B2B Appointment Setting : 3 Golden Rules to Succeed

There’s something about B2B appointment setting that makes it an imperative addition to all business plans of action. However, it’s one of the most difficult parts of business development as well, often serving as the Achilles’ heel of the overall marketing mix. As mentioned earlier, there’s no way around it as well, since one has to talk to the prospect before making a sale. If one can’t get on the phone, they can’t get in front of the client, and if that can’t happen, they certainly can’t be any chance of getting the message across. In other words, it’s not about presenting the proposal, but the build-up to the presentation stage that’s the roadblock.

However, there are some simple tactics that can be used to improve results from B2B lead generation campaigns, and the good news is that these are not exclusive to any particular industry. All kinds of organizations can utilize these guidelines just as easily. To begin with, the attitude of the caller should be far from the ‘please take this deal or else this is the end of the world for me’. Prospects across all kinds of industry verticals categorically despise this kind of attitude, since it reeks of fear. This, unfortunately, leads to the assumption that the product or service being offered is not a strong product. The caller needs to project confidence at all times, something like ‘I’m not perturbed if you choose to not take my deal. There are plenty others who’ll benefit from it’.

The next point with regards to effective B2B appointment setting is to talk to the prospect as if the deal is going to benefit them, and ‘also’ help the caller reach his business objective, and not the other way around. The moment a prospect thinks that the person he’s talking to is just in it for fulfilling his selfish interest, that sets the alarm bells ringing. Within the first few seconds, one needs to show the customer that this deal is a great proposition, without overdoing it of course.

And lastly, B2B appointment setting campaigns are often tremendous successes because the callers give references of how similar clients have benefited from their offerings. This might seem like overselling the product or service, but nothing makes the pitch stronger than a few names, even if they are not so famous. People love to hear case studies, and knowing how the offering can help them replicate the same in their line of business.

Summing it up, these three rules can help one get tremendous results with regards to appointment setting.