‘Sales COMPASS Appointment Setting Appointment Setting is 4 key component of your prospecting efforts because sometimes it is the only way for you to get an appointment with the decision maker. The information that you gathered during your cold-call will determine your effectiveness in this area. Additionally, you will need to follow these guidelines: Have a plan before dialing the number, including who you are going to talk. to and what you are going to say. Commit the telephone script to memory. Speak in a relaxed and conversational manner. ‘Smile when speaking on the phone, as it will be reflected in your voice. Before picking up the phone, have the information for ALL of your calls organized and ready. Do not procrastinate between calls as this causes you to lose the rhythm that makes you effective. Stay focused and positive because the next person you call may want to meet with you. Version 207 38Sales COMPASS. Appointment Setting - Getting Past the Gatekeeper Gaining entrance to the President / Owner and closing for an appointment is an art. Before you ever talk to the President / Owner, you need to get past the gatekeeper. There is an easy way and a hard way to do this. The easy way is to bond with the gatekeeper when you are cold calling. Then when you call the business, the gate keeper will put you right through to the President / Owner. If you didn’t bond with the gatekeeper, follow the script below. Remember it is the little things that prevent you from getting the appointment. The following structure will help you avoid these traps. Short and sweet answers will increase your opportunity to gain access to the President / Owner. Always remember to say thanks or thank you at the end of each answer, as this allows you to maintain control of the process. Appointment Setting: Getting Past the Gatekeeper Script Gatekeeper: Good morning, ABC Company. Sales Rep: Hi...Tom, please. Gatekeeper: Who should | say is calling? Sales Rep: Tyler. Thank you. Gatekeeper: What is this in reference to? ‘Sales Rep: Your automatic PC backups. Thanks. Version 207 39Sales COMPASS Appointment Setting — Talking with the President / Owner You've gotten past the gatekeeper and you now have the President / Owner on the line. Your process for closing for the appointment is as follows: Here's a sample call with each step labeled: ‘Hi Tom, this is Tyler *with Cbeyond. *! stopped by your office the other day and spoke with Jackie. She told me you are responsible for your company's Internet service. «My company has been very successful helping businesses like yours maximize their voice, data and mobile services. *1'd like to share 5 minutes of your time to show you how Cheyond can help your company. I'll be in your area tomorrow. 11:00 or 11:20, which works better for you?” 11:00? Great. ‘I'm writing that in my day-timer. Please mark it in yours as well, To expedite the process please have your local, mobile and internet bills available for us at that time. NOTE: The objective of appointment setting is to set an appointment. Do NOT get dragged into selling Cbeyond or the product on the phone. Now let's look at it in more detail. Version 207 40Sales COMPASS Step 1 and 2 Introduce Yourself and Your Company Remember, the first two questions a President / Owner has when they pick up the phone... ... Who are you and what company are you with? Step 3 State Your Reason for the Call The third question you must answer to gain more time with the President / Owner “ ..Why are you calling me? Step 4 Initial Benefit Statement Remember the benefit statement is what motivates the prospect to hear what you have to say. It is your “elevator speech” allowing you to immediately seize the prospect's interest and pique their curiosity. ...What can you do forme? ‘My company has been very successful helping businesses like yours maximize their voice, data and mobile services. Step 5 Close for the Appointment Give the prospect a choice to make other than yes or no by using an alternate time close. The prospect will be led to pick one time over another as opposed to just saying, “No”. Step 6 Cement the Appointment You worked hard to get this far...now let's make sure the prospect takes the appointment seriously. You get the President / Owner to invest in the meeting by asking them to have the bills ready. They are more likely to show up for the meeting if they or someone who works for them has invested time in preparing for Version 207‘Soles COMPASS Appointment Setting — Handling Objections In the real world, you probably won't make it through the 6 Steps of Appointment Setting without running into objections. An example of an objection is in the box below. President / Owner: | am not interested. In the flow chart below, we place objections after closing for the appointment just for simplicity sake. In reality, objections can occur at any step of the process. Each time you come to an objection, you should cycle through the steps listed below. Each separation should use different bullets from your 1-31 card. To handle objections follow the steps below: 1. Empathy Statement Tunderstand. 2. Survival Phrase But first, Version 207 423. Separation 1 know you use the Internet daily and experience slow download times. Remember, during separation you use facts you have learned about the prospect. By using facts you have learned about the prospect you: * separate yourself from the competition, * gain the prospect's attention + deliver relevant benefit statements ‘* most importantly it shows you have done your homework, you have knowledge about their company and have targeted the call specifically to them But where do you get facts to use during separation? Your 1-31 cards. And where did you get the information to put on your 1-31 cards? From questions you asked during cold calling. 4. Benefit Statement | can show you how to increase your internet speed up to 10 times. If | don’t show you something significant in 5 minutes, I'll show myself to the door. 5. Close Version 207 43