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.
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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:
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. To learn more about our services, check out our site.
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.