Although it is always possible to just pick up the phone and start dialing for appointments, successful appointment setting requires more than just making blind calls. Business owners are not just waiting on business opportunities ringing on the phone. They are now searching for solutions in the Internet as well. Good thing about 121 Direct Marketing is that we do not solely depend on phone marketing alone. We partner telemarketing with effective e-mail marketing to reach wider audience and to strengthen our communication with the prospects. And most importantly, we capture both offline and online markets. No wonder why every appointment we set is almost always easy to close.
Our appointment setting process is composed of 5 basic steps:
1. COLD CALLING and E-MAIL MARKETING
Cold calling is the marketing strategy we use to generate qualified sales leads and set business appointments. Before the cold call, we blast professional-looking e-mails to the potential clients from our privacy-compliant leads database.* This is to prompt the prospects that our expert callers will be connecting with them if they are interested. At the same time, it is also one way of marketing your products and services, making them aware of your brand identity. During a cold call, we introduce ourselves and the company we represent (your company) to the prospect and try to establish a relationship of trust. We make no attempt to sell a product or service at this point since the relationship is just starting. Our goal is to get the prospect talking and set the mood for a sales presentation.
We use the following techniques to deliver a successful cold calling campaign:
a. Preparation
We make sure that all calls are handled properly so we make all necessary preparations from formulating call scripts to choosing the right calling agents. We only send well-designed, content-wise emails while adhering to data protection legislation and guidelines around spam.
b. Versatility
Since different verticals have different requirements, we fine-tune our services according to our clients’ needs.
c. Communication Skills
We maintain a neutral accent and a firm speech on the phone to suggest credibility. All information obtained from the initial call is carefully recorded and kept to be used for future calls and other transactions once the appointment was set.
2. SETTING THE APPOINTMENT
Once the line of communication has been established, our appointment setters ask qualifying questions to validate the prospect and measure their interest in the services we offer. If a prospect expressed interest by replying to our emails, we still use the phone to confirm the quality and validity of the lead. This way, we identify qualified leads that will be scheduled for appointment. When the prospect is ready, we offer to set an appointment for them to meet with one of your outside sales representatives to discuss more about our services. All appointments we made are done through live interaction to keep the reliability and high-quality of generated sales leads.
3. QUALITY ASSESSMENT/LEAD VERIFICATION
Our Quality Assurance Analysts carefully verify each lead that was generated from cold calls. Business leads that do not measure up to quality assessment standards are set aside for follow-up calls until they are ready.
Once these business leads are verified, they are uploaded to our online portal, the PipelineCRM. You can access and use PipelineCRM to keep track of the entire lead generation and appointment setting process. From there, you can download real time reports on the status of each lead or listen to the recording of each call we make.
Our appointment setters make a confirmation call to the prospect a day before the appointment to confirm and remind them of the appointment the following day.
*Option provided to client. May depend on list availability.
