Imagine being able to land the perfect client every single time. Imagine your team hitting sales goals every quarter. Does that sound out of reach? Guess what, it isn’t! Not when you put value into the art of B2B appointment setting. After lead generation, setting sales appointments rank next in order of value. Take your sales to the next level by learning all about the importance of B2B appointment setting and why you may want to consider outsourcing with a qualified generation service company, such as Top Lead. If you an in depth guide on B2B appointment setting, keep reading!
What is B2B Appointment Setting?
Business-to-business (B2B) appointment setting is the process of scheduling a meeting between a potential buyer and the sales rep. This process takes place during the lead generation process of the sales cycle. In this phase the sales representative will go through the contact list, ensure that the lead is qualified and then schedule an official appointment with the goal of closing the deal. This stage involves giving more detailed information about whatever product or service you are trying to sell. You want to ensure that in this phase you are providing your sales pitch. which leads to closing the deal.
Some businesses outsource their appointment setter. A business-to-business appointment setter allows the closing rep to completely focus on giving the customer a quality experience which leads to more time dedicated to making the sale. When we arrive at the appointment setting process, we know that our prospect has been qualified and they’ve shown interest in what we have to say so all our energy is now focused on this very important closing meeting.
The Importance of B2B Appointment Setting
So why is appointment setting so important? Other than helping you save time, increase profits and getting your business noticed, B2B appointment setting can help boost the streamline process and optimize lead generation.
Deciding to outsource your appointment setter is an important step toward providing quality to your leads. When you have one specific person focused on specialized parts of the lead generation process it allows team members to hone in on one particular role which helps achieve perfection. Prospects want to feel like they are getting quality service from their sales rep. They expect the sales representative to have in-depth knowledge and experience. By outsourcing your B2B appointment setter, you can foster a stronger relationship with your customer and build rapport with them.
Skill for Appointment Setting
There are certain skills that will really help you stand out when appointment setting. Check out the list below to see how you can improve in your business-to-business appointment setting.
Great Time Management Skills
The average SRD has a full day. Between checking CRM tasks, sending emails, managing stats, and making phone calls, things can get a little chaotic. That is why it is so important to to create a schedule for yourself with time set aside for everything you must do, including setting those appointments.
Know How to Qualify
Before setting that appointment up, you need to be able to qualify your lead. This is vital to ensuring that the appointment you set is completely focused on one goal -closing that sale!
Be a Good Listener
Being able to listen to your customer, understand exactly what their pain points are and presenting them with a clear solution will add so much value to your sales pitch. Your customer wants to know what specific result you can provide through your service or product you are trying to sell. To be able to present that in a convincing manner requires great listening skills.
See the Glass Half Full
Your leads are busy. There are instances where your lead will not have the time or energy to see why your service is valuable to their business. This is when a B2B appointment setter would step in; when they hear an objection, they see it as an opportunity to help educate their lead and capitalize on an opportunity.
Additional Skills your Appointment Setter Should Have
Be flexible with the script– the flow in which a conversation goes can change at any moment. Know when it happens, adjust, and deliver your effective rebuttal.
Ask Important Questions- you are there to provide a solution. Listen to your lead and determine which questions are going to help you deliver.
Never Stop Learning- new methods and practices arise all the time. Perfect what you already know but don’t stop learning. There are always new tactics you can use to up your sales game.
The Process of Appointment Setting
The process of business-to-business appointment setting involves steps which help the SDR target the right prospect. Each stage of this process is important and takes a skilled and well training SDR to execute.
Who is your Ideal Customer?
During B2B appointment setting, your SDR will create a customer profile (ICP) and a buyer persona (BP). The ICP looks at the overall history of your past customers which then helps predict who your future customer will be. This vital piece of information helps the appointment setter during the outreach stage.
When your SDR creates the BP, they focus on the details of who your future customer is. This is a research-based profile that defines your target customer. This profile will tell you everything you need to know about who they are. It even gets down to the detail of what their day to day may look like, what sort of challenges they face and will even help identify what influences their decision making.
Find your Customer
After an analysis of who the customer is, it is now time to find them. A skilled SDR knows how to examine ICPs and BPs and find the lead’s contact information. The better the SDR is at conducting valuable profile analysis, the more chances they will have at scheduling an appointment.
Research
Before talking to your lead, you need to do your research. The SDR must conduct their own research aimed specifically at each client. They should put together whatever information they can to help personalize their outreach and develop their script so that it feels tailor made for the specific client. According to a recent survey, 46% of prospects say personalization is the most effective way to land them as a customer
Make Contact
Contact your customer during the active phase of B2B appointment setting. This can happen through phone, email, or social media. If you happen to contact your client’s gatekeeper at first, don’t get discouraged. This is the time to make a great first impression. According to Medium, 75% of executives are willing to make an appointment with an SDR based solely on a cold email or a cold call so don’t be afraid to put yourself out there!
The Big Question- Should you Outsource B2B Appointment Setting?
The reality is, outsourcing an appointment setter has become very popular. It benefits the company for a few reasons.
The cost and effort it takes to fill the role, train someone internally and the expenses involved in perfecting the process, can all be avoided when outsourcing your appointment setter.
Costs involved that can be avoided by outsourcing your appointment setter include but are not limited to:
hiring due to high turnover rate of SDRs, reeducating SDRs on newly updated appointment setting techniques and licensing for lead appointment setting software.
Conclusion
Appointment setting is no easy task. If you want it done right, it takes a highly trained SDR with years of experience to perfect the craft. It includes multiple stages, each which serve a specific purpose. In other words, an appointment setter is highly valuable to the success of your company.
Are you hesitant to outsource a B2B appointment setter? Worried that the SDR will not know your company well enough to represent it accurately? That isn’t the case at Top Lead. We understand the importance of maintaining an effective pipeline and we do intensive research to ensure our efforts are in complete alignment with your goal and that our pipeline matches your brand’s voice.
Want to entrust a dedicated SDR to perfect your appointment setting? Don’t hesitate to reach out. We have successfully trained SDRs who are highly skilled in appointment setting. They will help you set those appointments so all you need to focus on is closing the deal.