So many B2B companies focus on the top of the marketing funnel. They invest heavily in Facebook ads, influencers, landing pages. What is often missing is the sales piece. They might have a full-time salesperson or account rep or even a whole team but there is often a disconnect from the lead generation process to the sales funnel.
There are a few crucial steps in the sales process one of them being the setting of the actual appointment with the lead. If you set the appointment correctly and with the right qualified lead then you will see much higher conversions and revenue numbers.
Here are the top 5 tips that really good appointment setters do every day:
1. Ask for the decision-maker
Always ask for the decision-maker when you are talking to a potential customer. Sometimes if you set an appointment with someone on the team that is not the decision-maker then at the end of that sales call you will have to chase their manager.
2. Don’t sound like the salesperson
It’s important that the appointment setter sounds natural and builds a good rapport with the lead. So don’t sound monotone and don’t try to be too salesy. Just be natural, ask good questions, feel the person out, and calmly go through your elevator pitch.
3. Ask good probing sales questions
Speaking of questions, there is some really vital information that you should get from the customer. For example, if you are selling a facebook advertising service then you need to know what the potential customer’s ad budget is, what type of ads they’ve tried in the past, how many product lines they have, etc. The nature of the sales process will change depending on their answers so only set an appointment once you have answers to all the relevant questions.
4. Be prepared to answer objections
Naturally, the lead will have questions and objections for you. You should answer all of their objections to the best of your ability without trying to close the sale or anything, just getting them some basic info about your service. The more objections you answer for them the easier it would be for the salesperson to close them.
5. Gauge the person’s interest
It’s really important to see how interested the lead is in the service or product that you offer. It’s really important to only set appointments with leads that are serious and interested. Otherwise, you would be wasting the sales team’s time.
For example, if a lead is saying that they are really not interested in your product or service but are willing – do not transfer them! Resist the urge to get another pat on the back because you will be wasting the company’s time and resources.
Recap
Don’t repeat the common mistakes of other appointment setters and follow these five tips that we outlined. Here they are again:
1.As for the decision-maker
2.Don’t sound like the salesperson
3.Ask good probing questions
4.Be prepared to answer their objections
5.Gauge the person’s interest.
If you follow these 5 easy steps you will see much higher conversion rates and more sales.
