What Is Appointment Setting?

Adding appointment setting to your sales process can help deliver more qualified leads to your sales representatives. For sales teams, generating leads, qualifying leads, nurturing prospects, finding decision-makers, and finally setting a sales appointment can be a difficult process.

In fact, sales teams are typically trained only in the bottom-of-the-funnel (BoFu) sales process. A strong sales pitch and closing techniques are high-level skills and require continuous improvement. Sales team members should prioritize these prospects.

Appointment setters help manage the sales funnel both for BoFu leads and the other prospects at the top of the funnel (ToFu) and middle of the funnel (MoFu) sales prospects. The appointment-setting process focuses on controlling the sales pipeline so closing sales reps have more efficient appointments and lead generation efforts are not wasted.

To truly understand appointment setting efforts, especially in business to business (B2B) lead generation, great business leaders first define the terms: sales funnel, sales pipeline, and lead generation.

Sales Funnel

Overuse of this term has blunted the definition and, therefore, the value of how a skilled appointment setter attracts, engages, and nurtures potential clients. Considering the customer journey from discovery to action is visually represented as a funnel with clear layers where prospective clients exist. Most businesses become hyper-focused on the most qualified leads and how to capture the attention of key decision-makers on the cusp of buying products and services.

The visual representation of a sales funnel has therefore harmed the craft of sales and marketing. Potential buyers rarely follow the same path from ToFu to BoFu. In fact, many businesses with buying departments, boards, and multiple decision-makers will often move through multiple stages when searching for solutions.

In terms of B2B appointment setting strategies, business development representatives (BDRs) and sales development representatives (SDRs) possess a deep knowledge of the buyer’s journey and almost an inherent predisposition to greeting prospects wherever they exist within that process.

Sales Pipeline

Another term that has been corrupted by amateur sales and marketing cliche makers, the sales pipeline is another visual representation of a complex process. A sales pipeline consists of a number of corrals to describe the steps a potential buyer passes through from new leads to closing deals. Even the most qualified prospects may move back and forth within the sales pipeline. In short, there is no clear path to purchasing.

For BDRs who work as professional appointment setters, there is a clear goal. Where many businesses struggle to manage the flow of leads, appointment setting strategies carefully manage prospects in the sales pipeline for two very important reasons: a lead should be transferred to a closing sales rep at the ideal time, and your sales pipeline must be free of cracks and wastegates.

Many leads are lost because sales meetings are scheduled before a decision-maker is ready to close. Lack of lead nurturing – including lead qualification, data management, follow-up, and ongoing communication – leads to lost revenue and stagnant growth.

Lead Generation

At the heart of a successful appointment setter is a lead generation specialist. Appointment setters use data, research, and training to prospect new leads. These efforts include cold calling, email campaigns, networking, social media outreach, and even direct mail campaigns to attract potential leads.

The most talented lead generation specialists are capable of engaging a potential client who has never heard of your brand and demonstrating that your products and services solve a pain point within that marketplace, industry, and the specific business you are targeting.

Lead generation captures prospects beyond the cold leads or ToFu prospects, though. A great appointment setting team understands the marketplace and executes outbound marketing within competitive landscapes.

Competitor analysis, accessing industry-specific networking events, and disruptive marketing efforts are a few of the appointment setting efforts that attract new customers. In short, outbound lead generation executes innovative efforts to introduce your brand as a solution to cold leads for the first time.

B2B appointment setting is a skill that eludes even the strongest closing sales rep. Appointment setting is an essential part of the sales process that involves scheduling face-to-face or virtual meetings between a salesperson and a potential customer to discuss the product or service being offered and determine if there is a potential opportunity for a sale. It is a crucial step in the sales process and helps to ensure that the sales team is using their time effectively and efficiently.

Most importantly, sales development representatives and business development representatives are trained in setting appointments. In many ways, this is the first of two sales within the sales cycle. Potential clients must first be convinced to schedule appointments before a sales representative presents the complete sales presentation for your products or services.

At Valve+Meter, we have built a talented team of highly skilled B2B appointment setting specialists who provide lead generation and appointment setting services for businesses.

Appointment setting is a process that involves scheduling face-to-face or virtual meetings between a salesperson and a potential customer to discuss the product or service being offered. The goal of appointment setting is to determine if there is a potential opportunity for a sale and to build a relationship with the prospect. It is a crucial step in the sales process and helps to ensure that the sales team is using their time effectively and efficiently.

Appointment setting can be performed through various means, including email, phone, or in-person visits. The appointment setter is responsible for reaching out to potential customers, building rapport, and scheduling a meeting or consultation with the salesperson. This is a specialized skill that requires knowledge, expertise, and effective communication to achieve success.

Appointment setting is an important part of the sales process and has a direct impact on the success of a business. It helps to identify potential customers, schedule opportunities for the sales team to engage with prospects, and increase the chances of closing more sales. By providing a structured approach to the sales process, appointment setting helps businesses to prioritize their time and resources and ultimately achieve better results.

