Sensational B2B Appointment Setting Tips

B2B appointment setting in marketing is crucial for driving sales and reinforcing business growth. Arranging efficient meetings with prospects is not easy for several reasons:

• Sales reps have to provide qualified leads that are likely to convert into customers;
• Before setting such an appointment, a team of sales reps does tons of research, outreach, and further communication to identify the potential clients and engage with them.

Most importantly, this process has to repeat over and over again to maintain the flow of fresh leads to your sales pipeline. Professionals at Belkins'io, a lead generation service, share the mighty appointment setting tips for an issue-free meeting arrangement.

What is an appointment setting?

To emphasize the meaning of the process, let us define the B2B appointment setting as a business development strategy where sales staff contacts potential buyers, pitches a product or offering, and arranges sales appointments with the prospective client. The appointment setting includes reaching out to potential clients via a range of channels, such as phone, email, and social media, and nurturing them until they express their consent to meet with the sales team (closing sales reps) face-to-face.

Ultimately, B2B appointment setting allows delegating the prospecting job so that the closing sales reps can focus specifically on qualified leads and deliver more detailed and meticulously developed sales offerings.

An adequately prepared appointment can become the bottom phase of your sales funnel, where a prospect turns into a customer. Therefore, the meaning of appointment setting cannot be overestimated. 

Sell an Appointment Before Selling a Product

Successful prospecting encompasses a magic fusion of art and science. Indeed, there are multiple techniques to help you with your outreach, while personal interactions with leads involve a great deal of art. However, according to the experience of Belkins’io, there is one big thing that can bring your appointment setting to a new level. 

Focus on selling an appointment rather than a product. 

Why? Because your potential clients will be more likely to meet with you if you explain to them what value the meeting itself will bring. By selling the product first, you are skipping one step. This can make the client doubt whether they really need to spend their time seeing you personally. Conversely, if you prove that the meeting will bring precious outcomes, you will drastically elevate the number of arranged appointments.  

Contact Your Prospects Efficiently

You’ll increase the likelihood of a positive response if you reach out to prospective customers at the right time, with the right words, and through the proper channels.

How can you accomplish this goal?

Conduct lead research. Investigate the information about the decision-makers in the company of your interest, the company itself, and the problems it is experiencing. The insights you’ll derive from this information, together with the following recommendations, will jazz up your outreach.

• The middle of the week is considered the optimal time for connecting with your prospects;
• Offer a relief to their pain points;
• Focus on the channels of their preferences or rely on the most efficient media. Some of them are described in the next section.

Setting the Appointment: Cold Calls or Cold Emails?

Sales teams are steadily searching for efficient tools to research leads and generate leads. Traditionally, cold calling and cold emailing are some of the most productive methods. So, which one wins the contest?

In fact, you may find the most efficient approach in combining both techniques. However, there are several factors that can help you determine which medium to choose in each particular case.

• The scale of a specific sales opportunity. If you are expecting a big sale, then it makes sense to talk with the prospect, make sure that you remove all concerns, and bring the most persuasive arguments in favor of your meeting.
• The time frame. Tough time limits usually require swift responses. Therefore, cold calling may become your savior in such situations. On the contrary, the low-pressure timelines allow sending an email with consequential follow-ups.
• The preferences of your prospects. If you have learned your target audience well, you should know where, when, and how they might prefer to obtain the information from your company. Competent lead research will provide you with precious insights into your clients’ needs and behaviors and aid you in setting the appointment.  

We at Belkins’io use these parameters to determine the optimal lead generation tools.

Noteworthy, while with cold calling you obtain the response immediately, with cold emailing you may be even unaware of whether a recipient has got your message. To remove this uncertainty, Belkins’io offers unrivaled software for email deliverability. For instance, an email checker tool guarantees that all your messages will reach the destination, thus ultimately raising your email outreach efficiency.

Send Reminders Wisely

Your potential clients may have a hectic schedule, and the chances are that a meeting with your company will fall out of their minds. To ensure they will show up, you should remind your prospects about an appointment you have set. 

However, when sending reminders, you should maintain the balance between annoying them with too frequent messages and reasonably informing. The experience of Belkins’io, a professional B2B lead generation company, suggests that the optimal tactic is sending short reminder emails. Their number depends on the situation, but generally, you should leave enough room for the client to reschedule a meeting if needed. At the same time, the final reminder should be as close to the meeting as possible. Two respective messages are usually enough. The first one can be sent a day before the meeting, while the second one – around four hours before the meeting.

You can choose the other medium for your reminders, such as a phone or social media if you realize that your contact would prefer this kind of communication for setting the appointment. 

Provide a Follow-up after Your Call

Every important conversation during the process of appointment setting should be documented with the help of a written follow-up. What should a follow-up contain?

• The main points you have agreed upon;
• The envisaged steps;
• The key dates you have discussed;
• A request for a client to confirm or comment on this summary.

Besides, plan the activities to maintain prospect’s engagement throughout the pre-appointment period. You can provide them with some additional value, for example, information about the relevant products or services your organization offers.

The Bottom Line

Your B2B sales will prosper only if you keep filling your sales funnel with the flow of qualified leads. Appointment setting is an essential process in B2B lead generation. You will need a set of marketing tools, strategic thinking, and considerable interpersonal skills to arrange efficient meetings with the right prospects.

Implement the suggested guidelines to grow the number of your successful appointments and enjoy the enhanced sales volumes. Whether you need advice or assistance on your way, call us to open new horizons of opportunities in lead generation.

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