Small businesses usually have a great reliance on appointments to keep running their businesses smoothly. If you are an owner of a small business and wondering why your appointment setting campaigns are not able to churn out your desired results then this blog is for you. Your team might be putting its effort on planning and discussing ways to generate maximum leads but if the planning is not in the right direction then it is of no use. According to a recent study the most common reasons of lead generation failure are chasing the wrong people, relying on amateurs to land appointments and not updating the CRM records.
Here is a list of some common appointment setting mistakes that small businesses can easily avoid
1. Chasing the wrong people
As mentioned above going after the wrong audience is one of the common mistakes that appointment setters make. For example – if your target audience is the middle aged parents of young children and the language and style of your landing page are suitable for teenage or senior citizen group then it won’t help you in any way in generating leads. In order to avoid such mistakes you can initiate a little bit of market research which will help you understand your target audience better. In this way you can make buyers’ profiles using personal characteristics and professional interests of them which will make it easier for you to point out you the right people.
2. Using wrong tools
There are many tools available for you when it comes to online appointment setting. Some CMS platforms come with built in functionality but if you want to add consistency and customizability you need to look for other options. For instance, there are free online schedulers that provide custom features, a booking website and other advantages that make sure that your web presence successfully generates new appointments.
3. Not updating CRM records
In many cases sales representatives fail to understand the importance of updating CRM records and often ignore to add notes to a CRM profile after initiating a call. Failing to update CRM records simply means losing the opportunity to stay prepared and deliver personalized sales pitches.
4. Relying on non experts to set appointment
Most often sales organizations hand over the responsibility of completing the buying cycle to sales representatives that also includes lead generation. People tend to forget that sales and appointment setting are two completely different concepts which require specific skill sets. Not everyone in a sales team holds the same capabilities. Some are good at closers and others specialize in nurturing relationships. That is why it is important to ensure that sales experts who have expertise and experience in executing calls successfully with prospects should handle the job of appointment setting.
5. Giving incomplete information to consumers
People always want to have the details of what benefits they will get from you before finalizing an appointment. When it comes to your existing customers they would not mind dealing with incomplete information as they have faith in your capabilities but your new customers are always demanding. You need to provide them with detailed information of your products or services. It will be better for you if you stay prepared with all such necessary information before making a call.
6. Not collecting feedback from your customer
Collecting feedback from your customers is crucial for your business development. Customer feedbacks help you improve your company’s appointment setting process. You can also get useful suggestions on how you could make it better.
The overall sales appointment setting procedure is a complicated one. So do not lose hope if it fails to obtain your desired result at a very first attempt. Time and experience will tell which of your skills are paying you off and which ones should be avoided.
