In a recently published survey for B2B Marketing magazine qualifying leads and "booking sales appointments" came out as the leading objective for using B2B telemarketing in 2009.

Soft objectives, such as "customer feedback" and "customer research" were graded the lowest priority from respondents, whilst 65% said that booking sales appointments was their prime objective.

Is that really so surprising?

In today's climate more than ever ROI (return on investment) is everything. Business-to-business (B2B) telemarketing has always been about delivering a strong ROI and appointment setting has always been as the sharp end where marketing meets sales.

That's why our people have come from a sales or business development background.

Appointment setting isn't about filling out questionnaires or sending "something in the post"; it's about having a grown-up conversation that uncovers needs and qualifies interest from a sales perspective.

Indeed, the survey points out that because "booking sales appointments" was cited by so many respondents it reflects the "close alignment of telemarketing and sales in the B2B arena"

We couldn't agree more.

Labels: appointment setting, telemarketing appointment setting

To paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson in Jackie Brown: "When you absolutely, positively got to reach every ********** on the list... accept no substitutes."

Sales appointment setting really is the ultimate sales lead generation tactic because it does just that. If you really need to make sure that everyone is touched, no stone unturned, then you need to run a sales appointment setting campaign.

Of course, that doesn't mean it's the cheapest form of sales lead generation. Neither is it the best way to get huge volume in large markets since it takes time.

But when it comes to different methods of sales lead generation - appointment setting is the most consistent and thorough tactic in niche markets.

Let's do some comparisons...

Say you have a specific business service with an easily identifiable set of prospects (usually by turnover, sector, etc). This is a common situation for many clients, perhaps giving them a sweet-spot of less than 500 companies.

Now, if you were to run a sales lead generation campaign using email marketing, you may get a response rate of around 2% (assuming it's a good campaign sent to cold data). Based on these numbers, that may mean you generate around 10 "leads" from this list.

If you're a very small business and 10 leads is enough for you (and you have no desire to capture more market share) then this could be all you need to do.

Bear in mind that we're talking about 10 "leads" - you still need to convert them to sales.

However, the reality is that the email campaign hasn't even made a dent in your potential prospect list. And, if you work on the rule of thumb that approximately a third of your prospects are potentially in the market for your services, you're leaving revenue on the table for your competition.

This is why I said at the beginning of this post that appointment setting is the ultimate sales lead generation tool.

Because when we run a sales appointment setting campaign, we will call and pitch every single one of the prospects... no stone unturned.

Sure, we'll not reach everyone, even when you include using voicemails, working with PA's and sending individually drafted emails); but, on average, we pitch around 80% of a target list.

Of that 80% we would figure a low response rate of around 10% and, more often, we book appointments with at least 25% of the list.

That's a conversion of around 100 leads compared with 10 from an email campaign - 10 times as many.

So, if you have a high-end B2B sales proposition and need to generate revenue now, rather than waiting for the business to walk through the door, then appointment setting will work for you.

If you operate in over-crowded and competitive markets where you're struggling to stand out and get on a prospect's radar, then appointment setting will work for you.

As Samuel L. Jackson says, "... accept no substitutes."

Labels: appointment setting, sales appointment setting

OK, so you're looking for an appointment setting firm to set-up qualified appointments, right?

The question is... who do you want to meet?

Isn't it always the "Usual Suspects"...



It may be funny but it's true.

If you want to set in front of someone it's got to be a decision maker, right?
And that means someone who holds budget.

In our book it always boils down to a Director, VP or Departmental Head within larger organisations. Getting through to and engaging these individuals is always challenging, and requires both skill and tenancity to deliver.

Which is why clients hire appointment setting firms like us rather than doing it themselves or going to a low-level telemarketing outfit.

So, if you want to meet with HR Directors, IT Directors, Marketing Directors et al, give us a call.

We'll turn the Usual Suspects into qualified prospects for you!

Labels: appointment setting, appointment setting firm, c-level

If you run a business services firm, such as a consultancy or agency, then hiring an appointment setting firm makes sense.

After all, the best person to put in front of potential new clients will typically be the Directors or Partners within the business.

However, getting the right type of appointment setting services is critical.

Why? It's because appointment setting services are completely different for business services firms when compared with products.

