Appointment Setter Training Setting appointments on the phone is a numbers game. Numbers never lie and as long you follow our script and personalize it to you, you will have success. Consistency is the key to telephone success. If you are making 175 200 dials per day, you will talk to 10 decision makers (minimum) and set 2-3 appointments on average. Ratios It is very important that appointment setters understand their ratios. Why is this so important? If you are serious about making a decent income, you must know the following: How many dials per day How many contacts How many decision makers you spoke to How many appointments While our firm will supply you with forms for you to complete each day, these numbers should be very important to you as well. Keep progress sheets and strive for improvement on your numbers each day which should be reviewed weekly. The Value of a No While it is important to understand your numbers, it is equally important that you are getting No's. Without the No's we are not getting sales. Now, with that said, it is our job to ensure that the ratio of No's to Yes is where we need it to be. People respond in kind IF you ask a reasonable question, you're going to get a reasonable answer. An example of this might be, Mr. are you interested in online marketing Response - No The person is going to respond in kind to the question asked. Now, if you ask someone, do you currently have a marketing company, the answer could go either way. The point though is this question allows a conversation to begin, for example. Have you ever thought about the income you might be losing from online sources? Leading people to the answer you desire requires thought. After a few weeks you will actually start to get the hang of this, and understand our services and the value we offer. Take the initiative and work the script below to you, make changes if you feel you can lead people to a better response. Evaluate your conversations each day. You want to take notes so you can reflect on your conversations to better yourself.
There are two kinds of people in this world. Those that make things work, and those that quit. Those that make things work, look at every aspect of what they are doing and figure out how to become an expert at what they do. Those who are getting the job done will be rewarded in many ways, including financially. The Hot Button Every person you talk to will have a hot button. If you can find that hot button, not only will you increase your chances of setting the appointment, you will also increase the sales consultants chances of securing the client. I want to take a few minutes to show you questions that can identify the hot button. If there were one weakness in your business that you would like to fix, what would it be? Great, okay, and the second questions is this Do you feel you are getting enough business from your website, or online sources? Perfect, our sales consultant will actually show you a report that will show you the potential your business has online, and where you are currently ranking in the search engines. our sales consultant has open on at, does that work for you Cold Call Mechanics Our company is not big on scripts. That may be surprising since we will show you a script below. It is important that you perfect your profession and understand that you need to better your approach each and every day. The script below will give new appointment setters a base to work from, you need to fit this base into your personality and what works for you. The more you understand our business, services and the needs of those you are calling, the easier it becomes to start a conversation with the business owner and to establish the appointment. Cold Call Mechanics Keep in mind that the purpose of the phone call is to set the appointment. While that is true, the appointment will always be stronger if a common purpose for the appointment has been established. The open ended questions above will help to engage your prospect in a short conversation that needs to lead to the appointment. Here are the 5 basic elements to the initial cold call.
