The Complete Guide To The B2B Appointment Setting Process
Improving Your B2B Appointment Setting Process
Appointment setting with a senior decision maker can prove to be a very difficult task and it is crucial that you maintain an equally upbeat approach to every new business encountered. The business environment is extremely competitive and you cannot allow rejection from one company to have a negative impact on how you engage with others. It is vital that you break down the process of generating leads into smaller targets for you to personally try to achieve as you chase success.
Organisation
It is of the upmost importance that companies have a clear agenda in place to ensure that staff know exactly what they are hoping to achieve at all times. Sales staff being provided with a clear timeframe to achieve specific goals can greatly assist in ensuring that they remain on track to achieve the company’s targets. Sales staff who are not receiving updated targets on a regular basis can have their motivation stifled as they may lose sight of the bigger picture the company is hoping to achieve.
Focus On Speaking With Decision Maker
Large amounts of time can be wasted attempting to pitch to non-decision makers. Receptionists do not have any purchasing power whatsoever and investing time to inform them of the benefits of your product is a waste of time. The receptionist may pass on the information to the decision maker, but the receptionist will obviously not be as passionate about the brand as you are. However, many people will be dismissive and blatantly lie to receptionists in an attempt to get through to the decision maker. It is unlikely this will work in their favour as the decision maker will have a negative impression of the company before accepting the call which immediately puts you on the defensive.
Appointment Setting
Making contact with senior decision makers can be tough. However, it is very worthwhile for you to persevere as the potential benefits of appointment setting are huge. A more personal approach is always useful at this initial contact stage. Even the most subtle detail about the decision maker can help you to arrange a meeting with them. Simple things like initiating conversation about a post you have seen they posted on LinkedIn tends to help move things along.
B2B Telemarketing
It is extremely easy to immediately fall into the trap of giving a sales pitch over the phone. Utilising a script or even sounding like you are is not going to help your cause. Ensure that the conversation flows naturally and aim to avoid the initial focus of the conversation revolving around the product. Try and get to know the decision maker on a personal level before delving into the details of your product or service.
Positive Opening
Begin the phone call as you intend to go on. Help yourself to come across as professional while also allowing your personality to shine through and give the decision maker an indication of the type of person he would be getting into business with as opposed to simply the company. Focus on a strong introduction of yourself and the reason that you are calling. Try and mention something which is unique to that company and how you could specifically help them.
Never Lie To Prospect
Decision makers will receive countless phone calls on a weekly basis and they will have certain negative triggers which will cause them to terminate a conversation. One trigger which can cause many prospects to terminate the conversation is if you claim that you are “not selling them anything”. This is simply untrue as although you may not be expecting to sell your product or service to them on account of this single conversation, you are still trying to sell yourself enough to arrange an appointment. The hook will come from an appointment where you can demonstrate how your product or service can benefit their business, as opposed to defensive statements attempting to justify your conversation.
Demonstrate Research
Prior to making contact with the decision maker you will have researched the firm to ensure you are sufficiently up to speed with the goings on of their company. Make sure that you do yourself justice. Their company will receive a high volume of calls and it is crucial that you make yourself stand out. Showcasing significant knowledge of their firm does exactly that. Highlight the ways that your product or service can act as a solution against the challenges which their company is facing.
Question Styles
Ensure that you utilise open ended questions throughout your engagements with the senior decision maker. Close ended questions mean that you learn nothing new about the consumer which is useless to both you and the decision maker. However, if you are able to bring up the challenges which they are facing and get their own personal views on this you can then delve into the solutions you are able to provide them with. Having a better understanding of their needs can be a huge factor in improving the quality of the conversation while simultaneously enhancing your offering as you can now be much more specific in how you can help their company.
Focus On Benefits
Under no circumstances should you simply list the benefits of your product or service when speaking to senior decision makers. You need to be clever and adjust the benefits which you know your product or service has to suit their business. Failure to do so will make the decision maker believe you are simply another “generic sales call” and will immediately lose interest. As soon as you find yourself rhyming off benefits of your service stop yourself and try to link it with challenges that you know the decision maker is facing.
Overcoming Objections
B2B calls are naturally going to result in objections. Therefore, objections should not be seen as a negative if they do occur. Objections should be viewed as a platform for you to then fully demonstrate the benefits which your product or service could have to their business. Prior to making a call you should ensure that you do not focus on what your responses will be to any objections, but focus on what the objections may be instead. After researching the company, you will have a better idea of the potential objections which may arise. Acknowledging these potential objections will stand you in good stead for a positive engagement with the decision maker. Anticipating the objections you may receive and being able to provide swift responses can hugely improve the quality of your pitch.
Retain Interest Of Prospect
It is essential that you maintain the prospect’s interest at all times throughout the call. If you begin to divert the decision maker’s attention away from the call by going off on a tangent or repeating yourself the likelihood of you being able to close the call begins to drift away. If the prospect remains engaged with the conversation, it is much more likely that they will like your personality as a result. You must ensure you keep the conversation engaging and interactive as this will increase your chances of going into business with them greatly.
Closing With Conviction
It is critical that you ensure that you close strongly. As the call goes on, ensuring that you remain upbeat is of paramount importance. If you begin to sound less positive than you did at the beginning of the conversation, the likelihood is that the prospect will then begin to feel more negatively towards your product or service. Maintaining a consistent tone throughout the conversation is very important.
Be Flexible
It is important that prior to the conversation you have taken time to identify several dates and times where you are available for an appointment. Senior decision makers are busy people, and it is important you are able to offer them various times which may suit them better for an appointment. This also greatly increases the likelihood of closing with an arranged appointment as the prospect is very unlikely to be unable to make all of the dates you provide. After confirming a meeting or appointment with the decision maker you must immediately follow up with the details for where this meeting will take place. In the days leading up to the appointment ensure that you reconfirm the appointment with the decision maker as this greatly increases the chances of them remembering to attend.
B2B Appointment Setting
Arranging an appointment with a senior decision maker is an achievement in itself. Although it may feel like you have simply overcome your first hurdle towards a sale this should not be underplayed. YOUR first impression has been good enough for the senior decision maker to agree to hold a meeting with you. Now it is time for you to shine, and make sure you don’t undersell your product or service. Initially you must ensure that the decision maker is not currently busy. If the decision maker is rushing out to a meeting you will not have his undivided attention which is essential to ensure that you can present the best possible impression of yourself and your company.
Business To Business Telemarketing
The Lead Generation Company possesses a highly skilled team of B2B telemarketers. The average age of our workforce is 35 which demonstrates that our staff have the necessary life and career experience to engage with leads in a professional and authoritative manner. We have award winning staff who do not use scripts but utilise structured conversations instead. This conversation style allows us to provide the best possible results for any of our clients.
Telemarketing Companies
In order to successfully sell complex B2B products or services you must be able to communicate in an informative manner which is capable of influencing and persuading the buyer. Familiarising yourself with the above steps can greatly help you to present your companies offering in the best manner possible. However, when telemarketing companies like the Lead Generation Company exist it would greatly assist your cause to use them. They possess the relevant experience to ensure that every lead you are provided with is of the highest quality and you do not spend time chasing leads which are not genuine.
B2B Lead Generation
Lead generation can be one of the most time-consuming aspects of any business. The amount of time which can be spent chasing pointless leads can seriously impact your firm’s daily operations. The Lead Generation Company will take this significant burden away from you and will ensure that only the highest quality leads are provided. Significant time can be invested by your employees trying to qualify leads. This laborious task can divert your employee’s attention away from other tasks which would better serve their company. The Lead Generation Company is able to save your company a substantial amount of time by qualifying all of your leads for you.
