7 Keys to Set the Appointment IMMEDIATELY with ANY Prospect in Sales

Be sure to register for my free training on, "The 5-Step Formula to Closing More Deals without the Price Pushback, 'Think-It-Overs' or Ghosting" https://salesinsightslab.com/training/

1. Don’t set an appointment with just anyone.

Great salespeople don't try to set the appointment with just anyone. They only try to set the appointment with the right person.I was just talking to a customer of mine in my online forum. He said, “I’m having a lot of success setting appointments with marketing people at various companies. But once I meet with them, they say, ‘Oh, well I need to get buy-in from the company owner before we can move forward.’ What could I be doing differently?”                    

2. Disqualify the rabble during discovery.

This is important. Sometimes, salespeople get so excited when they have a person in front of them who is willing to pick up the phone and talk. But we can’t know if someone is qualified just because they’re willing to get on the phone with us.

3. Be a doctor.

Your prospects typically meet with salespeople who will do or say anything just to get the sale. This manifests with the salespeople putting lots of pressure of prospects and being salesy in a variety of ways. In order to set the appointment with your ideal prospects, you want to be the complete opposite of this. Give your prospects the opposite of their typical buying experience.The best way to do this is to act not like a salesperson, but like a doctor.

4. Understand the upside.

To successfully set the appointment, the prospect has to feel like there will be value in meeting with you. So, put yourself in the shoes of your prospects. They’ve got a million things going on and the last thing they want to do is spend 45 minutes with a salesperson who is wasting their time.

So, during your initial prospecting calls, you need to help your prospects see the value of potentially working with you. And one of the key ways to do this is to help them understand the upside of solving their problem.                    

5. “Can I make a recommendation?”

These five simple words are so powerful when it comes to being able to set the appointment with your ideal prospects. I'm giving you some real secret sauce here. The phrase, “Can I make a recommendation?” is really powerful when it comes time to transition into scheduling the appointment in sales.

And here's why. Let's say you've gone through the initial conversation, you've gotten them to articulate the upside, and you've determined that this is someone that you definitely want to be setting a meeting with. You then need to transition into setting the meeting by starting with this phrase. By asking, “Can I make a recommendation?” you naturally cause the prospect to say, “Of course.” At the same time, this exchange sets you up as the expert who makes recommendations. And now they're completely open to your suggestion.                    

6. Always schedule a clear next step.

This is so important for sales in general, and it's critical for actually setting the appointment. I want you to make a commitment to yourself that you are never going to allow any selling situation to end with an unclear outcome.    

7. Have a contingency for when they push back.

Often we're in a selling situation and the prospect gets a little bit squirrelly. And they say, "This was a great conversation but the timing just isn't right. Could you call me back maybe in six months?" And a lot of salespeople go into something that sounds like: "Oh yeah sure, happy to call you back in six months. Would it make sense to call you on a Monday or Thursday?" or whatever weak response they have.

So, there you have it. There are the 7 keys to set the appointment with any prospect in sales. Which of these ideas did you find most useful? Be sure to share in the comments section to get involved in the conversation.