Here's a couple of things you need to consider:

Your brand perception - for services firms such as consultancies and agencies it is critical that your business is positively perceived by potential clients. How much do you charge for your time? How much is a major account worth to your business? Can you imagine what it would say about your firm if you used appointment setting services handled by a low-cost script-reading call-centre?

That approach might be OK for commodity products but not for business-to-business services.

Services are more intangible - appointment setting for services firms is different to products simply because services are more intangible. Setting up appointments requires a deeper level of understanding about your business. It also requires an approach that focuses less on the service and more on your business (and that usually means you). Think about it - when you win a new client how often is the reason that they wanted you. For services which are not yet commodities, I would say that it's nearly always the case.

Btw, this last fact is why appointment setting services are ideal for consultancies and agencies.

Clients always say to us "I'm confident I can win the business when I'm face-to-face... I just need to get in front of them"

If that sounds like you then contact us today to find out how our appointment setting services can open doors for your business.

Labels: appointment setting, appointment setting services

I've written before on the topic of "Pay-per-Appointment" appointment setting (see When is pay-per-appointment a good fee model for appointment setting?) and I thought it would be worthwhile posting some thoughts here about how the current economic climate is affecting the risk/reward balance for results-based appointment setting.

Unsurprisingly, we're finding a significant increase in interest for pay-per-appointment setting in the current climate. After all, with tighter marketing budgets and a greater focus on return-on-investment surely it's the only way to go.

However, from an appointment setting agency's point of view, the current climate has made the job that much harder, so it's important to get the risk/reward balance right in terms of cost per appointment.

Setting up sales appointments has always been a tough game but in today's climate, where prospects have much less time and far less budget, it's even tougher. We're finding that, on average, strike-rates have almost doubled across various propositions.

(Our strike-rate is how often we convert a pitch to an appointment).

So, on the one hand you've got clients with less money and on the other you've got the fact that the actual job of appointment setting had got more difficult.

Just to make things more fun, clients today are understandably looking for much tighter qualification criteria for appointments. This is due to both truncated ROI expectations (the time it takes to get a return on your marketing spend) and the fact that a lot of clients have cut dead wood from their sales team so have to optimise their sales resource.

Less money, tighter qualification, tougher to get appointments - life's hard, eh?

So what's the right balance?

From a risk/reward perspective it's simple really - it's all down to the reward.

Or, as Tom Cruise once said, "Show me the money!"

In the current climate, when we turn down a pay-per-appointment gig (and we do, regularly) it's because it's just not worth our time.

However, if the risk/reward balance is right, then we're happy to take up the challenge.

What's the right price? Well we take a view on each opportunity but here's a guide to our thought processes.

If you went to a traditional day-rate telemarketing agency they're going to charge an average of £275 - £300 per day. They take no risk (you pay them even if they fail to book a single appointment for you).

So, if based on our experience we think we can book one appointment per day (just to keep the maths easy, for some client propositions this could be more like one appointment every three days) then we would like for a superior return for our time when compared to the average day rate. After all, we're taking all the risk, right?

Based on these numbers, something like £500 per qualified appointment would be attractive to us.
If the cost gets too close to a no-risk day rate then why would anyone bother?

So, inevitably, the question is just how much are you prepared to pay per qualified sales appointment?

Labels: appointment setting, pay-per-appointment

It's a rare breed of appointment setter that can open doors with C-level executives.

I've found that it's partly about the proposition you take to them and partly about your attitude. Here are 3 tips on how to get into the C-suite:

1) Who cares? - the first thing you need to ask yourself is why they should see you. Most people want to get in at the top because, they reason, that's where the decisions are made. However, they forget that any senior executive worth his or her salt will be a master at delegation. They'll have a team around them to run the business and let them focus on key strategic issues.

Don't focus on your product, focus on the key issue(s) that are absolutely central to the executive right now. Find out what keeps them awake at night.

Unless you nail this part you'll simply get bumped down the chain.

2) Keep it short - the second thing is to keep all communication short. These people are extremely time poor. They get hundreds of requests for their attention every day. If you get your message through to them (either directly or via their PA) they will scan it and make a snap-shot decision on whether they want to see you.

So, keep it short. If it's a phone call (and you actually reach them) get your core proposition of what you can do for them in the first 20 seconds. If it's an email, get it into the first line. Keep everything brief. Aim for a short bites of their time, either to set up a 10 minute call or a 20 minute briefing.

