Appointment setting is necessary to optimize sales conversion rates because it bridges the gap between marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) and sales-qualified leads (SQLs). However, with so many companies trying to perform cold outreach to your prospects, these creative appointment-setting tips can help you stand out.
If your sales pipeline is beginning to stagnate, try these 6 creative appointment-setting tips to revamp your lead generation strategy.
Download the Ultimate B2B Appointment Setting Guide
Use our guide to increase your company’s revenue with appointment-setting strategies you can use to close more deals.
1. Utilize an all-bound sales development process
Many companies silo their inbound sales team and outbound sales team, thinking it will increase efficiency. However, this can lead to burnout, team misalignment, and brand misrepresentation. An all-bound sales development strategy combines your inbound and outbound efforts to create SQLs.
An all-bound strategy allows for long-term scalability because it improves sales development. A specific rep assigned to a contract improves communication and efficiency.
Changing the structure of your sales efforts by combining the inbound and outbound teams have been shown to increase sales successfully.
Benefits of using an all-bound strategy:
Lower SDR burnout rates: When sales development representatives (SDRs) constantly get rejected for their cold-calling efforts, their confidence is severely lowered, making it harder to stay motivated. An all-bound strategy disperses the responsibilities so everyone has a chance to work with both cold and warm leads.
Improve SDR performance: When an SDR has a few successful conversations with leads, it gives them momentum to continue contacting their leads and set more appointments.
Create a fair evaluation of SDR efforts: If one SDR is only focused on cold calling and mostly gets rejections, it wouldn’t be fair to measure their progress to an SDR working with warm leads more likely to convert.
2. Act like everyone is a decision-maker
An SDR will most likely talk to a few people before they can reach a company’s decision-maker. From receptionists to assistants and HR professionals, an SDR should always speak as though they are talking directly with the decision-makers themselves. Known as gatekeepers, these contacts may not have purchasing power in the company, but they could have a trusting relationship or influence over the decision-maker.
From our experience, this tactic will also give the SDR a lot of practice. By the time they reach the decision maker, they will feel confident in their ability to speak about the solution and sell them on it. This will give everyone they talk to a good impression of working with the company and could help build trust to close a deal.
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3. Implement an effective sales cadence
A sales cadence gives your SDRs a sequence of touchpoints to ultimately push prospects down a sales funnel. An effective sales cadence can help reduce prospect resistance, such as unsubscribing to your emails, not answering sales calls, or not interacting with your marketing efforts.
An effective sales cadence should be:
- Flexible
- Persistent
- Use many communication channels
- Differentiate between warm and cold prospects
EBQ’s gold touch cadence
Over the years, we have built a strong sales cadence that balances persistence with professionalism to guide prospects down the sales funnel. This sales cadence takes into account both warm and cold prospects. We suggest having five touchpoints throughout your cadence to gauge whether a prospect is interested in your solution.
If a prospect is still uninterested after these five connection attempts, they should be given a cool-down period before reaching out again. This timeframe gives them space so they don’t become annoyed with your contact attempts.
Our five touchpoint sales cadence includes:
- Send a voicemail and email message introducing the company
- Call and ask to set a sales appointment
- Call and send an email with your value propositions
- Call the prospect prepared to explain why your solution is the best option
- Send a final voicemail and email message letting them know this is your final attempt to reach them
You should integrate waiting periods between each step. The time for each waiting period will depend on how warm the prospect is.
4. Set up a company booth at trade show events
Attending networking events is a proactive way to get your brand noticed, speak with like-minded industry leaders, and meet potential clients. Taking it one step further and setting up a booth will increase the likelihood of obtaining new clients.
Draw people in by designing an eye-catching booth that represents your brand. Offer incentives like giveaways, company merch, or prizes from interactive games. By bringing people in with these fun techniques, you can conduct your sales pitch while they explore your booth.
This will not only educate people about your company but also create a chance to show that your company is an industry leader people can trust. It will foster new potential business relationships and create brand awareness for future opportunities.
Tips on attracting people to your booth
- Be prepared: Practice what you will include in your speech to confidently convey your message when it’s time to talk.
- Know your audience: Understand who will be there and how you should speak to them about your company or solution.
- Keep it short: People tend to lose attention quickly, so keep your messaging concise and to the point.
- Stand out: Show some of your personality during your speech, including interesting facts or witty humor to make people remember you.
- Provide handouts: Create a brochure of your products and solutions with some information on your company to inform people of who you are and what you do.
- Include participant incentives: Encourage people to come talk to you at your booth by offering free company merch or game-winning prizes.
