Making quality appointments can be extremely difficult.  Here are seven tips that will help you get a commitment from your client.

Building a Rapport

The first thing you should do is gain the trust of your prospective client. With trust comes good rapport. It is important to keep the commitment you made with your client by calling at the exact time you are scheduled to call. Time is valuable so calling at the scheduled time means that you respect your client’s time.  Remember to always be friendly, outgoing and conversational. If you’re having a bad day you never want the client to know that. It might sound silly but smiling actually positively effects your tone on a call.  Lastly, you should take the time to follow up and see if the appointment has any further questions or concerns.

Penetrate the company, not just one person/title

Collect different information from multiple sources within the company to leverage in other conversations to have a warmer approach. Building relationships with multiple contacts and levels can be very beneficial. If one contact leaves you always have your foot in the door with someone else. Remember different departments have different needs and different budgets. They also may have a greater benefit for your product or service.

Handling Objection

When you are faced with an objection, always listen and acknowledge the concern or objection. Handle them by addressing your prospect’s concerns about your product or service. You should always follow an objection with a rebuttal, then bring it back to your discovery questions. Never ever make assumptions.

Be specific when scheduling a call

You should start with a specific date and times. You should give two options. Say I have an opening on these two days and times for a call are you available?  One mistake made by the sales representatives is not being specific when setting up a meeting or follow up. Not only do you want to be specific about the time and date of the call, you want to lay out what the call is going to entail. If you are specific, you come across direct and they know what the expectation will be. Time can be hard to come by some days, being specific gives prospective client’s appreciation for this kind of approach.

Try calling during non-peak hours

Getting a hold of the decision maker or high-level executive can be a challenge of its own. By getting in contact with the “right” person, it can speed up the sales process a great deal. But before picking up the phone, you should try to predict what time might work best for them, if you’re calling a doctor, you may want to look at their appointment hour and do not call while, they are in with patents. Most business leaders do not punch in during the regular office hours of 9 to 5. Try reaching them before 8 in the morning or during lunch hours or even late in the evening. You can even try sending emails at these hours. This strategy when adopted definitely helps to get a proper response from the prospect.

Develop a Script

Remember this is not a call to sell your product/service. Present the base work for product/service to the best of your ability. You need to be knowledgeable and equipped with all the information necessary to set this appointment. Develop a script framework that refines your process, be sure to include the potential client’s response also. After you have a good draft, you should complete test calls to see how the framework is being received. This will be an ongoing process, where advisors are given the chance to say what has and has not been working, so they are able to continue to refine the script. This is just the framework or guide; you do not have to stick to the exact language.  It is all about building trust with the customer

 Ask for Referrals

Potential clients will be more likely to speak with you if you were referred to them by a friend or family member. Once a deal has been closed, and the customer is completely satisfied you should draft an email and ask “is there anyone that you recommend that I reach out to that could benefit from our product/service?” Asking for referrals should not be the sole purpose of the email. Make sure to always include a thank you to the customer for their business as well. Most executives are very involved in the community in which their business is located. They can always be a part of a board or part of organizations that are constantly networking. By just asking that one simple question you could be put in contact with several prospective clients.

Remember to always exude confidence and be yourself. You are the pro and with these tips and tricks you can close any appointment!