In addition to its importance in the sales process, appointment setting is also a specialized skill that requires a unique set of knowledge and expertise. It requires an understanding of the target market, an ability to build rapport with potential customers, and an effective approach to scheduling meetings. This skill is highly valued in the sales industry, and many businesses choose to outsource appointment setting services to experienced professionals to ensure their success.

Outsourcing appointment setting services has numerous benefits for small to medium-sized businesses, including cost savings, time and resource efficiencies, and improved conversion rates. By relying on a team of experienced professionals, businesses can focus on their core business activities, while the appointment setting is handled by an experienced and skilled team. This allows businesses to reach a larger audience, increase their chances of closing more sales, and improve their overall conversion rates.

The harsh reality is most sales reps are incapable of becoming successful appoint setters. An appointment setter is patient, careful, and determined to demonstrate that your brand is a solution for the pain points of the marketplace.

Your sales team should include tactical, persuasive sales representatives that are determined to deliver solutions to qualified leads. The key distinction is an appointment setter is selling your brand as a solution whereas a sales rep sells your solutions.

In order to build a strong B2B appointment setting process, business leaders should separate these phases of the sales cycle. A B2B appointment setting specialist may be called a sales development representative, but at Valve+Meter Performance Marketing, we refer to our team members as business development representatives.

By any name, the appointment setter works to build relationships with potential clients with the ultimate goal of transferring highly qualified leads to your sales reps who close deals.

For most businesses, B2B appointment setting requires extensive investment. The infrastructure includes hiring expert appointment setters, purchasing equipment, investing in ongoing training, and dedicating resources to the latest technologies. For an internal team, the costs can be prohibitive.

Moreover, appointment setters often play supplemental roles when new products or services are launched into the marketplace. Once a brand is established, inbound marketing or a sales rep may replace appointment setters on your sales team.

Hiring performance marketing specialists allows your B2B appointment setting efforts to launch quickly and effectively with minimal investment. At Valve+Meter, we have assembled a powerful team of specialists in B2B appointment setting and other outbound marketing strategies.

We are capable of providing an appointment setting service as a permanent extension of your sales teams or scale our efforts up and down. For seasonal businesses and for organizations looking to branch out into new markets, outsourcing B2B appointment setting efforts saves money and helps deliver qualified leads to your sales reps.

Every Sale Includes 2 Purchases

The first step in B2B appointment setting includes defining setting appointments as a sale onto itself. Every buyer makes two purchases within the sales cycle. First, they agree that your brand is a potential solution to their problem. Second, they buy your product or service. Thus, clearly defining the goal of appointment setting efforts as selling your brand as a solution is key.

Lead Generation and Qualification

The next step in B2B appointment setting may be the most complex. Most in-house outbound marketing teams lack the resources and knowledge to execute successful lead generation and qualifying strategies. Poor data management, fractures in the sales pipeline, and poor evaluation tools all plague the lead generation process.

A professional appointment setter becomes a subject matter expert and uses forward-thinking strategies to find qualified prospects. There are several proven tactics including cold calls, email campaigns, direct mail, networking and ongoing phone calls to make connections and build relationships. The appointment setter role includes strong research skills to generate leads from your existing customer base. This includes engaging warm leads that might be lost to wastegates and fractures in the sales pipeline. Social media and personalized communication keep leads corralled within the sales pipeline until they are ready to set an appointment for closing reps.

Lead Nurturing

An appointment setter will qualify leads and assess the next phase. For the most qualified candidates, the next step may be to set appointments. Many potential buyers will require multiple appointments before they are ready to speak with a sales rep. During these meetings, an appointment setter provides clear answers, overcomes objections, and always prioritizes the pain points of the prospective client. Nurturing leads ensures your sales rep never wastes effort in sales meetings with cold leads. Instead, they can focus on sales opportunities. A key component of the appointment setter role is to establish rapport with decision-makers in the MoFu stage. Outbound leads are hard to earn and should never be lost due to poor lead management.

Appointment Setting

The final stage of B2B appointment setting is scheduling. An appointment setter is extremely well-organized. This process relies on technology to execute campaigns and keep appointment setter schedules moving optimally. The appointment setter role must consider the time of the prospect, the needs of your business, and finally the agendas of closing reps. The balance of keeping prospects engaged and scheduling multiple appointments is very difficult for an internal team.

For most businesses, B2B appointment setting requires extensive investment. The infrastructure includes hiring expert appointment setters, purchasing equipment, investing in ongoing training, and dedicating resources to the latest technologies.

For an internal team, the costs can be prohibitive. Moreover, appointment setters often play supplemental roles when new products or services are launched into the marketplace. Once a brand is established, inbound marketing or a sales rep may replace appointment setters on your sales team.

Hiring performance marketing specialists allows your B2B appointment setting efforts to launch quickly and effectively with minimal investment. At Valve+Meter, we have assembled a powerful team of specialists in B2B appointment setting and other outbound marketing strategies.

We are capable of providing an appointment setting service as a permanent extension of your sales teams or scale our efforts up and down. For seasonal businesses and for organizations looking to branch out into new markets, outsourcing B2B appointment setting efforts saves money and helps deliver qualified leads to your sales reps.