6 Ways to Get More Appointments

8/9/2019 6 Ways to Get More Appointments

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WHAT TOP SELLERS KNOW AND DO

AND YOU CANT AFFORD NOT TO

6 WAYS TO GET

MORE SALES

APPOINTMENTSTibor Shanto

Renbor Sales Solutions, Inc.

http://www.sellbetter.ca

A FREE publication of SalesMarks.com
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IN SALES, NOTHING HAPPENS

WITHOUT THE APPOINTMENT

One can make a case that any

phase of the sales cycle is key to

success, but it would be hard to

argue that for the vast majority,

nothing happens withoutappointments.

No matter how good one

sells, it cant happen alone, you

need prospects, and that all

starts with the appointment.

In this booklet, we will be

putting a focus on some key

aspects of getting appointments

and prospecting.

Yes, there is more to

prospecting than cold calling or

appointments, and we will be

discussing many of these

another time.

But this booklet will be

about five proven methods to

help improve your

appointment setting

skills and numbers.

Some of this will

be straight forward,

some with a new spin,

but put into practice they

will get you in front of more of

the right people, right prospects

you want to sell to.

PART 1. SHIFT YOUR COLD

CALLING HOURS

Many people suggest that

you do your cold calling first

thing in the morning. Theory

being that you get it out ofthe

way first thing, and then go on

about your day doing what you

do best and like to do: sell.

The reality is that you

need to shift your

prospecting calls to

when your target

audience is more likely

to be available. For some

services like ours first thing in

the morning is best, first thing

being 7:00 to 8:00 8:30 a.m.

However if your target is a

plant manager, service manager,

traffic manager, VP ops, you are

not likely to find them in their

office in the morning, mid-day is

probably a better time.

With a bit of research and

keeping track, you can typicallylearn when is a likely time not

only to find your target by their

phone, but also in a position to

listen to your approach, and

respond in a way that serves

your mutual needs. A little

preparation, segmentation and

planning goes a long way.

Please be clear, we are not

excusing you from making calls

at all times, just encouraging

you to call targets at a time that

will yield best results for you.
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PART 2. USE VOICE MAIL TO GET

MORE APPOINTMENTS

A lot of people dont believe

in leaving voice mail, and thats

alright but if you do, you will

invitably get more sales

appointments.

There are a couple of

dynamics at play. A lot of reps

say I never get a call back; No

one ever returns voice mails.

Not true, I get return calls

from 5 out of 10 messages I

leave. But you can even benefit

from the ones that do not call

back.

Studies have shown that it

may take anywhere from 4 to 7

approaches for someone to

respond or deal with a new

matter. Other studies have

shown that most sales people

give up after three attempts at

reaching someone (usually with

a manager saying move on in

the background).

Now if you do not leave a

message and lets say youre one

of the keeners who tries 4 times,

as far as the prospect goes youre

still at zero.

They have no way of knowing

that you called, because you

didnt leave a message or

calling card telling her you

want to talk to her.

You also dont want to be at

the other end of the spectrum,

wasting your time dialing

someone dozens of times, not

leaving a message and - when

finally connecting - letting built

up frustration out on theprospect. As if it was their fault

that you called and called and

called and never a message.

Another thing to consider is

that a vast majority of reps -

even those who do not leave

messages - still listen to the

entire outbound voice mailmessage. Why not take a few

more seconds and leave a

message?

Its a no brainer. On the one

hand, even if they dont call back

within 72 hours, you are on the

prospects radar. Maybe at the

fringe - but still better than thesuperstars who dont leave

messages.

On the other hand, you do

have a a 50-50 shot of getting a

call back and a potential

conversation leading to more

appointments.

Plain and simple, the goal of

a voice mail is to get a return call

not the appointment. Once you

are talking to the prospect, you

can go for the appointment. So

get the call back first, and then

go for the next step.

COMINGUP

USING VOICE MAIL

TO GET MOREAPPOINTMENTS

(PAGE 4)

PREPARE FOR YOUR

COLD CALLS AND

DRAMATICALLY

IMPROVE YOUR

RESULTS (PAGE 5)

LEVERAGE WHAT

YOUR PROSPECTS

ARE TELLING YOU

(PAGE 6)

INACTION IS NOT AN

OPTION; JUST DO

IT! (PAGE 8)

USING EMAIL TO

CONNECT WITH

YOUR PROSPECTS

(PAGE 7)


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PART 3. PREPARING YOUR COLD

CALLS WILL HELP YOU IMPROVE

YOUR RESULTS

This is probably the most

straight forward installment in

this series, but when adopted, it

is the one with the greatestreturn.

Since most sales people do

not like to prospect to begin

with, they like preparing for the

activity even less. But at the end,

anything worth doing is worth

doing right, and in sales and

prospecting that means takingthe time to prepare.

With prospecting,

preparation is just as vital as at

any point in the cycle. This goes

from a simple thing like having a

complete calling list ready,

including name, title, number,

potential value statements,references, potential voice mail

message, but most importantly

the ability to anticipate and deal

with objections.