Identify yourself and the company Give the reason for your call Make a qualifying question/comment Ask open ended question Set the appointment Phone Script Getting the persons attention by simply introducing yourself and our company is not enough. We need to add on final piece to the opening line to grab their attention. Hi, is this the business owner? Hello, my name is and I am calling from J&M Marketing Consultants, how are you? I am very glad to hear it. The reason for my call is to set an appointment so our sales consultant can stop by to review your Google Listings and search engine rankings. I'm not sure if you are aware, but Google has a local based technology that allows your business to show up for you main services in your chosen geographic area. I'm sure that, like our clients, you would like to get the most out of what Google is offering? (Pause) If they do not respond after 4 seconds, Agreed? Great, our sales consultant will show you how to make this technology work for you and increase your bottom line. How does at work for you? Regardless of what I say in my first question, I will get a response. It might be a positive response, it might be a hang up, it might be I'm not interested. Depending on how good your opening question is, the more positive responses you will get. Keep in mind, people respond in kind. Let's play this theory out, here are a few opening lines that won't get it done. Are you interested in marketing? No Do you have a few minutes? No Would you be interested in changing your marketing company? No People respond in kind, so here are a few openers that will guide your prospect to a positive
response. Were you aware that Google offers you local based technology so that your customers can find you online increasing your bottom line? Did you receive a call from Jill from Google about your Google Rankings? If so, this is one of the reasons we really need to set a time for you to sit down with How would at work for you? How NOT to set the appointment It's important that you realize what works and what does not. Keep in mind that people respond in kind. Whit that said take a look at the script below. Hello, is this the business owner? This is calling from J&M Marketing Consultants how are you? Great, I am glad to hear it. The reason I'm calling you today is to see if you might be interested in learning a bit more about our company? Prospect Sure send me some info Mail me some literature. Here is another approach that will NOT work. Hi is this the business owner? This is calling from J&M Marketing Consultants how are you? Great, I am glad to hear it. I wanted to see if we can have a consultant stop out to review your marketing needs? No, thank you. Becoming an expert at setting appointments As you start to get comfortable with contacting businesses, your conversations will start to flow and appointments will come. There are many things you can do to speed the process up to become good at what you do. Here are five of those things:
Use a Mirror This is a great investment of $1.99. Practice your approach while looking at yourself in the mirror. You need to smile when you are making calls, why? When you smile, those smile muscles affect your larynx, the result, you sound better and this gives you an edge. Be aware of your time So many times when I first started to make cold calls I got into conversations that were 15 minutes in length. I actually forgot that I was calling to set the appointment. Your call should never go past 4-5 minutes. An interactive conversation is great, but always bring the prospect back to That's exactly why we need to set an appointment for you to sit down with, how is at? Practice Once you complete this training guide, it will take you a minimum of three hours of practice to get close to understanding how to apply these principles. Take the time. Practice with your spouse, significant other, dog, cat, mirror, whoever will listen. My black lab is great, she will even cock her head so I know she is listening. Keep a record of your calls As mentioned, you need to keep track of your calls. You need to see how many decision makers you actually spoke to each day. You need to take notes with those you speak to so you can evaluate at the end of the day. What could you have done better to secure the appointment. Don't be Rude I once spoke to a prospect who was very rude to me. I unfortunately responded in kind. I was not rude, but I certainly had a stronger voice because of his words. A few weeks later I had the opportunity to speak with that prospect who apologized and told me that his wife was in labor. While not every prospect has a reason to be rude, we cannot respond in kind. The reputation of the business is important to us and we simply need to let it go. You will find that business owners are generally pretty nice, but you will run into a few. Simply thank them for their time and move on. Also keep in mind, we never know what is going on in that persons life at that moment. Turning around common responses I cannot tell you the tens of thousands of dollars I have made from people who started off with one of the following responses. You are about to learn how to handle these responses: No thanks, I'm happy with what I have I'm not interested I'm too busy Send me some literature The trick is to learn how to anticipate and handle these responses properly. No Thanks, I'm happy with what I have If a prospect says this to you, they are obviously spending money on marketing. So how do we handle this. Certainly most sales consultants or appointment setters would respond by saying, okay well thank you and let the call go. Keep in mind that nothing works all the time. By applying these strategies you will however turn many of those prospects around and get the appointment.