5. Attract high-quality leads using email
Setting sales appointments via email has become increasingly popular to creatively get your prospect’s attention. Email marketing can be used as a tool to nurture opportunities throughout the sales funnel. Creating email templates for different stages of your prospect’s journey will help save time when reaching out to new prospects, following up with warm leads, or setting appointment times.
How to start leveraging emails to set sales appointments:
Segment your email list: Split your email list into smaller groups based on the contacts’ interests, behaviors, demographics, location, and any other data you have collected. This will allow you to create tailored messages relevant to each segmented group of your audience.
Personalize your messaging: Sending an email that says “Dear Customer” won’t catch the prospect’s attention. Address them by name and create personalized messages based on their needs or interests so they feel connected.
Use clear CTAs: A clear call to action should entice the reader to take action as soon as possible. Including CTAs that direct the reader to “Learn more” or “Call to schedule” will eliminate confusion about what the reader is supposed to do next.
Leverage automated emails: Automated emails are a great way to save you time so you can focus on setting more appointments. For example, create an automated schedule reminder email to someone who has booked an appointment. This way, the recipient won’t miss their sales appointment, and you don’t have to remember yet another task.
There are many different types of emails you can send. The goal of the email, the recipient, and the stage of the sales funnel your prospect is currently in will determine the type of email you send. Take a look at our cold email templates to get started.
6. Set appointments through your website
Your website is a powerful tool for generating leads and setting sales appointments. Strategizing your website can capture users’ attention right when they click on your page. Two of the most effective ways to grab users’ attention quickly are pop-up forms and live chat features.
These methods will allow the user to offer their contact information or chat with a live representative to answer any questions they may have. This efficient use of their time will create a positive user experience that may convert them into a lead.
Explore how a pop-up form and live chat features can enhance your website and increase the opportunity to set up a sales appointment.
Utilize pop-up forms
Although pop-up forms have been controversial, they can be extremely effective when used correctly. Creating a strategy to use pop-up forms when someone clicks on your website will help you capture leads who have shown interest in your product or solution.
Start by offering relevant content like whitepapers, ebooks, or exclusive discounts in exchange for the users’ contact information. Once you gather their contact information, you can use it to add them to your email lists and begin your outreach strategy to try to set a sales appointment with them.
Pop-up forms are effective because they disrupt the reader’s flow while scrolling through your site, catching their attention right when they begin engaging with it. If someone is already on your website and has shown some interest in your company, this pop-up form may just be the final push they need to offer their contact information and learn more about your solution.
Leverage live chat opportunities
A website that has a live chat representative ready to talk to the user will create an opportunity for the user to ask questions and quickly receive answers. The ability to immediately interact with someone from your company will make them feel heard, thus beginning to build that trusting relationship.
Customers who can interact with a representative via live chat tend to stay on your website longer and feel a sense of trust in your company. A positive user experience tends to lead to a higher-order value.
The live chat representative should:
- Have proper training on the company and its solutions so they can answer any questions the customer throws at them.
- Be experienced in sales so they can quickly and strategically offer additional purchases based on the customer’s needs, giving possible discounts to peak the customers’ interest if they are still hesitant.
- Quickly respond to the customer. The ability to type responses immediately, without spelling errors, and using a professional, informative tone will create a positive user experience.
- Build a strong sense of connection with the customer. If they don’t decide to purchase, then they might recall their experience and return to the site with more questions.
- Avoid using a script. The benefit of having a live representative is that the user gets a human experience. Scripts may make the responses sound robotic, potentially causing the user to feel disconnected.
Try these techniques and see how they can improve the effectiveness of your website in setting more sales appointments.
Download the Ultimate B2B Appointment Setting Guide
Use our guide to increase your company’s revenue with appointment-setting strategies you can use to close more deals.
How to creatively convince people to set sales appointments
As the competition to set sales appointments grows, it’s important to get creative about how you’re reaching out to leads. Implementing strategically placed pop-up forms or live chat features on your website will help you create a seamless user experience.
Blending traditional sales strategies with innovative techniques will set you apart from the oversaturated sales market. An all-bound sales development process will align your inbound and outbound efforts, allowing your team to stay motivated and consistently offer a cohesive experience for your leads.
Outside of calling potential leads, techniques like leveraging emails, speaking at industry events, and using your website as a sales touchpoint will engage potential clients and direct them toward setting an appointment.
Implement these creative strategies to revamp your team’s efforts and increase your conversion rates. If you need help optimizing your sales appointment process, our sales experts are here to help you generate more leads and increase your sales.