While these may seem

obvious, many sales people do

not take the time to be ready,

and as a result get distracted,rejected and dejected.

I fully believe that it is not

rejection that turns people off on

cold calling, but the knowledge

that they have not prepared,

especially to avoid and handle

objections, and therefore failure

is inevitable.

Most reps, who have a

proper process for prospecting,

have similar success ratios as

they do with closing, roughly 1

in 5, yet you never hear sales

pros say that they have a fear of

rejection when it come to

proposals or closing.

Why? because they have

properly prepared for the

proposal, and as such can deal

with the results.

Having the items listed

above, having an understanding

of how to relate to the person

you are calling can dramatically

increase the resulting

appointments.

As with any of the things

discussed in this booklet, the

better you are at getting the

right number of appointments to

drive your business, the less

work you will have to do, and

the less dreaded cold calls you

will have to make.

I would caution that you

have to be realistic to not

confuse preparation with

deep research for each

appointment setting call, that

would be a waste of time at this

stage. If your numbers are12-6-1, (12 dials to reach 6

decision makers resulting in one

appointment), and you spend 5

minutes researching each call,

thats 2 hours of research for 1

appointment, not a good use of

time.

Recycling is another key;most reps do not have an active

lead management process. But

in these days of climate change,

it is important that you recycle

your leads and use the right ones

for long term value. We

recommend a process of Touch

> Contact > Engage. Anapproach designed to managing

your leads, an organic

replenishment plan.

Recycling leads, ensures that

you benefit from the fact that

todays dud is tomorrows cash

cow, understanding that more is

not best, just a start, you stillneed a means of brining new

leads in to you base.

Remember that you need

prospects to sell, and that means

cold calling leads.
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PART 4. LEVERAGE WHAT YOUR

PROSPECTS ARE TELLING YOU

As you are working with

clients, or calling prospects, you

are in a position to glean a lot of

useful information that is

current and relevant to a givensector or type of buyer. Why not

use that information right away

to generate more appointments.

While not every call turns in

to an appointment, and not

every appointment or client

meeting turns in to a sale,

they still can add value toyour above the funnel

success. You can leverage

each conversation into

valuable and usable

information and action.

Each person you meet

with in a B2B situation is

likely to have at least twothings of value, usually

three. They generally have

customers, they have

suppliers and they know others

in their business.

It is easy to convert these in

to referrals. Add one simple

question to your sales routine:Who else do you know that

would find value in the kind of

discussion we just had?

Very different than asking

who else they know you might

be able to sell to. Jargon, buzz

words and trends, all things that

can be gleaned and leveraged in

your adventures trying to gain

new prospects and

opportunities. Even if you have

no luck with one prospect, takewhat you hear and use it on the

next target in the same vertical,

region what have you.

As you build your knowledge

of trends and other things

related to a particular sector,

you can call people in the same

sector that you have tried in the

past, and demonstrate the

interest you have in their sector,

how you are keeping up with

developments and why they

should rethink meeting with

you.

This especially works if you

present it to them in the context

I was thinking about you and

the impact would have on

you company (project,

initiative, tax, cost of fuel, the

elections, what-have-you).

People really respond when

you tell them you were thinking

about their issues and how you

can help rather than just as an

order.

You can also call new

prospects and lead with

something current and

relevant, distinguishing you

from the horde of reps

whose initial prospecting

call is generic with little or

no relevance for the

prospect.

The more folks you engage

with based on their points

of interest, the more you

increase your probabilities

and resulting

appointments.

Remember, leads are

recyclable, so leverage them over

and over, sometimes it will lead

to an opportunity with that

specific lead, other times with

others, but you need to work

and rework each lead in multiple

angels and directions, a good

lead has many lives and lots of

value to be leveraged beyond the

obvious.


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PART 5. USING EMAIL TO

CONNECT WITH YOUR PROSPECTS

As you have read the

previous pages of this booklet,

you may get the view that I only

see the phone as a means to

getting appointments, and thatis certainly not the case. In

todays business environment it

is important that you use all

methods available to connect

with potential prospects and

these days, this includes e-mail.

But as with any professional

endeavor, there will benecessary aspect of the drill that

are not meant to be fun, yet

those who excel understand that

they have to incorporate it into

their game.

In light of the fact that no

matter how we get to a lead,

phone or e-mail, we are certainlyan interruption and therefore

must keep that top of mind. The

target is likely trying to juggle a

host of things and is not really

looking to add more to their day,

especially a sales pitch.

The downside to e-mail, like

voice mail, is that it isimpersonal and easy enough for

the recipient to deal with (read

erase or delete), without even

having to deal with the content

or sender. So unless you have a

message that is compelling

enough, youre dead in the water

right there.

Now compelling does not

mean a long verbose work that

competes with Tolstoy or Puzu,

it means something that will get

the person to respond. With e-

mail, just as with voice mail, the

goal is to get a response and

convert that response to an

appointment. Where many fail is

that they try to get the

appointment through e-mail or

voice mail, which is not easy.

