Reducing Appointment No Shows
Three key elements must be in place.:
- A Specific Skill Set
- A P2P Message Sequence
- A target for the number of appointments ‘accepted’
1. A Specific Skill Set
Who sets your sales appointments?
Are they experts at selling AND resilient in systematic calling to reach decision makers and open doors?
It’s easy to book appointments with influencers and users who are accessible and impressionable, but 30% of these appointments are likely to drop-out.
“The absolute bare minimum number of call attempts to contact at least 50% of your leads is six.” (Source: InsideSales.Com)
“The average salesperson only makes 2 call attempts to reach a prospect.” (Source: Sirius Decisions)
Appointment setting initiatives must be directed at the right individuals by the right individuals. If your team is not able to target prospects at the right decision making level, call +44 (0)1256 853357 for advice.
2. A P2P message sequence
Is your phone pitch & email sequence ‘made-to-measure’?
Who monitors what’s said/sent to new prospects?
If your team fail to articulate their point quickly enough when they get through to a decision maker, they may not get the chance to present a case that’s compelling or tailored to a prospect’s; role, responsibilities and 1-1 requirements.
An open and benefit-led discussion highlights what differentiates you from your competitors but your chance of a prospect actually attending the next call or meeting reduces UNLESS you offer a made-to-measure appointment agenda that adds value, focus and reason for them to attend.
Successful appointment setting requires meaningful human interaction with senior decision makers on a 1-1. If your team needs help engaging decision makers with the right peer-to-peer message strategy call +44 (0)1256 853357.
3. A target for the number of appointments ‘accepted’
How do you police appointment drop-out rates?
Confirming appointments with decision makers takes time, skill and strong powers of persuasion. It’s not an ‘admin job’, but sales people typically view it this way and hate the process. It involves (1) diarising the appointment via email, (2) sending collateral, (3) entering appointment details into sales CRMs, (4) calculating travel time (as appropriate) and (5) carrying out reminder calls & emails to ensure meetings aren’t cancelled. It takes an average of 5 steps to lock-in an appointment. Few sales people get passed step 1!
44% of salespeople give up after 1 follow up attempt – typically the diary invite email…” (Source: The Marketing Donut)
Reducing drop-out-rates requires a defined process that the sales team buy-into. If your team needs help reducing appointment drop-out appointment call +44 (0)1256 853357.
If you are looking to increase the quality of sales appointments attended by your sales team, contact us today and find out more about three dedicated B2B appointment setting services.
We’re an outsource agency that provides a regular feed of high value appointments and frees-up sales teams to focus on selling and generating revenue