How to Ace B2B Appointment Setting: The Ultimate Guide

It's a cruel world out there in the land of outbound sales. Your start-up or established business might get lost in the shuffle with many competing companies. So, you want to ensure you're getting in front of the right stakeholders without pushing them too hard. Plus, it would help if you had a strategy for landing the dream client once you have their attention. That's where B2B appointment setting comes in. 

B2B Appointment Setting 101

In every business, the key to continual growth is an active, engaged sales team working diligently on B2B appointment setting. So what is this crucial facet of sales? B2B appointment setting is reaching out to qualified leads with a standout pitch and setting a future meeting for your sales team to discover the prospect’s needs and recommend the best solution.  

It sounds simple enough on paper, but this fundamental aspect of sales can make or break your business – meaning it's vital to have a highly trained, highly skilled sales team that knows how to appeal to decision-makers to get the appointment set.

B2B Lead Generation and Appointment Setting

When it comes to appointment setting, you need to have leads to set the appointments with. B2B lead generation and appointment setting start with the contacts that your sales team will reach out to. Some companies, typically small- to medium-sized businesses, prefer to stick with the referral approach. This can be a great way to start but is often not sustainable for long-term company growth.

Start-ups, larger businesses, and smaller businesses that have outgrown the referral approach need to focus on outbound appointment setting. You can't simply let the company come to you or only reach out to those you have been referred to. Instead, this method allows you to find quality prospects, nurture relationships, and establish rapport. 

Outbound B2B appointment setting & lead generation tactics:

• Find Prospects:  Your sales team or lead generation agency needs to hit the ground running to find prospects that are in need of your products & services. One of the best ways to do this is via social media. Try LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and even Instagram to reach potential leads that are high-quality and already interested in your solutions. TikTok is another on the rise social platform that can be great for prospecting. Sales teams can also use lead databases and google searches to find great leads.
• Qualify the leads: Sales development representatives (SDRs) then need to assess whether or not the leads meet your ideal customer criteria. 
• Continually nurture leads: Once contact has been made, it's time for the SDRs to build a relationship and rapport with the lead. Continuing to reach out to build trust and value can mean the difference between a great appointment with a lead and a refusal to meet.
• Set appointments: The final step is setting the appointment for your sales team to further qualify the lead and close the deal. 

Qualifying Leads in B2B Appointment Setting

As mentioned above, finding leads is essential, but qualifying can make all difference in your B2B appointment setting strategy. If SDRs focus only on setting appointments and not on the crucial qualification process, everyone wastes their time. 

Making contact with the correct prospects results in far more appointments than broad targeting. The B2B appointment setter should not book an appointment without first qualifying the lead. Those who focus solely on establishing the future meeting are missing the point of a suitable appointment setter. The SDRs should instead focus on determining whether the stakeholder they are speaking to is the correct contact at the business if they are genuinely interested and see value for their company with your product. Then, they will use the value proposition to get the appointment booked. 

The B2B Appointment Setting Pitch: How to Avoid Strikeouts

Considering that you are trying to work with high-quality leads who will benefit significantly from your solutions, the pitch should be pretty straightforward. Right?

Not always. Consider that key stakeholders at a company are constantly bombarded with sales pitches. Everywhere they turn, someone is private messaging, emailing, or even cold-calling them to make a sale. They might be wary of newbies coming in, or they might not have the time to listen to a long pitch via DM when they checking their LinkedIn inbox. 

That's why you need a plan once you make contact. Here are some essential tips to remember when you're reaching out:

• Be friendly and professional. Always remain cordial but not too personal.
• Don’t pitch right away.
• Make small talk, then get to the point. Guide the conversation towards the prospect's key challenges and goals, explaining who you are and how you can help.
• Don’t be pushy. If they are firm on a no, listen and oblige.
• Stay in contact. Keep up a cordial relationship for potential future connections, no matter what. 
• Set the appointment. If they are open to learning more and seeing the value in your presentation, go ahead and set the appointment. 

Hitting A B2B Appointment Setting Home Run: Sealing the Deal

As mentioned above, when you've made contact with a lead, your end goal is the get the appointment set (after determining that the lead is highly qualified); you want to make sure you're hitting key points in your brief and friendly communication with the leads. 

Always present important facts, statistics, or other numbers clearly and concisely. Please make sure these numbers will have real value to the prospect and demonstrate why your business is vital for their success. Keep it short, sweet, and to the point, while still hitting all pertinent information. 

After making your quick pitch, if you sense that the prospect is interested and wants to hear more, set the appointment for them to meet with your sales team. This is when the real magic will happen. 

If the answer is no, be kind and respect the wishes of the prospect.

When to outsource B2B Appointment Setting?

If you have a small sales team, are just starting your business, or are strapped for time, it might be a good idea to outsource your B2B appointment setting. 

According to this LinkedIn Article, there are a few key reasons to outsource your B2B appointment setting:

• Save time and money recruiting and training a high-turnover SDR role
• Save money on hardware and software licenses 
• Avoid having to pay employee benefits to internal SDRs
• Other miscellaneous costs

Essentially, outsourcing your appointment setting can save valuable time and resources, so you can focus on what your business does best. 

At Intelus Agency we handle lead generation and appointment setting to ensure that your sales team can focus on building their sales approach and closing the deal once they sit down with their prospects at the meeting we set for them. 

Our approach uses several tactics, including manual LinkedIn lead generation, newsfeed content posting on LinkedIn, and traffic conversion with targeted ads on LinkedIn.

Whether you outsource your B2B appointment setting or not, ensure you're working the steps and focusing on high-quality leads! You know your business is the best; now, ensure you're finding the right customers to sell your unique products to.