The 4 elements of the appointment setting process we can improve. (Part two of four)
What are they and how do we improve them? Part two of four – Art Skills (what do we say, when do we say it and how do we say it).
Are you like a lot of us ‘Hooked on Hopium’ when it comes to the success of your new prospect acquisition strategy? Do you concentrate most of your energy and focus on pursuing prospects that are already in the pipeline? After all, that’s how we get paid, right? We don’t get commissions for finding prospects; we get paid to close them. Our teams are good at closing, but suck at consistently filling the pipeline with quality prospects.
This series of four blogs focuses on the four main elements of a prospect acquisition process and how to improve move the needle in a positive direction on each.
The four parts are:
- Target Acquisition (who do we call?)
- Art Skills (what do we say and how do we say it)
- Best Practices (process and messaging)
- Science Skills (efficiency and improvement)
Part 2 – Art Skills
We just began asking participants who register for our webinars the question of which of these four categories of challenges pose the greatest challenge for them. The answer was overwhelmingly, number two; Art Skills. Most sales professionals just don’t know what to say to open the conversation, let alone what to say when the Target says ‘No’.
There’s not a whole lot I can do to help you fix this challenge in a single blog. However, I can help you identify whether it is something you, as a manager, need to address. Here’s what I would suggest:
- Invest in Klpz as a process engine for telephone prospecting because it will (among other really neat things) automatically provide you with two key ratios to determine whether your charges are struggling with Art.
- The first ratio is the Conversation Ratio – how many dials does it take to produce a conversation with the decision maker our sales professional wishes to meet with. In addition to this being a list problem, a low ratio here suggests we test how well our charges are leaving voicemails, sending coordinated emails and how well they handle gatekeepers.
- The second ratio is the Appointment Ratio – how many conversations does it take to produce an appointment. A low ratio here has only one root issue – what they say, when they say it and how they say it once they are speaking with the person they wish to meet with.
- Okay, maybe number 1 is a bit self-serving, but it really does work. So let’s try this if you’re unwilling or unable to do step 1. Ask your charges to begin writing down the results of their appointment setting process. First, have them record the time they begin and end making dials. Then have them make a tick mark each time they:
- Dial the phone (D)
- Complete a conversation with the person they wish to meet with (CC)
- Leave a voicemail (LVM)
- Get a returned voicemail (RVM)
- Schedule an Initial Appointment (IA)
Trust me, it won’t be exactly accurate, but it will begin to paint a very valuable picture for you as you’ll begin to see patterns and gain insight into the process you’ve never had before. You’ll begin to see things like they are not making as many dials as they say they are because the time they say they are making calls doesn’t match up with what you know they are doing with their days. (BTW, figure on at least 6 minutes a dial if they use a CRM or contact manager; more if they are using spreadsheets or hand written lists. We’ve benchmarked it.)
- In your next sales meeting, ask your team what is the number one negative response they are hearing when they get the decision maker on the phone. Then role-play how they are handling it. The lower the Appointment Ratio, the more you need to be prepared to cringe when you hear what they are saying.
- In a subsequent sales meetings ask them to role-play:
- Leaving voicemails
- Handling gatekeepers
- If you feel overwhelmed at the result – call us. Our typical customer will double or better the number of appointments their teams set.
Okay, sorry for the second commercial in this blog, but the point is if you will do at least steps 2 through 4, you’ll have a really good idea of whether or not Art is something you need to address.
Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called The Prospector’s Academy™ under the brand name Coldcalling101. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations – the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 214 483-5800 or at barry@coldcalling101.com.
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