In today’s tech-savvy world, sales development teams have to get creative. They need to work with marketing personnel to rope in more promising potentials, and they need to incorporate new techniques for leading customers down the sales funnel.
One such technique that sales departments of every style business should be incorporating now is appointment setting.
The Basics of Appointment Setting
With appointment setting, a sales representative or a designated appointment setter will take top-of-the-funnel leads gathered from things like email subscriptions and reach out to schedule a special meeting — an appointment.
This meeting can be informal or formal; it can involve just the lead and the sales personnel, or it can include several leads and the sales personnel. The goal here is to connect with prospective leads, cement a more positive first impression, and find ways to transform that lead into a committed customer.
A business can choose to have the salesperson who will ultimately meet with leads be the appointment setter, or they might dedicate a specific individual to set appointments. This latter option is likely the best choice for mid to large-sized companies or for those businesses first getting out and in need of a strong first wave of customer acquisitions.
Having a dedicated person for appointment setting is also apt to help a business be the most productive possible. It is also possible to outsource appointment setting to an experienced team, thus alleviating one's sales development team of this pressure and encouraging them to focus on doing what they do best: transitioning leads into sales.
Remember, the appointment setter acts as a sort of bridge between marketing and sales. One of their primary tasks is creating a "contact sheet" or list of strong prospects that can then be contacted to lead into an appointment with an experienced sales representative.
The appointment setter must be well-versed in the company itself, especially the usefulness or niche appeal of its products or services, and they must have a strong sales approach. After all, the appointment setter will most often either be the first or second person representing the company that the lead will encounter.
The Big Way in Which Appointment Setting Can Make Your Sales Development Team More Productive
Prospecting, which includes appointment setting, is the best way for a business to find new leads with real potential to become customers. This area of sales and marketing requires a unique skillset as it requires one to go out and find those leads. It requires a go-getter.
Prospecting may be done via emails, social media reach outs, LinkedIn monitoring, convention canvassing, and more. This prospecting is what gets the appointment setter their contact list.
This appointment setting procedure helps ensure your sales development team boosts sales productivity and works more efficiently because they are given the best leads, those that are already primed and ready to head down the sales funnel.
A good appointment setter has the skills to separate their contacts and make the appointments with the sales personnel best able to meet the lead's individual concerns, personality, or goals.
Still not convinced appointment setting is the way to go? Or at least not the importance of having a dedicated appointment setter? Consider giving it a try and measuring the return on investment (ROI) for yourself.
The ROI of any new sales and marketing technique is the best way to determine whether or not the switch to that technique was worth it. The good news is that measuring the ROI of appointment setting is relatively easy, so long as you are clear about your goals before you start and are ready to implement the tools necessary to track those goals.
For example, you might compare the amount of appointments generated per day and the amount of leads transitioned into customers gained the first month you do with appointment setting to the month before without it.
Keep monthly accounts of these types of goals and complete your analysis at the end of the quarter to see just how helpful appointment setting has been for your company.
Want Experienced ROI? Contact the Pros at Purple Sales
If you aren't sure about how to calculate the ROI on appointment setting or you feel like you are missing out on calculating other types of ROIs, maybe it's time you get a second opinion. A professional opinion.
Calculating ROIs on implemented strategies like appointment setting is just one of the many B2B sales and marketing services we offer at Purple Sales Solutions.
Contact us today to learn more about how our team members can get you the most accurate ROI calculations so that you can be better informed on what strategies best work for your business, what don't, and where you can make the most effort for the most return!
