Appointment making tips - Cold Calling

Many are starting to realize that the big money is in B2B. If you are a salesperson, the most efficient use of your time is in front of the big clients. However before you see people, you need to make an appointment. This is most peoples? least favorite thing to do. Below are some tips that will help you get your foot in the door. PS if I get 20 thanks I will submit an example script.

• It's a numbers game and you will be constantly rejected. Just get over it. If you call enough people you will find some gems.
• There is nothing worse than not knowing what to say next. Use a script as a guide until you feel comfortable. Everyone has their own style so do what works for you. Eventually you won?t need a script.
• Find the right person to talk to. You need to get to speak to the decision maker. You need to find that person but first you may need to get past the gatekeeper. There are a few different tips around this:
  • Find the assistant of the ?Big Boss/CEO/President? and say ?Who is the best person talk about X?. Assistants usually knows more about what goes on then the managers and getting an intro from the boss?s assistant is gold.
  • Ask for help. Most people can?t resist helping others. Ask ?I was wondering if you could help me with something?? If they don?t know then ask who might be able to help.
  • Call at 5.10pm when all the low level people have gone.
• Ask ?Is a good time to talk?? if not ask, ?Is there a better time to call?. Be polite and considerate whilst not letting them fob you off with ?I?m too busy to talk?
• Be friendly ? The most important thing is that the other person likes you.
• Smile ? People can hear you smiling over the phone.
• Ask amazing, well thought out questions to create a need for an appointment. Spend time on coming up with awesome questions that shakes the client. Figure out what works and what doesn't.
• Mirror the needs of the client back to them and confirm you have understood them.
• Control the conversation with questions ? You should only be talking about 20% of the time.
• Don?t talk about the product features and benefits as you are just trying to make an appointment at this stage. Only talk about the problems of their existing situation and the benefits of the appointment.
• Make sure you set targets and measure number of calls to appointments made ratio - use excel.
• Once the clients? needs have been established ? Confidently ask for the appointment by linking needs of the clients with the benefits of the appointment. "I think you would benefit from an appointment because..."

Ps: I will barter my time and provide tailored sales advice for excellent ecommerce site design and planning advice.

Happy calling

canweoffshoreit said:

• Make sure you set targets and measure number of calls to appointments made ratio - use excel.

Click to expand...

and if you are lucky, i may release my truly amazing end to end custom made spreadsheet in a later post.

I totally agree that b2b market is the best option for making money, especially for start-ups. Doing business on b2b market doesn't require a huge amount of seed capital, so there are pretty low barriers to market entry. But finding the assiatant of CEO is not a goldmine. When it comes to making important decisions Big Bosses usually prefer to consult with lead specialists of the company than with assistants. So if you want to offer your SEO service, first of all you should reach SEO experts of the company.

nameless7 said:

But finding the assiatant of CEO is not a goldmine. When it comes to making important decisions Big Bosses usually prefer to consult with lead specialists of the company than with assistants. So if you want to offer your SEO service, first of all you should reach SEO experts of the company.

Click to expand...

Thats is what I said - you need to find the right person.The assistant will assist you to find the decision maker.

Thanks for that piece of encouragement! I'm not new in cold calling, but I didn't manage to get rid from excitement to the full extent, so every time I run into something like your thread it gives me an aspiration to move on.

(first post - what a wonderful discovery - once I changed the theme to white!!)

great post above canweoffshoreit


Whilst I was in Australia I found B2B a fantastic source of revenue.... and cold calling as much as it can give you the willies is extremely worth while... I'm in Bangkok now and I don't think their is as good an opportunity, especially for my Australian business because Skype quality really sucks!


would like to reiterate some of what you said that really worked for me..


1) always introduce yourself and ask if you have caught them at a good time (this is gold)


2) be short and concise with your introduction


3) be honest, even admit that you're not sure if this is a product / service that they might need, but you'll love to get their feedback on it


4) 20% you talking, 80% them talking


5) ask questions!


6) regardless of the out come ask for their email address saying something along the lines of, "I would love to stay in touch in case we have any new services that might benefit you in the future"


7) be friendly, smile, be human


it's a tough game filled with disappointment... know this going in and don't get upset with not immediately getting results... because when you do get that first success, air punches, pride, validation and hopefully money will be coming your way


be strong. enjoy yourself. and remember, the man who made no mistakes, made nothing!

Good advice above.
I am based in Oz (how did u guess) - Do things work differently in other English speaking countries or is it much the same?