Here is a great approach for this objection Many of our clients said the same thing before they had a chance to see how our program complimented what they were already doing, especially with Google. We really should set a time for to stop out. Would at work for you? Make sure you don't miss the point we are making above. We are in essence agreeing with the prospect and reinforcing what the prospect said by letting them know we can compliment what they are already doing. Keep this in mind Sales is selling to somebody who wasn't interested prior to your call. If they were interested, they would have called you. That is the beauty of what you do, you have that amazing ability to show someone the advantages we can bring to their business. So many businesses go out of business because they have no marketing in place, you can change that. I'm Not Interested Certainly we will never hear this:). The response is similar and can be very effective. Response - A lot of our clients had the same reaction when I first called before they had a chance to see how much our program can benefit their business. I really believe that sitting down with will at a minimum show you strategies you might not have realized exist with Google Local Technology. our sales consultant will actually review your Google listings and search engine rankings, I know the appointment will be beneficial. How would at work for you? I'm to busy This is of course a pretty common response that is simply telling you they are not interested. Of course they are not interested or they would have called you. You have to make them interested. Response - that is fine. The only reason for my call is to set an appointment as your Google listings and rankings need to be reviewed. Does at work for you? Now they say... Well I don't think I am interested A lot of our clients had the same reaction when I first called before they had a chance to see how much our program can benefit their business and most importantly their revenue. will actually review your Google listings and search engine rankings which can be very beneficial to you. How would at work for you? Or Well to tell you the truth, I am happy where I am at Oh, that's great, a lot of business owners
tell me the same thing until they realize how well what we are doing compliments what they are already doing. will actually review your Google listings and search engine rankings which can be very beneficial to you. How would at work for you? Send me Some Literature This is a tough one, why? - Most people who are setting appointments feel that a request for additional information is a sign of interest. In fact, somehow, some way, only 5% of the literature actually makes it to the prospect. Yes I know, our bills get through but not our literature. The fact is the prospect deleted or throw away the literature as junk mail. Keep in mind that you always want to move the sales process forward. Sending literature is not accomplishing this task. Response Can't we just set a time for to stop out. our sales consultant will actually review your Google listings and search engine rankings which can be very beneficial to you. How would at work for you? Listen If I had a dime for every person that called me to set an appointment and they completely ignored my questions. You will be watching videos and trained extensively on the services we offer and the value they bring to our clients. If a prospects says anything that can lead to a short constructive conversation (that will lead to the appointment) you need to take that opportunity. If they say tell me a bit about your services, you need to go into detail about how we partner with Google Local Based Technology which allows us to target their whatever geographic they choose with their main services. Now close the appointment with the same approach as above. Prices It's going to happen, the prospect will ask how much does your service cost. You can't say it's a secret so we will do the next best thing. Well this is the reason we offer a free initial consultation. This allows us to see what strengths and weaknesses your marketing has and come up with a business plan. I can tell you that should you like what you see, we have very affordable monthly plans with no contract so you can evaluate our progress each month. Set the appointment Keep in mind that no matter what response the prospect gives you, you need to be ready for it and have your own response, here are a few more examples: We don't do anything with the Internet I'm just curious, if you're not getting any business from the Internet, where does your business come from? That's great we should set a time for to visit with you since we are a full service marketing firm.
Set the appointment By using the strategies above, you will find that meaningful conversations will begin. Now you can set the appointment. Voice Mails Yes we leave Voice mails. In fact unless you have a good reason, a very specific business you want to get in touch with, or an industry we are strong in, or they requested you to call back, you will only make one call to each business. Whether you get a voicemail or a secretary tells you the owner is not in, you should request their voicemail. Using a company as a reference is very effective. If you are working in a brand new territory, we will give you a business from another area which can still be effective. Here is an example of our voicemail. Be sure to ask the secretary for the name of the business owner before leaving the voicemail. Hi, this is and I am calling you from J&M Marketing Consultants. My number is xxxxxxxxxx, it's in reference to Horst Auctions. I look forward to speaking with you. Now when they return your call you simply use what you know to be true and move the conversation forward, here is an example. Hi, thanks for returning my call. I'm calling because we recently did a project for Horst Auctions who is one of the largest Auctioneers in the Northeast. I wanted to set an appointment so our sales consultant can stop by to review your Google Listings and search engine rankings. Voice Inflection - It contrasts with tone, in which pitch variation does distinguish words. So when your voice rises at the end of a question, that is technically called intonation. Inflection has two meanings: it can sometimes mean intonation, as Dictionary.com shows: modulation of the voice; change in pitch or tone of voice. You must use voice inflection when you want your prospect to hear something of value. You can also pause at specific times for the same result.