cold calling Archives — Appointment Setting Blog from the Caponi Performance Group

What does a quarterback’s ability to read defenses have in common with appointment setting?

Hint: it’s all about the ability to Counter the no we hear when we ask for an appointment.

I called one of my former students the other day to see how she was doing with her new found appointment-making skills and she said that one the biggest benefits she received from going through our Prospector’s Academy was the ability to quickly read the defense so she can audible to the appropriate play to counter what’s being thrown at her. (You’ve got to love the analogy!) Continue reading “What does a quarterback’s ability to read defenses have in common with appointment setting?”

Asking for a specific time for an appointment does work.

So you still want to ask, “Are mornings or afternoons better for you?”

A sales professionals in one of our Prospector’s Academies told me this story the other day during a role-play session and I thought it was worth passing on to you.

He told me that he had always been afraid to say no when a target would propose a different time for an appointment than he had originally asked for; even when he had something personal scheduled. He told me that he would say yes to almost anything, even if it were inconvenient—just to get the appointment. He told me that for the first time, he countered with a third time and the prospect said yes. He was ecstatic. “It worked, it worked!” he exclaimed.

Continue reading “Asking for a specific time for an appointment does work.”

Just say no!

It’s okay to say no to a time that won’t work for you!

We teach to ask for a specific time and date for the appointment you want. Unfortunately, our targets also live by a calendar and sometimes our specific request can’t be met, so they propose something different. When that happens, why do some of us sales professionals seem so reluctant to say no to that request when the target’s suggestion is inconvenient to us?

Continue reading “Just say no!”

Three reasons to ask for a specific day and time on an appointment making call.

Do want more or less stress in your life? How about more sales and commissions?

If you’re like me, you were taught to ask questions like, “Are mornings or afternoons better for you?” when asking for an appointment. I say ask for a specific day and time. Why? Well, I’m glad you asked! Here are three very good reasons:

Continue reading “Three reasons to ask for a specific day and time on an appointment making call.”

Plan your calendar before making the first appointment making call of the day.

Before we begin calling, we should have already mapped out the times on our calendar we’ll be asking for appointments.

Remember, when calling for appointments, we recommend asking for specific dates and times. We’ll cover the reasons for that in another blog. For now, let’s talk about the concept of knowing when we want the appointment, as that will become an issue whether you ask for a specific date and time up front or not.

Continue reading “Plan your calendar before making the first appointment making call of the day.”

A simple way to improve your appointment setting performance.

Do you listen to yourself?

listening-picture If you are a manager of sales professionals, you are charged with not only driving a certain amount of revenue, but you’re also charged with developing the abilities of the sales team. It’s a given. Our incentive is our own survival and the belief in leverage. We know we’ll be asked to bring in more revenue next year than we were asked to do this year—and most likely without additional headcount. The only way to do that is to have a more efficient and effective team, which is another way of saying I will continuously need more leverage or better productivity out of each of my team members. Continue reading “A simple way to improve your appointment setting performance.”

Five tips to help make that first cold call of the day.

Five ways to beat Call Reluctance.

fear-quote Many times we hear the old mantra that, “Once I get started making my daily appointment making calls, I’m okay. It’s getting started that is the challenge. I’ll do anything to keep from picking up that phone for the first call.”

Here are five tips to help us get into the proper frame of mind to start a Call Block. Continue reading “Five tips to help make that first cold call of the day.”

Top 10 mistakes cold callers make on the phone (# 10).

Mistake #10 – Calling the same day and / or time of day over and over again, or calling the same person over and over again the same day.

D'oh Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is “…doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.”

One of the basic tenets behind The Appointment Making Formula™ is having a plan (we call them Best Practices) and then employing technology (we use a specialized tool—the Science of the Art, Science and Best Practice of Appointment Making), called PROSPECTING from Contact Science. it works as a front end to CRMs) to enable the efficient application of the Best Practices and track what you do so that you can leverage what works and change what doesn’t. Continue reading “Top 10 mistakes cold callers make on the phone (# 10).”

Top 10 mistakes cold callers make on the phone (# 9).

Mistake #9 – Not letting the target know when this attempt is the last one.

D'oh Many participants in our Prospector’s Academies™ say is that no one returns voicemails anyway, so why bother leaving them? Well, here’s the biggest reason of them all to do so! Continue reading “Top 10 mistakes cold callers make on the phone (# 9).”

Top 10 mistakes cold callers make on the phone (# 8).

Mistake #8 – When leaving voicemails, not saying our phone number s-l-o-w-l-y and repeating it.

D'oh If you’re old enough to remember who Andy Rooney was, you might recall he would whine things like, “Have you ever gotten a voicemail with a telephone number left so rapidly that you had to listen to it multiple times before you got the whole number?” Well, I have and I know you have as well because it is all too common. Continue reading “Top 10 mistakes cold callers make on the phone (# 8).”