How To Get Appointments With Crazy-Busy Customers

Normal 0 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";}

What’s the real secret to land appointments with insanely busy customers? How can you deal with postponements, excuses, unanswered emails and missed calls? Here are 4 must-have tips to get appointments with your crazy-busy clients.

 

While searching for a cure to nail down appointments with your super-busy customers, it helps to understand their world. Just like the classic saying, “walk a mile in another man’s shoes” once you understand how your customers think, you’ll understand how to appeal directly to their needs.

 

1.        New Products And Services Are Risky

Busy customers don’t make changes that appear risky. They may be using an inefficient or outdated solution. But it’s one that is familiar and well known. The risk of changing to a new product, service or solution is great. They could fail. They could look bad to their boss.

 

If they’ve been using an old system for decades, they won’t want to make a change. It could reveal how much money they’ve been shelling out for inefficient processes. They may need to learn new technology. This implies risk and danger—they may be secretly technophobic and a new system requires new skills. Scary territory.

 

2.        They Are Maxed Out With Information

We are in an information explosion, unlike any other. According to the SIMS Institute, the storage of new information has been growing at a rate of over 30% per year. When I last checked, the most recent report was from 2003. http://www2.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info-2003/

 

However, many professionals cite information overload as an ongoing and ever-increasing issue. Email overload. Workflow overload. Data overload. With too much to read, too much to do, what do you think your clients are feeling? Swamped!

 

What does all this mean for how you communicate to your clients? More information is not attractive. It’s more on top of too much. Sending large reports, cumbersome slide presentations and information-rich documents is only going to add insult to injury.

 

3.        They Are Hyper-Sensitive and Impatient

In a crazy-busy schedule filled with constant demands and urgent fires, your client is on hyper-alert. They are racing to be perfect, vigilant and on top of their game.

 

They are especially sensitive to mistakes, unsubstantiated claims, and yes…misspelling. They work hard to impress their boss with perfect spelling, punctuation and work products.

 

While it may seem insane to you, a hypersensitive HR director can read a lot into a punctuation error. It goes something like this, “If you can’t even get that right…what are you going to do in the final deliverable?”

 

Watch out for pressing ‘hot buttons’ especially with people who are at their breaking point.

 

4.        They Are Desperate For A Competitive Edge

Busy professionals want to look good. They have a high need to shine in front of their team, boss and superiors. We all want to look great, gain recognition and make more money. If your client sees your solution as the answer to impress others, you’ve just unlocked the vault to getting appointments—and winning new business.

 

These characteristics and traits are familiar to you. We all want to get ahead at work, and with today’s turbulent economy, these types of behaviors may be even more common.

 

How To Win At Getting Appointments

 

• Simplify. Keep everything as simple as possible. Write short 3 line emails. Leave short voice mails. Ask for one thing at a time. Repeat your new mantra: Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.

 

• Show A Picture. Humans process visual information 60,000 times faster than words alone. Show a picture of your process, your business or your service. Use pictures for faster decisions.

 

• Reduce Risk. Share testimonials and quotes from satisfied customers. Share a case study with clear and compelling results. Pre-sell the value of meeting with you, and working with your business.

 

• Edit. Review your emails for spelling errors, punctuation and layout. Review your documents. Script your voice mail. Edit out any words, phrases or statements that sound unprofessional. Practice what you say so you can say it smoothly and personally.

 

• Add Value. Share a one-page fact sheet. Provide a short case study with valuable benefits. Create value for your client—before you ever meet in person. Continue to make certain that when you meet in person you will exceed their expectations. By adding value, you’re creating a magnetic attraction.

 

When you take these steps, you are paving the way to success. Before you ever meet, your client is looking forward to your appointment. They are anticipating a terrific high-value conversation, a truly educational sales presentation. And that’s precisely what you will deliver.