Want to Close More Deals? Here Are 5 Appointment Setting Techniques to Try

While the last stage of the sales process – closing the deal – may garner the most attention, it’s impossible to reach that point without setting up those all-important appointments. Many companies outsource appointment settings to get the most out of this process. However, if you have an in-house team for this and still you’re struggling to set high-value appointments, it’s possible that your team’s plan or execution needs a little reshuffle. 

At least half of the companies approached by most sales teams come nowhere close to buying their products or services. This is why securing appointments with decision-makers is a crucial part of any sales organization. On the contrary, you can achieve desirable outcomes by leveraging proven appointment-setting techniques. 

While many strategies exist today, choose the best options for your sales team. This article covers everything you need to know about cold call appointment settings, from the basics to the most effective techniques. 

Understand Appointment Setting

Appointment setting is the process of scheduling meetings between your sales staff and prospective customers to provide a detailed explanation of your service or product. In a B2B environment, it is one of the most effective ways to expand your client base and close more deals. 

An appointment setter usually arranges a meeting between a potential client and a closing sales professional at the last stage of the lead-generation process. During this session, the sales representative’s goal is to understand the needs of the potential customer and identify the roadblocks. Eventually, the personnel will propose the product or services as a possible solution at the right point without being pushy. This is the fundamental idea of organic pitching. 

Businesses can outsource appointment settings to make this process easier and more efficient. When you outsource it, your sales team’s only responsibility is to check their schedule and attend to the arranged appointments. 

Why Outsource Appointment Setting?

There are several advantages your business gains when you outsource appointment setting, including more time for your staff to concentrate on higher-value activities, generate more income, and focus on qualified leads. 

Increasing the number of appointments may generate positive impressions for your company and boost familiarity with your brand. Outsourcing appointment setting also saves your company the time and cost associated with recruiting and training new in-house team members. 

Moreover, data shows why outsourcing or optimized cold-call processes still matter: recent industry studies report that connecting with a lead often requires two to three contact attempts. Although cold calling has low base success rates, averaging around 2–2.3% for an initial cold call converting to a booked meeting, top teams or well-structured outsourced services can exceed 6–7% in meeting-booking success. 

5 Techniques for Appointment Setting to Get More Deals

Setting up productive sales appointments is often undervalued. The success of appointment setters depends on their ability to play a pivotal part in the lead-generation process. Sales executives must create a conceptual plan that sets appointment makers up for success. Utilize these five techniques to refine your appointment setting strategy. 

Technique 1: Make a list of success stories

People are often reluctant to grant a salesperson an appointment, as they feel that the conversation is solely driven by selling. This is where case studies come in, that immediately help in creating an atmosphere of trust. Sharing success stories of how similar individuals and businesses benefited from your service is an excellent way to pique interest and secure an appointment. 

Send the potential buyer to a landing page or site page where they can see product demonstrations and customer reviews before or during your conversation. 

Alternatively, you may narrate a brief and relatable customer story, including the challenges they faced, the steps taken to address those challenges, and the results they achieved. Hence, compile a list of success stories, share them with appointment setters, and include them in the appointment-setting strategy. 

Technique 2: Promote appointments, not sales 

When speaking with a prospective customer, salespeople instinctively want to close the deal — but an appointment-setting call is not a sales call. The objective is simply to spark enough interest to schedule a meeting. 

Teach appointment setters that their goal is to secure a meeting, not sell the product. Salespeople should avoid being pushy and instead call with a sincere intention to help. A friendly and approachable tone is less likely to alarm potential business partners and more likely to convert conversations into scheduled meetings. 

Technique 3: Get a Power Dialer 

Power dialers, like automated phone-calling tools, can import and sync updates to the CRM and call hundreds of prospects daily. If a lead doesn’t pick up, a power dialer can even send a recorded or SMS follow-up message. 

Power-dialing saves time by eliminating the need to manually dial numbers and mentally prepare oneself between calls. This automation helps your team reach more prospects in less time. Given that outbound call teams typically need three attempts per lead to get a connection, such tools can improve efficiency dramatically. 

Technique 4: Develop a Voicemail Script 

About 80 percent of cold calls end in voicemail. Rather than viewing this as a dead end, appointment setters should be prepared to turn voicemail into an advantage. 

Suppose you want more callbacks from customers who didn’t answer your calls, leave effective voicemails, and include a voicemail script in your appointment-setting strategy. The voicemail should include a touch of intrigue — not all the information — so that prospects feel compelled to call back. 

Briefly mention how you came across their company and reference a problem you can help solve. Keep the recording short, courteous, and to the point. 

Technique 5: Leverage the Experts 

Many salespeople dislike making cold calls more than any other part of their job. If your business can outsource appointment setting, it allows the sales team to focus on the activities they enjoy most and the activities that generate revenue. 

Businesses that specialize in appointment setup use trained professionals, proven strategies, and advanced technology to deliver high-quality appointments. When you outsource an appointment setting, you ensure that each step of your sales process is executed to the highest standards. 

If you’d like to learn about common pitfalls of appointment settings, read our article on the 3 Most Common Appointment Setting Mistakes. 

Conclusion 

Getting a potential client in for an appointment is the first step in closing the deal. When done correctly, appointment setup becomes a valuable growth lever for your company. The techniques in this article will help you become a more effective appointment setter. It might not guarantee a sale — but it will put you in the best position to win one. 

Salespeople will have an easier time closing deals when prospects are already familiar with your company. However, with high competition, salespeople must focus on selling and increasing the business’s revenue. They no longer have the bandwidth to refine appointment-setting skills continuously. 

Outsource appointment setting services to Expert Callers. We help you save money and boost output by giving you exactly what you need: quality sales leads and scheduled appointments.

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