In most cases, no matter how good you are at selling, if you can’t get your foot in the door, if you can’t get an appointment to see someone, then you’re not going to make the sale. So, with that said, here are five steps to getting an appointment to see a prospect through a cold call:
- Get the prospect’s attention
- Identify yourself and your company
- Give the reason for your call
- Make a qualifying statement
- Set the appointment
Let’s go over each step in more detail.
Getting the Prospect’s Attention
Let’s say I’m calling you. Depending on the words that come out of my mouth, you’re going to respond in kind.
For instance, if you ask the prospect a stupid question, you’re going to get a stupid answer. On the other hand, if you ask a reasonable question or make a reasonable statement, you’ll get a reasonable answer. And if you speak politely to a person, that person will speak politely back to you.
Now, the easiest, simplest, gimmick-free way to get the prospect’s attention is by saying his or her name. So, call them up and say, “Good morning, Mrs. Andrews.”
Identify Yourself and Your Company
Here, though, if all you say is, “Good morning, Mrs. Andrews. This is Ed Johnson from ABC Company,” it’s likely that she won’t know both who you are and what your company does. And as such, she probably won’t give you the kind of response you want.
But, on the flip side, you’ll be more effective if you add a brief introduction commercial to your call. For instance, you can say, “Good morning, Mrs. Andrews. This is Ed Johnson from ABC Company. We’re a growing sales training company that’s worked with over 100,000 salespeople.” Now, you’ve told them what your company does and how many people you’ve served.
Give the Reason for Your Call
Since you’re calling for an appointment, simply say the following: “The reason I’m calling you today specifically is to set up an appointment.”
On the other hand, what if you don’t give the prospect any idea whatsoever of what you’re calling for? What will happen?
Not much. You see, you have to let the prospect know what you want.
In other words, if you don’t say, “The reason I’m calling you today specifically is to set up an appointment,” then the prospect can’t say “yes” to the idea of getting together with you for a meeting.
But wait. There’s more, because you can enhance this statement by adding a more compelling reason to it. For instance, “The reason I’m calling you today specifically is to set up an appointment, so that I can stop by and tell you about our proven sales training programs and how they can boost the results of your sales force.”
Make a Qualifying Statement
Next, you’re going to add a statement that allows the prospect to respond to you favorably. And this statement that you’re going to make will be based on your reason for calling Mrs. Andrews which was introduced in the previous step. In fact, it’ll follow logically from that reason.
In other words, it will be a non-manipulative extension of what you’ve said before. So, a good way to start out is, “I’m sure that you, like other companies that I’ve worked with . . .” and here you list the name of an actual company.
For instance, you could say, “I’m sure that you, like XYZ Company that I’ve worked with, are interested in having a more productive sales team.” You see, now that you’ve mentioned the name of that company, Mrs. Andrews is more likely to say, “Yes, I’m interested.”
Set the Appointment
If Mrs. Andrews does say that, then you’re ready to set the appointment. Here’s how:
“That’s great, Mrs. Andrews. Then we should get together. How about this Thursday at 10 am?”
That’s it. Your request must be this direct, this brief, and this specific.
Why? Because by being specific, since people respond in kind, you’re going to get an answer about the appointment that’s also specific.
In other words, there’s no need to ask, “What’s better for you – this week or next?” “Morning or afternoon?” On the other hand, by suggesting a date and time, you focus on when you’re going to get together, not whether you’re going to get together.
Putting it All Together
So, here’s what the entire approach would look like:
“Good morning, Mrs. Andrews. This is Ed Johnson from ABC Company. We’re a growing sales training company that’s worked with over 100,000 salespeople.”
“The reason I’m calling you today specifically is to set up an appointment, so that I can stop by and tell you about our proven sales training programs and how they can improve the results of your sales force.”
“I’m sure that you, like XYZ Company that I’ve worked with, are interested in having a more productive sales team.” (Wait for positive response.)
“That’s great, Mrs. Andrews. Then we should get together. How about this Thursday at 10 am?”
