5 Ways to Set the Appointment Over the Phone

In today's low-touch world of business, the phone is a valuable tool. It's quick and more personable than an email. If you are calling to set appointments or business meetings, you face an entirely different set of challenges. You have no way of reading your client and you may have to deal with the "gatekeeper" of the company or person, and then there is always the chance of the client just flat hanging up in your face.

So the question is how do you set the appointment and even better make them stick. Here are a few things to keep in mind so that next appointment shows up.

•Set nothing but the appointment

If this is the early point in the client/company relationship, do not try to sell the product. Your only job at this point is to get the meeting, to gather more info. Do not give up too much info on your product, they may take your info and use it to get a better deal from your competitors. If you do a good job at building the value, this first step should be easy.

• Be nice to the "Gatekeeper"

Assume that the first person you speak to on the phone is just as important as the person you are trying to reach. Remember that often times this person is the one scheduling and picking just where the prospective client spends their time. Being rude to them is a sure-fire way to the "valley of missed meetings."

• Identify a need

Don't assume the client automatically needs something. Instead, ask questions to identify a need, and then address that need. Whoever asks the questions controls the conversation.

Bad Technique

Caller: This is Seller McSalesmen and I am from Widgets are us. We have great deals on widgets, and we even offer free installations and yearly check-ins. I would love the chance to tell you more, can I schedule you for an meeting to discuss this further?

Caller: This is Seller McSalesmen and I am calling from Widgets are us, did I catch you at a bad time? No, great. I just had a few questions; I won't take up too much of your time. I just wanted to call and make sure you were getting the best deal widgets and widget service out there. Who is your current widget provider? Ok, what do you like/dislike about them? Just a few more questions…If you could change one thing about your current widget and widget service, what would it be? Great…ok…first I want to say thank you for answering these questions, now I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I am not going to try to sell you anything on the phone, but I really think that we can help you, I want to bring you in so we can talk about this is greater detail. No hard sell, I just want to get to know how you use your widgets and get some more info to make sure you're getting the most for your money.

• Use 15, or 45 for times

You are now in the process of scheduling the meeting. When quoting times, always give the choice to the client, and then move it to either 15 or 45 minutes before or after. This will aid in helping the client remember the time.

Good Technique

Caller: Ok, great…now what time would work for you? 1:30? Would it be possible to push that to 1:45, I have a meeting just before and I like to give my full attention to my clients? Awesome…thank you so much for that…

For those of who think this may be dishonest, a trick I to make myself feel better is to spend the 15 minutes before the meeting in preparation, it's a chance to go over all the information collected just to make sure it's fresh.

• Don't schedule too far out, and be sure to touch the client at least twice before the meeting

Don't make a habit out of scheduling too far out. I don't like to schedule past two weeks, some say 21 days. However long it is scheduled out, be sure that the client gets at least 2 kinds of marketing touches between the day the appointment was set and the day of the appointment. A hand written letter and an email, or a flyer and a check in call, something to keep you fresh in their mind. As a rule you should always call the day before or at least the day of the appointment to harden up the time.

Will these things guarantee you that 100% of your appointments will show up? Absolutely not, but with the right training and practice, you will start to see the appointment numbers climb. Until next time…as always

Happy Hunting!