Getting appointments on the phone is part of many industries.  From insurance sales, real estate, to business to business, getting appointments is critical.  In some industries if you can’t book appointments over the phone you will be showed the way out the door!  Sadly most training that “advises” people how to get appointments over the phone is flawed.

There are trainers that suggest you should start calling at 5am to beat your competition to the punch.  There are telemarketing scripts that you have talking about your company in the first 7 words of a conversation (hint: they don’t care about your company).  Some people even make excuses based on who you call; CEO vs. the IT Manager.

What I want you to consider is the following:

• It doesn’t matter who you call
• Mentioning your company name at the beginning of a conversation is a waste of time
• Calling “before” your competition isn’t important

Setting appointments over the phone is bigger than trickery.  The “brand” of your company isn’t important to your prospect on the initial call.  If your brand was really important, the prospect would have reached out to you first, you wouldn’t be making the call.

Regardless of who you are calling and what you are selling, I would invite you to consider the following three tips to getting more appointments on the phone.

1. Share your marketing message – Your marketing message is what will compel a prospect to take your call and listen.  Your marketing message should carefully reveal how you can save a prospect time, money, or both in less than 10 seconds.  This is bigger than a slogan or a catch phrase as the immediate benefit of your offering should be clear to the prospect.
2. Pique their interest through questions – Statements leave you hearing the dial tone while questions will get the sale and appointment.  Instead of sharing the benefits of your product/service on the phone, pique their interest through questions.  When your questions reveal how they could benefit by using your service they will want to find out more by setting a time to meet one on one.
3. Give them two appointment times – Asking someone when they would like to meet is a formula to get rejected.  Make it easy on your prospect and provide them two times to meet.  When you provide them two options they will look to see WHEN they can fit you in to their calendar, not IF.  By simply asking “would a Tuesday at 4pm work better or a Friday at 10am?” your conversion rate can jump by more than 40%.

Getting appointments over the phone isn’t about bullying your way through the secretary, sending fruit baskets, or sweet talking someone.  You can set appointments over the phone in minutes when you share a marketing message, pique interest, and give them two options of meeting times.

Resources:

• 3 Quick Tips to Setting Appointments on the Phone