Want an Appointment? Just Ask
One of the biggest challenges in sales is getting that first appointment. Many a rep has lamented, “If I could just get in to see the guy, I can make the sale!” As a result, reps spend a lot of time trying to craft that perfect, compelling message that will get total strangers to agree to spend some time with them. Yet all they really need to do, says one expert, is just ask for the appointment.
“The reason prospects agree to talk to our clients is we ask them to,” says Mike Scher, president of Frontline Selling, a company that helps reps improve their pipeline through training and as an outsourced service provider (www.frontlineselling.com). “We ask them to meet with us a number of times in a number of ways.” There’s no pitch, no stop-‘em-in-their-tracks insights, just a simple request for an appointment.
Here’s an example. Say you’re calling a prospect for the first time and, not surprisingly, you get his voice mail. Instead of trying to wow the person by telling him how you can solve his problems, just say something like this: “Hi Joe. This is John Allen from ABC Corp. I was hoping to get 20 to 30 minutes of your time on April 3rd or 4th to talk about how we can help you become more efficient at building your pipeline. Please let me know or have Becky, your assistant, call me at 123-456-7890.” A few days later you would follow that up with an email that reads basically the same: “Hi Joe. Per my voice mail, I was hoping to get 20 to 30 minutes of your time….” Later, you might send a fax to the same effect. Continue pursuing your request until you get a yes or a no – and don’t mistake a non-answer for a no, as many reps do.
There are two reasons this approach works. First, by simply asking for an appointment, you separate prospecting from selling. Prospecting is about getting the appointment, says Scher; selling is what you do once you’re there. Yet many reps mix the two by trying to sell their way into the appointment and that’s a big turn-off to prospective buyers.
Second, by asking for the appointment multiple times in multiple ways, you plant a seed in the same way that effective advertising plants a seed: at some level, even if subconsciously, the prospect is aware of you and considering your request. When he finally agrees to a meeting, it’s not a split-second decision he might later regret, which can happen when you secure an appointment on an initial cold call. Instead, it’s a “well considered decision” which sets the stage for meaningful dialogue, says Scher. That’s an important distinction, he adds, because the way in which your prospect decides to meet with you – on impulse in response to a cold call versus considering it over time – has enormous implications for the outcome of the sale.
Sure, the switch from selling your way into an appointment to just asking for an appointment sounds awfully simple. It is. And that’s one of the biggest reasons reps are wary of this strategy, says Scher. But it’s like taking a golf lesson after you’ve been playing golf for a long time: When the pro changes your grip, it will at first feel uncomfortable. However, the more you use that grip, the more you’ll realize it’s not only more comfortable, it’s also more effective.
So the next time you pick up the phone to call a new prospect, take the pressure off yourself. Don’t sweat about finding the magic combination of words to get him to meet with you; just ask him to meet with you. Take it one step at a time, concludes Scher. Your initial communication should be focused on trying to get the appointment. Once you’ve got it, then you can focus on the sale.
“The reason prospects agree to talk to our clients is we ask them to,” says Mike Scher, president of Frontline Selling, a company that helps reps improve their pipeline through training and as an outsourced service provider (www.frontlineselling.com). “We ask them to meet with us a number of times in a number of ways.” There’s no pitch, no stop-‘em-in-their-tracks insights, just a simple request for an appointment.
Here’s an example. Say you’re calling a prospect for the first time and, not surprisingly, you get his voice mail. Instead of trying to wow the person by telling him how you can solve his problems, just say something like this: “Hi Joe. This is John Allen from ABC Corp. I was hoping to get 20 to 30 minutes of your time on April 3rd or 4th to talk about how we can help you become more efficient at building your pipeline. Please let me know or have Becky, your assistant, call me at 123-456-7890.” A few days later you would follow that up with an email that reads basically the same: “Hi Joe. Per my voice mail, I was hoping to get 20 to 30 minutes of your time….” Later, you might send a fax to the same effect. Continue pursuing your request until you get a yes or a no – and don’t mistake a non-answer for a no, as many reps do.
There are two reasons this approach works. First, by simply asking for an appointment, you separate prospecting from selling. Prospecting is about getting the appointment, says Scher; selling is what you do once you’re there. Yet many reps mix the two by trying to sell their way into the appointment and that’s a big turn-off to prospective buyers.
Second, by asking for the appointment multiple times in multiple ways, you plant a seed in the same way that effective advertising plants a seed: at some level, even if subconsciously, the prospect is aware of you and considering your request. When he finally agrees to a meeting, it’s not a split-second decision he might later regret, which can happen when you secure an appointment on an initial cold call. Instead, it’s a “well considered decision” which sets the stage for meaningful dialogue, says Scher. That’s an important distinction, he adds, because the way in which your prospect decides to meet with you – on impulse in response to a cold call versus considering it over time – has enormous implications for the outcome of the sale.
Sure, the switch from selling your way into an appointment to just asking for an appointment sounds awfully simple. It is. And that’s one of the biggest reasons reps are wary of this strategy, says Scher. But it’s like taking a golf lesson after you’ve been playing golf for a long time: When the pro changes your grip, it will at first feel uncomfortable. However, the more you use that grip, the more you’ll realize it’s not only more comfortable, it’s also more effective.
So the next time you pick up the phone to call a new prospect, take the pressure off yourself. Don’t sweat about finding the magic combination of words to get him to meet with you; just ask him to meet with you. Take it one step at a time, concludes Scher. Your initial communication should be focused on trying to get the appointment. Once you’ve got it, then you can focus on the sale.
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