How to Confirm Sales Appointments
An effective sales appointment confirmation strategy will help you reduce no shows, reschedules and cancelations.
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How to Confirm Sales Appointments
There are few things more frustrating than to arrive at your schedule sales meeting only to find that your prospect or customer is a no-show. It took fifteen calls to get the meeting in the first place; then, you prepared your sales materials and presentation, you donned your best suit, you fought traffic on your way across town, and then after nervously waiting in the lobby, for what seemed like hours, the receptionist informs you that your prospect is not there or is unavailable. It’s maddening.
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They key to avoiding no-show appointments is employing an effective appointment confirmation strategy. The first step is taking a moment to stand in the shoes of your buyer. Decision makers and buyers today are busier than ever before. They are being asked to do more with less and many have taken on multiple responsibilities inside their companies. Add to that the relentless stream of information pouring in via the internet, email, text, phone, and social media it is easy to see that they have very little time to meet with salespeople. So no matter how important YOU think your scheduled meeting is, realize that your buyer has a million other things to think about other than you. The truth is almost everything on their to-do list is a higher priority than your meeting and given the opportunity they will find a reason not to show.
The key to an effectively appointment confirmation strategy is to keep from giving your prospect a reason not to show. The two most common reasons why prospects don’t show up to appointments are a) they forget about your appointment or b) they overbook their schedule and you get bumped.
Six Quick and Dirty Tips for Confirming Sales Appointments
Book appointments no more than two weeks out. One of the best ways to ensure that your prospect shows up to your scheduled appointment is to set the appointment as soon as possible. An appointment set for tomorrow has a much higher show probability than an appointment set for a month from now. Besides the obvious fact that it is better to meet with your prospect while their interest in your product or service is high, by meeting sooner you reduce the possibility that your prospect will get sidetracked by another competing obligation.
Confirm the appointment while you are still on the phone. To avoid any miscommunication on the time and place of your meeting be sure to confirm your appointment at the time you set the appoint. Prior to hanging up the phone simply say, “I’m looking forward to meeting with you. Just to confirm, we are going to meet at your office at 3:00pm eastern on Thursday. Is that right?”
Send a meeting invite. Most buyers in corporate environments use meeting invites to automatically populate their calendar. Invites are easy to send using email programs like Outlook or Google Calendar. If possible send the meeting invite while you are on the phone with your prospect. If this is not possible send it soon as you hang up the phone. The invite will automatically block the time of your appointment on their calendar and serve as a reminder not to over-book that time.
Send an email confirmation. As soon as you hang up the phone with your busy prospect they move on to the next thing on their to-do list. You are forgotten. To remind them of the commitment they made to you send a short email immediately after your call that reads something like, “Thank you again for your time today. I’m looking forward to our meeting on Thursday, August 23rd, at 3:00pm eastern.” Be sure to include all of your contact information on your email.
Send a postcard. A strategy I have used for years is to mail a postcard to my prospect with an appointment confirmation. On the postcard (which is branded for my business) I write a short note and a confirmation of the time, date and place of our meeting. The postcard arrives a few days after the call with my prospect and serves as an additional reminder. It also conveys the message that the meeting is important.
Leave a voicemail reminder the evening before your meeting. On the evening before your appointment call your prospect’s office and leave a voicemail like this, “Hi this is Jeb Blount with SalesGravy.com. I’m just calling to say how much I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. I’ll see you at your office at 3pm.” Your prospect will get the voicemail message in the morning when they get to the office. Your message serves to remind them of the commitment they made to meet with you. It also has a psychological impact that reduces the probability that they will cancel or reschedule. The reason you leave a voice mail rather than call them directly or send an email is it you make it much easier for your prospect to beg out or reschedule if your speak to them live or send an email.
In sales time truly is money and wasting your time and effort on prospects and clients who don’t show up to scheduled meetings is like throwing your commission check into a fire. Your job is to sell business and to do that you must spend your time in front of, or on the phone with, actual people – not twiddling your thumbs waiting on your no-show appointment in a lobby. When you follow this appointment confirmation strategy I guarantee that you will greatly reduce your no shows and increase your income.
This is Jeb Blount, the Sales Guy. If you have a sales question please send it to salesguy@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email.
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