How to Book Sales Appointments

In our modern world where we are increasingly being asked for our attention from every different angle, attending appointments in a timely fashion can seem to loose its importance. This certainly can be the case when it comes to the appointments that we book with prospects and clients.

"So how can you improve the attendance rate for the appointments

you book in business, particularly if you are in sales?"

At Blam we book and attend a lot of appointments for either a presentation or an intro call (obviously nearly all online or by phone these days). Often these can be arranged well in advance and therefore we use multiple tools to ensure the best possible attendance rate.

To help you consolidate more of your booked appointments, here’s what we do:

1. Always try and book the appointment as soon as possible - the longer the gap the more likely a no-show.
   
   
2. When arranging the appointment - book a calendar appointment using your online diary setting up the email reminder function and inviting the attendees. Set reminders the day before, an hour before and 5 mins before.
   
   
3. Confirm straight away after booking using either WhatsApp or text - WhatsApp is great as you can see if they’ve read it.
   
   
4. Reminder by email the day before, directly from you with a personalised message (as well as the automated one) - “looking forward to our meeting tomorrow…”.
   
   
5. Reminder by text and automated email an hour before - automated email reminders can be set up within your calendar (see point 2) plus use manual WhatsApp reminder or text message “just checking you are good for our appointment shortly”.
   
   
6. 5 mins before, the automated email from your calendar will send - as point 2.
   
   
7. Attend the appointment on time! - If they don’t answer the call or attend the screen-share - call twice, text/WhatsApp “Just checking you’re still okay for our call or do you need to rearrange?”.

This process should significantly increase your show up rate as well create good habits. It may seem overkill to some, but consolidating a sales appointment with someone who may be busy or not consider a sales appointment an important thing in their lives is not always easy!

Finally, remember, don’t take no-shows personally. Try to have empathy when people don’t attend and never hold a grudge or point out their mistake when you finally get hold of them. It is of course a gauge of where they are with their enthusiasm for your product or service and sometimes it’s not until we get a chance to talk to them that we can get the enthusiasm moving, so we must keep trying!

To find out more about the sales techniques and processes we use at Blam visit Blam Academy Facebook group.

If you are interested in helping small businesses with their marketing, branding and websites, join me on one of my webinars www.blampartners.com and see if Blam could help you find your passion for business.