Getting the person to respond is

easier, and once they respond

and you are talking to them

directly you can go for the

appointment.

Adding the challenge is the

fact that their phone is likely to

be the same utensil as their e-

mail that is a BlackBerry. This is

both good and bad. The good

thing is that they take it

everywhere, and look at it

consistently; even in the middle

of meetings they called. On the

other hand it does generally lead

to an instant response, which

comes with its own upside/

downside.

Upside, if the response is

positive, they tend to hit that

reply button; and the

conversation begins. Downside,

if the response they formulate is

negative, they just delete the

message and you have to figure

out why. Which is not the worst,

as you just try again either by

phone or other method.

The further challenge is that

you have to articulate a message

that will not only cause them

NOT delete it; but you also want

them to respond right away.

And you have to do all of this in

a 2 inch by 2 inch space, the

BlackBerry Arena. A strong

subject line and a clear succinct

message with a specific goal of

getting a positive response or atleast not getting deleted.

This can be achieved by

using a strong reference,

perhaps a third party of mutual

interest, perhaps a competitor. A

useful quote from their

executive or someone of specific

interest to them. What ever

reference you use, it has to be

current, relevantto the target

and has to be ethical. The

subject line needs to be a call to

action that relates to the

message.

GETTING A RESPONSE TO EMAIL

Use a strong reference

that is CURRENT,

RELEVANT to the target

and has to be ETHICAL


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For e-mail, it would be

similar, a call to action in the

subject line, something brief and

to the point in the body, ending

with the repeat of the call to

action.

For example, I recently

prospected a senior person at

one of the banks. He was quoted

in the daily paper about an

initiative his bank had aimed at

small business, lets call the

initiative Growing Biz.

Subject Line:

Growing Biz call the week of

August 11

Body:

Dear Mister Executive,

I am Tibor Shanto Principal

with Renbor Sales Solutions,

over the last three years we havehelped XYZ Bank (with link to

case study) set more

appointments with Canadas

small business owners.

I read about The Growing Biz

program, and am writing to set

up a call to discuss how we may

help you and ABC Bank reachyour objective.

How is Tuesday August 12 at

9:30 am?

Got the response that 9:30

does not work, but he was able

to talk at 8:30.

Thats a response, no delete.

If they do delete, you can

always write again or call, justdont give up to soon, remember

it takes 5 to 7 touch points for

you to even register on their

radar, dont be like the reps who

give up after two or three tries.

PART 6. INACTION IS NOT AN

OPTION

Just Do It!

Were not being cheeky; the

number one reason for lack of

appointments is lack of action

taken, lack of effort. Its

something most reps dont like

to do, so they find any number

of reasons not to do it.

A sales manager at wireless

company captured it very well

when he said there is always a

battery that needs to be driven

across town just when its time to

prospect.

Sometime the greatest

creativity shown by sales people

is demonstrated in the way in

which they avoid making the

appointment setting calls.

But as with any professional

endeavor, there will be

necessary aspect of the drill that

are not meant to be fun, yet

those who excel understand that

they have to incorporate it into

their game.

The best way to minimize the

grief is to improve your skills,

master it and thereby have to

spend less time at it while still

achieving the levels required to

be consistently successful.

People do not like to cold call

for fear of rejection. Strange,

because most reps have a closing

to initial meeting ratio that is

very much in line with their

contact to appointment ratio,

that is leads to prospect

conversion; generally around

one in four or five.

Yet you never hear reps say

they are afraid to engage with

prospects or submit proposals

because they may get rejected.

Whether its about sending a

proposal or prospecting,

bottom-line is you should just

do it!

Whats in your pipeline?
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About Tibor Shanto

TiborShantohasover20yearsofsales,executive,leadershipandsalesoperationsexperiencein

:inancial,information,contentmanagementandprofessionalserviceindustries.

PriortoRenbor,TiborShantospent10yearswithDowJones,including5withitssubsidiaryFactiva.

AfteropeningtheirCanadianof:iceandbuildingasolidteamandrevenuebasewithdoubledigit

CAGR,Mr.ShantowasappointedSalesDirectorforCanadaandTheCentralUSA;beforeleavinghe

alsoheadedtheirGlobalClientSolutionsorganization.

AsPrincipalofRenborSalesSolutionsInc.,TiborworkswithleadingcorporationsinCanada,USA

andtheUK,helpingtheseorganizationsrealizesustainedrevenueattainmentthroughimprovement

insalesstrategyandexecution.

ContactInformation:

http//www.sellbetter.ca/blog

Phone(800)6618760

Twitter@Renbor

COPYRIGHT TIBOR SHANTO

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In no event will SalesMarks.com or its owners and authorized representatives be liable for any and all claimsthat may arise out of the invasion of privacy, right of publicity, defamation, copyright infringement, errors,ommissions or other inaccuracies - or any other causes of action related to or arising out of the creation, use,reproduction or distribution of this booklet.
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6 Ways to Get More Appointments