aren't you curious about a brand that made a client say this?
That's how it's supposed to go.
Mention Your Credentials
If you have noteworthy certifications, degrees, or other qualifications, mention them when you make the appointment.
Given that 73% of executives prefer to work with salespeople they know, recommendations have an incredibly powerful influence.
It can help people see you as a recognized expert and have more faith in what you can do.
Cite Statistics From Your Industry
If any statistics show how your services can help, share them when you set up the appointment.
For example, businesses with routine visits with their customers have 30% more loyal and long-term customers.
Utilizing social proof when setting up an appointment can help build trust, prove your credibility, and make it more likely that the individual will agree to meet with you.
Know When To Ask For The Appointment
If you have to make appointments over the phone, you know how hard it is to find the right balance between getting to know the person, making them interested, qualifying them, asking for an appointment, and getting one.
Only 33% of people prefer making appointments over the phone.
It can be hard to know when and how to ask for an appointment without making it sound like you're trying to close the deal, and if you get turned down, it can be awkward to deal with.
Make it clear to the prospect what benefit you can provide when you request a meeting.
You receive far better business outcomes and are significantly more likely to meet or surpass your sales targets when you schedule more meetings that you consider high quality and report more robust overall prospecting success.
The great news is that if you follow these three tried-and-tested secrets of top producers, you'll start making more appointments and better ones.
These are:
Always Follow A Script
Does it sound like a no-brainer?
Sorry to disappoint; it isn't.
You'd be surprised how many professional salespeople still need to plan their first call.
Your script should help you deal with things like:
- How to deal with the gatekeeper and get past them.
- How to deal with your prospect's first concerns.
- How to connect quickly and meaningfully.
- How to determine if your prospect is the right person for the job.
Bottom line:
Prepare a good script and use it!
Gain The Trust Of Your Prospect
Doing an appointment setting with decision makers is the first stage; the next is to gain their trust to start asking questions.
You can use these inquiries to see whether their wants and what you have to offer might be compatible.
75% of customers, according to Salesforce research, expect businesses to tailor their sales strategy to suit their requirements and preferences.
Customers expect businesses to understand their specific requirements and expectations, but according to the same Salesforce research, 66% believe they get typically treated like statistics.
Customers want businesses to understand their needs and expectations.
You may gain the prospect's trust and build a lasting relationship by demonstrating that you comprehend their industry and problems.
You can go to the next phase after verifying critical criteria, such as if they are the decision-makers, their interest level and period, and their budget.
The key is to ask enough questions to find out why they want to buy (their needs) and then give them enough information to suggest a fit. Then it's time to ask for a meeting.
Know How To Ask For A Meeting
Don't use the old "either-or" clause to make a sale. You know, "I can come by tomorrow at noon or the next day at four o'clock, whichever works better for you."
People will start to doubt you as soon as you say those words. Everyone knows that's a sales pressure line, so they dismiss you.
Here's how to do it better:
Then you set the date and time.
This close works well because it doesn't pressure your prospect and gives them a way out if they're not interested.
Also, it lets them know you're not coming over to try to close them. This script tells them that this visit is all about them, which is how it should be.
Make sure to ask for what you need clearly and succinctly.
Consider utilizing a short and clear subject line like "Meeting Request" or "Let's Meet" because, according to HubSpot, emails with subject lines that are 3–4 words long get the highest open rates.
Get Qualified Appointments With AI bees
Time is a valuable resource in today's competitive business environment. Thus, enjoying the benefits of qualified appointments is crucial for the success of your sales.
Speed up your sales process and raise your chances of scheduling appointments with qualified leads with AI bees.
Tailor your sales pitch, gain the trust of potential consumers, and eventually close more deals by utilizing the power of AI.
Don't allow worthwhile possibilities to pass you by; start scheduling more qualified appointments by utilizing AI bees appointment setting service immediately.
Book a demo with us today!
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