Appointment Setting and Lead Generation Services: What It Is and What It Isn’t?
Appointment Setting remains to be an unfamiliar concept to some.
While some interpret it as telemarketing, there is more to it than meets the eye.
Just like many new business functions out there, there is a lot to unpack about appointment setting, just as much as there are misconceptions.
Addressing Common Misconceptions About Appointment Setting
Appointment setting is basically reaching out to possible customers in hopes of securing a lead. When the appointment is made, the prospect refers to a sales person, who makes the sale.
Suffice to say, this is essentially actual lead generation – making the initiative to approach possible leads, create impressions that hopefully convert them into clients, and eventually, regulars.
Just like many new business processes out there, there is so much to learn about this, and so many misconceptions that need to be addressed.
Top Misconceptions About Appointment Setting
Now that we’ve defined the appointment setting and its goal, it’s time to understand it further by discussing (and debunking) the popular opinions surrounding it.
Myth #1: Appointment Setting is selling.
Many people think appointment setters make the sale themselves.
Since it strongly resembles telemarketing – which, on its own, is now used to refer to many other call center services, often incorrectly – people often assume that is just another way of selling over the phone.
Appointment setters do not make the sale themselves. They bridge the gap between salesperson and prospect client, securing a correspondence that would eventually lead to a sale.
Myth #2: It lengthens the process and just wastes time.
If you can talk to a salesperson directly, what’s the need for an appointment setter?
While outbound sales remain effective, appointment setting assists the process by securing a prospect that is readily interested, with the only thing left to do is facilitating the sale.
Since appointment setters secure prospects right before they are forwarded to sales personnel, this process actually saves time.
Myth #3: Securing a qualified sales appointment is easy.
Making a qualified sales appointment is a much more intricate process than you think.
More than just setting a date and getting people to talk, appointment setting requires a solid, strategic script and communication acumen to successfully persuade a prospect client.
The process also varies, and could possibly take days, so it’s important to have the communication skills to keep the client engaged until a correspondence is secured.
Appointment setting requires a different level of strategic communication, which is much more challenging that we are led to believe.
Myth #4: Outsourcing appointment setting doesn’t guarantee qualified appointments.
Many people believe that outsourced appointment setting and lead generation is risky, as it’s investing in a service that doesn’t guarantee a return.
While every transaction is different, and, realistically, not every call leads to a qualified appointment, outsourcing appointment setting is a worthy investment; its professionals are trained in the level of communication needed to keep leads engaged and invested.
Seasoned appointment setting and lead generation services providers usually have a great track record in increasing conversion rates, so it’s always a wise choice to hand it over to the lead generation professionals.
Myth #5: Sales people should make appointments simply because it’s part of their job.
Sales people are meant to sell, there’s no doubt about that. After all, they’re trained in sales talk and persuasion; why not make use of that?
Communication is a fluid tool that can be shaped into many different purposes. While its essentially just the process of getting the message across, the approach differs in every purpose.
Making a sale and keeping the prospect engaged are two very different things. While sales people offer the product and services along with all its perks, it’s the appointment setters that keep the lines open for the sellers to sell.
Myth #6: It’s easy to build an in-house appointment setting team.
For startups and SMEs, the goal is always to minimize costs and maximize revenue; it’s a growing business, after all.
However, it’s always the wise investments that expand your business and its horizons.
While it seems to be cost-effective to hire your own in-house lead generation team, it would be a more practical choice to outsource a quality, reliable lead generation services provider with trained and seasoned personnel. This ups your chances in higher conversion rates, which is definitely better than taking a gamble.
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