The First Minutes of a Sales Appointment Call

by TK @ Printzone
(Boston MA)

Help making sales appointments

I run a small printing business and have a hard working sales team of 3 really good and knowledgable people. They make their own sales appointments, using their own cold calling scripts, and it can get really frustrating.

The businesses they are phoning get call after call from all kind of sales appointment callers. I know, I get them myslef.

It's really hard to get the business people we phone to listen to what we have to say. most calls we don't get past the first minute.

I pride myself on the business we have built up. We give a great service and our prices are competitive.

But what do we have to do to get prospects we phone to listen to us?

If they would just hear us out I'm sure we could get more sales appointments. I'm open to suggestions, in fact I'm asking for help to make sales appointments.

Comments for The First Minutes of a Sales Appointment Call

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Getting Appointments on the phone
by: Jeff "The Sales Pro" Goldberg

Hi TK,

Here are a few things to keep in mind when setting appointments.

First, and perhaps most important, is that people buy benefits. No one cares that you sell printing...they care about what your printing does for them.

A good analogy is that no one wants a car...they want the ability to get from point A to point B...the benefit of owning a car. Most salespeople discuss features, features and more features. In sales you have to learn to focus on the benefits.

I suggest you want to quickly introduce yourself and your company, ("Hi TK, I'm Jeff Goldberg from Jeff Goldberg & Associates") then briefly explain the benefits of what you have to offer. ("We're a sales training and consulting firm. We help companies like yours get more appointments, shorten your sales cycle, and close more business more profitably")

After that you have to tell them why you're calling and I suggest you be honest. ("The reason I'm calling you today TK is to set an appointment. I'd love to come by and find out what you're currently doing to train your sales team, tell you a little about what we do and see if there might possibly be a match")

Finally, ask for the appointment. ("How does your calendar look for this coming Thursday at 10:00?")The prospect will then respond, usually negatively.

The real key to getting appointments is to anticpate the objection and be prepared with appropriate rebuttals. It's also important that even though this is all scripted it must be well rehearsed so that it doesn't sound like a script.

Feel free to call me to discuss further. I'm happy to share advice on this subject! 516-608-4136

Comment from Stephen Craine

Great sales appointment tips, and a great way to show the benefits that you offer your customers.

All prospects are interested in what's in it for them, the benefits. Take the features you would normally tell a prospect about and turn them into features.

What do you think, share your knowledge, make a comment.

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