There will be no sales without a meeting or engagement with potential clients. This is how important appointment setting is. It’s not simply hitting a certain number of calls or emails, but it’s about nailing qualified meetings. But it’s not easy at all.
How can you set more qualified sales meetings? Do you want to know some best practices to follow? In this article, we’ve summed up five tips to help you set qualified sales meetings effectively. Read on.
1. Research information about your prospects.
When trying to book sales meetings, it’s important to demonstrate the value of your product or service to your customer. However, it’s also of great significance that you know who your prospects are, what their needs are, and what they value. Also, you should be prepared for questions.
When you gather as much information as you can about your prospects, you can ask the right questions and make the most out of your call, if you get one. The more you know about them, the better relationship you can build for setting a meeting with them.
So, just as you prepare your sales deck, make sure to give time in finding out details about them too. But how do you do your due diligence and research about your prospects? Here are some ways to consider:
- Visit their company website.
- Understand their history.
- Find out their areas of interest.
- Read any available reviews about them.
- Try to see what their focus and values are.
- Check them out on every social media platform and see what posts they liked or commented on. This will give you insights about them as a company.
If you fail to research and understand the market you are calling, your prospects will know that you’re only looking to sell something. Whether it’s an on-demand webinar or the top sales tech stack tools, they won’t buy it.
We can’t emphasize this enough: the first step to a winning call is to research and prepare. You’ll see more reasons to do this as you move on to the other tips below.
2. Focus on decision-makers.
So you want to succeed in your SaaS sales, you say? Is your prospecting targeted?
This goes beyond prospecting for SaaS sales. While quantity definitely makes sense when trying to book qualified sales meetings, you should also know who are the decision-makers in your target market. You should make sure that not only are they qualified but they are also the ultimate decision-maker.
Why?
Well, you wouldn’t want to waste time on someone who doesn’t have the power to buy your service or product, right? No matter the number of meetings you schedule, if they are all dead ends, they still don’t count.
So, don’t book a meeting for the sake of booking one. Make sure it has the greatest potential and actual authority to move forward.
In addition to conserving time for the leads that are most likely to purchase, targeting and prioritizing decision-makers helps you create a personalized strategy. As you narrow down on these people, you can find out the best way to close a deal with them.
But how will you know who these decision makers are? This is where our tip #1 will become useful: research.
3. Find the right time to connect.
It’s not enough to have social selling tools that can help you reach your target prospects. Even if you have the best Google CRM to send automated, personalized email sequences from your Gmail inbox, it will be useless if you’re not careful about the time you choose to email or call your prospects.
While you’re busy setting sales meetings, these decision makers are also busy growing their businesses. And like you, they don’t want to be interrupted when working. If you click the call and send button at the wrong hour, you might not be able to set a meeting with them. So make sure to find the right time to connect with them.
According to Salesmate, Wednesday is the best day to call prospects based in the USA, while 4–5 PM is the best time to do it. This is based on a study where they observed 12,480 calls for 60 days. The calls were done by sales reps in the USA.
If you’re sending emails, both HubSpot and MailChimp found out in their studies that Tuesday is the best day to send emails. There is peak inbox activity and high open rates on this particular day. And the best time to send your email? It should be at 10 AM.
If you happen to call your prospect at the wrong time, you can apologize and ask for a convenient time. Once you’re on the call at the right or convenient time, don’t make it too long. Get to the point and convey the necessary message. Again, this makes researching about your prospects important. If you look into your prospect and the details of their business earlier, you’ll find it easy to get to the point so you won’t take too much time.
4. Intrigue your prospects.
When you’re on a call with your prospects, make sure not to make the same mistake as most salespeople do. Don’t push your product or service right away. Your goal is not to sell something; it’s to set an appointment with them. So, instead of giving information here and there about your offer, intrigue them enough so they will ask for an in-person meeting. Make your appointment setting calls interesting for them.
One way of doing it is by calling with the intention to help them. With a genuine desire to help, you’re setting a helpful tone that’s less likely to offend your prospects. It could also be a good start for a great customer experience and customer satisfaction.
Also, you can share how you have helped other organizations with your product or service and give them correct facts and figures.
5. Listen well to your prospects.
This is a must-have skill when you are in any sales department, especially when setting up a meeting. If you can write cold sales emails that deliver results, you should also be able to listen well to your prospects. You should not be the only one speaking. If you can’t do that, then you won’t be able to understand them and their pain points. You might miss out on some information that could be a strong base to set a meeting with them.
Listening to your prospects is also an essential step in any sales discovery process. HubSpot data indicated that about 69% of buyers prefer someone listening to their needs. It’s the quickest way to get into their hearts, a positive sales experience they want.
So, if you’re used to being pushy and dominant during a setting appointment call, then maybe it’s time to change your strategy. Strike a meaningful conversation, ask relevant questions, and listen to their answers and reactions. Also, acknowledge their concerns. You’ll be surprised with how much difference these can make.
Are you ready to see an increasing trend in your sales KPIs (key performance indicators)?
In summary, among the keys to setting qualified sales meetings are researching information about your prospects so you’ll know exactly what to say, reaching out to the right people at the right time, making your call interesting, and listening to your potential clients. Keep these tips in mind and you’ll see how you will be able to engage and get your prospects on board.
If you have more tips for setting qualified sales meetings, let us know in the comment section below.
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