Asking too much too early is a killer.

3) Grow some cohonas - finally, to get in at the top, you really need to have a pair (regardless of what sex you are). Think about this, who are the people who reach to top in most corporates? Are they the subservient types or the natural born leaders? Have you watched the Apprentice; Alan Sugar always likes the most hard-nosed, obnoxious types in the board room.

Btw, this is a different strategy to opening doors lower down the organisation where building longer term relationships often requires a lighter touch.

To get a seat at the big table you need to act like you deserve it.

Your language, approach, everything needs to have a commanding, leadership quality. Be bullish about what you are bringing to them and tell them clearly what you want them to do.

Keep these 3 tips in mind, pick up your skirt and get dialling!

Labels: appointment setting, c-level, cold calling

I was chatting the other day to a friend who runs a training business. He was talking about how he was nearly tempted to book one of the "meet the buyer" type days aimed at senior HR executives.

When I asked what it would cost he said, "oh, I think it was about five thousand or so".

OK, so who will you see?

He really didn't have the answer but, based on my experiences of these type of arrangements you'll usually get a slot with about 8 people. Typically, you fill out a wish list to start with, they agree to meet you and it's all set up beforehand.

Think of it as speed dating for buyers & vendors.

These companies all follow the same process: find an exclusive venue, lock up your executives and don't let them out, and parade them in front of a long line of eager vendors. One such company holds their events on a ship just to make sure the executives can't escape.

So, whilst this might seem a cleaner approach than old fashioned appointment setting it has a few disadvantages:

1) They don't want to see you - OK, let's be honest, they're seeing you because they have to see you (or rather they are paid to see a # of vendors). Some might dress it up as keeping an open view on the market, etc but basically they are investing time to see you without any real idea of what value you can add.

2) Vendor fatigue: these are long days for the attending executives. After a while, I guess, everyone blurs into each other. If you're the first person they see how much will they remember at the end of 2 days?

3) You still need to book an appointment - here's the real kicker: even after you've paid your money and sat in front of the executive you will still need to book an appointment to see that. Your pitch will be short and, as I've said, you'll need to work hard to cut through the fog of all the other vendors. Even if they're interested they'll usually tell you to contact them/their PA after the event and set up a meeting. You can guess what happens next...

I call this a "holiday romance". It seemed good while you were all away together but once you've got back to work other things take a priority.

From speaking with many clients who have been down this route a predictable pattern emerges. Everyone leaves on a high, lots of quality meetings, etc. Often you'll book next year's event because it's been such a success.

Then, days and weeks after, you find out that those executives are just not returning your calls. Or are bouncing your meetings as they struggle to remember who you are or why they agreed to see you.

Now, of course, not every one is like that but sadly it's a common experience.

If you compared this with a sales appointment that's been set up by a specialist appointment setting firm you'll find a few differences.

Firstly, they are seeing you because they are interested. They know what you do and your value proposition up-front and have agreed to see you.

Secondly, you'll get more of their time and undivided attention, plus you'll not be competing with a string of vendors on the same day. Effectively, you get more of their mind-space.

Finally, you control more of the game. When you're at these events you're working to someone else's schedule (which is all about getting bums on seats and coordinating all those face-to-face meetings). When you're at a prospect's office you have the opportunity to set some of the agenda and they can check diaries, etc for next-step meetings.

Plus, you'll often have the opportunity to meet with additional key influencers and decision makers.

To me, the "meet the buyer" approach can work well when you're more interested in developing relationships rather than closing business. Often it facilitates an introduction that you can build on... but it takes time.

Appointment setting is all about getting you in front of interested decision makers.

Labels: appointment setting

I've been blogging about B2B telemarketing & telesales now since 2005 and have decided to start a blog focused purely on the topic of "appointment setting".

If you're interested in reading some of my previous posts they can be found on my other blog with the label - appointment setting.

Appointment setting is an interesting subset of telesales and telemarketing. To me, it's the sharp end of the art.

Pretty much all high-end business-to-business sales processes start with a sales appointment.

And whilst the marketing world has fallen in love with online demand generation, social media, twitter, etc, there's still a niche out there for people who can prospect and open doors at senior levels.

So, whether you're a seasoned B2B appointment setter or a salesperson new to the game, you're welcome to comment on my blog and I hope you find it both informative and fun!

Labels: appointment setting