What You Should Consider Before Launching an Appointment Setting Telemarketing Campaign

April 29, 2008 by Melissa Joffrion

Appointment setting is a hot topic within the market, as many companies see benefit in handing off scheduled appointments to their sales channel in addition to providing qualified leads. Before outsourcing an appointment setting campaign or launching one internally, there are several points to consider.

First, what types of appointments will benefit your sales team/channel the most: Foot-in-door or Qualified Appointments?

Foot-in-door appointments are just that- a way for the channel to get in the door to an account. They do not necessarily have a project planned or a defined need, but they do agree to meet with a rep.

• Foot-in-door is essentially a cold call, but in person. The sales rep will need to qualify the account and nurture it. In cases where there is no immediate need, the account can end up in a “black-hole”
• Sales reps can find going on the appointments frustrating since many result in no need or opportunity. Since the prospects are not necessarily qualified, the cost to travel to the appointment can offset the benefits.
• When does it makes sense?: when your sales channel is “hungry” and wants a high number of appointments or wants any type of “in” within a new company

Qualified Appointments are decision makers with a defined need/project, a timeframe to purchase, and a budget.

• Due to the level of qualification required, fewer appointments will be scheduled. Quality overrides quantity.
• The criteria is more stringent, thus sales reps will find more benefit in pursuing the appointments, and thus there is less likelihood that opportunities will end up in a “black hole”.

Second, what is your hook? The hook is an incentive offered at the time of the visit. When scheduling an executive appointment, we have found that our best results include a high-end hook such as a PDA, Tablet PC, iPod. The items should relate to your audience’s job/industry. TeleNet often works with our creative partner, Concept Communications, who creates a 3-D mailer with messaging centered on the solution/product and a teaser to the hook. The 3D mailer can include ear buds if the hook is an iPod, or a faux cardboard PDA (trade it in for the real thing at the appointment).

Third, what is the value that will be provided to the prospect by meeting with your sales rep? TeleNet believes that appointment-setting programs should be focused on articulating the benefits of an appointment. What will the prospect get from the meeting that will help him/her save time or money, cut costs, meet shareholder demands, etc. You should also ensure that the benefits are concrete and do not just use “buzz words”. Furthermore, the meeting should not require the prospect to do a lot of preliminary work. A “consultative ROI assessment” will require a lot of work on the prospect’s part prior to the meeting, and will deter them from agreeing to it.

Finally, who is your target audience? Are you focusing on executive level contacts or mid-tier, are you targeting customers or prospects, are you interested in mid-market or enterprise? This will directly impact the content of the messaging, as it’s critical that the telemarketing scripting resonates with the targeted contacts.

Regardless of the audience, hook, or appointment value, the most successful appointment setting campaigns have a strong buy-in from channel or sales, and are most successful when the target list is handpicked by the sales team. This alleviates sales/channel conflict, and guarantees that the calling is focused on the accounts in which your sales team are most interested in securing appointments. Additionally, when utilizing direct mail or email to communicate your “hook”, it is essential that you first perform contact discovery in order to uncover the “right” person with whom to deliver your message. This ensures that the direct mail/email is sent to the correct person, and that time and money are spent on those who actually make decisions.

http://telenetmarketing.com/blog/21/What-You-Should-Consider-Before-Launching-an-Appointment-Setting-Telemarketing-Campaign