If you can answer yes to any of the following questions there’s a good chance you aren’t making qualified appointments. But what does that really mean?
- Do you feel under pressure to achieve your KPIs?
- Does your manager insist you meet with everyone?
- Do you feel deflated if someone says “no?”
- Do you travel miles for a quick chat over a coffee, just to tick a box?
- Could some of your business be won over the phone?
To make a qualified appointment takes true skill. But a few simple tips can ensure your conversion rate improves!
A qualified appointment is one that the prospect has agreed for you to visit and fits the criteria you require for them to be considered as a potential customer. More importantly a ‘qualified appointment’ is one made with the M.A.N – the person who has the Money, the Authority and the Need!
A good example of making unqualified sales is Phoebe Buffay’s stint at “Empire Office Supplies.”
But how do we get these qualified appointments?
- Always be assertive in what you say. Submissive people are easily brushed aside. Aggressive sales approaches may increase apparent appointment numbers, but this leads to poor quality leads and a higher number of cancellations.
- Confirm all appointments in writing, either by letter or e-mail. For appointments a long way ahead, phone a few days before to confirm. Customers may easily agree to appointments a long way ahead, but no-shows are higher on these than normal.
- If the person you are phoning is on a mobile, ask if it is okay to talk. They may be in a meeting or driving.
- Remember that most people you are phoning are used to receiving high volumes of poor quality telesales calls. Their natural initial reaction may be to say ‘no’ straight away, so persevere until you have got your message across. People do change their minds.
- People often say “If I want something, I will ask for it!” If this were always true, telesales people would be redundant. People have the single biggest influence on the likelihood of a prospect agreeing to an appointment.
- Nobody is able to be enthusiastic 100% of the time. There is no doubt however that enthusiastic people produce better results. If you’re not enthusiastic about what you’re selling, how do you expect them to be?
- Accept that some people will be hostile to you. Its part of the role and will rarely be aimed directly at you personally. If however you get aggressive responses daily, you should review your approach.
- Who does all the talking? Too many telesales people speak at the customer, instead of listening. Everybody likes to be listened to and it is useful in building rapport and identifying needs.
- BT did some research a few years ago when they analysed the words most frequently used in domestic telephone conversations. The word ‘I’ came out seven times more frequently than any other word. The job of a salesperson is to focus on ‘You’ (the customer), not ‘I’ (the salesperson).
- Persistence, enthusiasm, and optimism will always out-perform ability and pessimism.
If you’re responsible for making qualified appointments then take a look at our Appointment Making programme or get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.
