Tweet

Pitch-Script-Call Guide Development

Guest post by: Adam Fridman

Article Overview: The first objective in lead generation is to create an affective conversation flow to generate an appointment with a qualified prospect.

Pitch-Script-Call Guide Development

The first objective in lead generation is to create an affective conversation flow to generate an appointment with a qualified prospect.

Here are two essential reasons why this particular objective is so crucial:

1. It is very tempting to begin discussing your business highlights with a prospect right away. How could this prospect not be interested in granting an appointment after learning all the grand things about my business! Keep in mind that your prospect could be a very busy professional where his or her time is very precious, and your competition may have a lot to say about their business advantages also. Keep your focus on the end goal, during your conversation with the prospect, zone in, hone in, pay very close attention to the responses, block everything else that is non essential, hearing the "Yes" to a time and day is the sole purpose of an Appointment Generation Call.

2. Note that without proper qualification and screening questions, a simple "Yes" to a scheduled appointment is not always the most ideal way to secure an appointment. Creating a gentle confirmation of the one or two qualification and screening criteria is absolutely paramount. We strongly urge for you to ask these questions toward the end of the conversation, preferably when you are confirming day and time of the face to face appointment between your prospect and your manager.

We have now confirmed our first goal, securing the appointment. Keep in mind that our goal is not a general discussion about your business, or pre-selling (unless it is part of the core competence of your telemarketing campaign), our sole objective is to generate an appointment with a qualified prospect.

Opening:

"Hi, my name is Adam; I am a Business Manager with Idea2Result. I have reviewed [your] website and would like to discuss how our appointment setters have generated prospects in [your] industry. Do mornings or afternoons work better with your schedule for a quick 10 minutes conversation with our Founder?"

Considerations:

- Relevance - I have reviewed your website statement from the opening above is a discrete way of making this call somewhat relevant for your prospect. Bear in mind that no prospect wants to be a part of a cluttered approach and any distinguishing factor or perception of due diligence before calling will certainly help in opening the conversation.

- Purpose - discuss how our appointment setters have generated prospects in your industry" statement from the opening above may not mean much to your prospect if they are under the impression that you are calling to talk about their individual business appointment setting prospects, but discussing how similar new business generation campaigns succeeded within their own industry, now that's an entirely different story!

- Casual, Short & Direct - Much debate exists about whether it is advantageous to stop and ask "How are you doing Mr. Prospect?" in lead generation or inside sales campaign. We are under the conviction that these type of potentially time wasting questions are not necessary, could backfire, and may hinder a more proven direct "rifle shot" approach. A direct approach should create an impression inside the prospects' mind of time efficiency and keeps their short attention span on your pitch.

Rebuttals:

Aikido Martial Arts provides basic principles for efficient rebuttal management.

"Aikido is performed by blending with the motion of the attacker and redirecting the force of the attack rather than opposing it head-on. This requires very little physical strength, as the aikido "leads" the attacker's momentum using entering and turning movements."

While consistently focusing on the appointment setting exclusive goal, many of the potential rebuttals that the prospect could deliver provide a perfect opening for you as to why exactly is a face to face appointment is truly the most ideal next step for you and the prospect.

Example 1 of a possible common Objection by the Prospect:

Prospect: "I am not interested, we are happy with our current provider."

Rebuttal #1: "Great! That is exactly what we heard from our most valuable clients before they switched, our 10 minute conversation will highlight our history of delivering results in [your industry] for WHEN you decide to switch, how does this coming Tuesday at 2:00 PM sound?"

Comment: "WHEN" allows for a less intimidating reason for the call.

Example 2 of a possible common Objection by the Prospect:

Prospect: "There is no way you can do better than our current provider, what is your cost?"

Rebuttal #2: "Very good question! I am glad that you asked about cost and I will make sure that my manager will start the face to face conversation by addressing cost and the cost comparison to your existing provider, how does this coming Tuesday at 2:00 PM sound?"

Comment: While it may be tempting to get into the actual cost discussion over the phone, or any preliminary information about cost and pricing, our pure and simple suggestion on this topic is "Don't do it". Unless your prospect gets into the right mind set to discuss your product/service at the time of your appointment, they are not ready to hear about your company and everything you will say at this stage will be used as an excuse to terminate the call and not schedule an appointment. (Our primary and only goal of the call)

Confirmation:

This is absolutely key concept! Appointment setters have to assume that most of your prospects are running at information overload, which means that they are extremely busy and their time is very precious. Repeat all the key elements twice: time, day, and phone numbers with alternatives. Do your best to get the email address so that you are able to send a short email confirmation with time, day phone numbers in bold, and a request to notify you if there are any last minute changes.

Qualifiers:

We strongly suggest leaving the lead generation qualifier toward the end, so that it sounds like an afterthought to your prospect. "Oh yeah, just to confirm Bob, you are the decision maker for the corporate insurance coverage?" This may seem counterintuitive, but leaving these key qualifiers toward the end actually increases your probability of scheduling the appointment with the "Right" prospect.

Related Articles
  Plain English Guide to Getting Out of Business
  Business Leaders and Soft Skills Training?
  Lead Generation & Marketing Automation How-To Guide
  The Importance of Time Management in Personal Development Plan
  Who Should Have A Personal Development Plan?
  iPhone Application Development
  How Much Will You Invest In Yourself?
  How to Start a Small Business in the State of Missouri
  5.0 Support for SME development in Tanzania: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  5.4 References: Economic Report on Africa 2007
  Principles of good practice for business development support projects
  The Importance of Having A Personal Development Plan
  Top 10 SEO Optimization Techniques
  Connecting with Your Spirit Guides
  Management Development - Look Inside First
  What if you Have no Style?
  10 Most Compelling Reasons To Hire A Coach, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
  What is personal development plan?
  VI. B. Banking Sector Development: WHAT DETERMINES STOCK MARKET DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA?
  Facing a career transition? You are not alone!

Article Tags: appointment setters



Related Forum Posts
Re: what position to request? - Hi Michael, Great suggestion from David, or you could try something around a design consultancy, How about Website Design Consultant, Design and Development Manager, Website Support and Development Manager or maybe Internet Business Development Consultant. Ultimately whatever you are comfortable with and good luck for the future, Mal.
BDC - [quote="IWDCanada":jib6tqt9]I think if you try to do business in the Maritimes the Business Development Bank of Canada might be able to provide grants.[/quote:jib6tqt9] On that note, does anybody have any experiences with the Business Development Bank of Canada that they would like to share? I have been considering approaching them for a business loan.
Re: BDC - [quote="Jones":255lkmrn][quote="IWDCanada":255lkmrn]I think if you try to do business in the Maritimes the Business Development Bank of Canada might be able to provide grants.[/quote:255lkmrn] On that note, does anybody have any experiences with the Business Development Bank of Canada that they would like to share? I have been considering approaching them for a business loan.[/quote:255lkmrn] I'll be working with the BDC later this month on a few projects. From what i've been told they are really great when it comes to small business. Their loans have a little higher interest but their payment terms are a lot easier to swallow. I can give you a contact if you need.
Need a book recommendation for writing better - I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing skills, so I was just wondering if anyone could recommend a good copywriting or copyediting book? I was actually thinking of reading "The Copywriter's Handbook : A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells" by Robert W Bly [u:w3cg00nn]OR[/u:w3cg00nn] "The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications" by Amy Einsohn. Would anyone know if these books are any good? Thanks
Re: what position to request? - Business Development Manager - is more or less ok... thank you. but I want something fancier... an executive position..


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

In the Year 2020 . . . Process

How To Become A Member of the Paparazzi

Marketing & Sales tools – going back to basics

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.