Ever feel like your efforts to drive qualified sales meetings are disappearing into a black hole? Honestly, everyone experiences this at some point, given the complexities of B2B appointment setting. At times, it can get frustrating!
But don’t feel alone, nor hopeless. With the right tactics, you can do it much more easily, quickly, and convincingly. Want to know exactly what you need to do?
Well, we aren’t disclosing any secrets. But these tactics are nothing less than a strategy.
So, let’s look at some magic ingredients to create that delicious and sumptuous B2B appointment setting strategy!
Challenges in Driving Qualified Sales Meetings
OK. So, before we learn about the tactics, let’s look at the common challenges businesses usually face while driving B2B appointment setting success.
1. Silencing the Noise and Standing Out
Imagine a CEO’s inbox! Full of mails – while some core concerning the core business, others – screaming about discounts, offers, promises, commitments, best claims, etc.
So, do you expect the CEO to read every email and waste their productive time?
Of course, not! CEOs, CFOs, CTOs, etc., are likely to open your email only when they see something interesting, precisely what catches their attention!
Accordingly, you need a very engaging, hard-hitting, and compelling email title and even more intriguing email body, concise, precise, and highly value-driven.
Your communication, whether via email, chat, or call, should be personalized enough to reflect the decision-maker’s challenges. Further, your solutions must speak about reasonable, tangible value as decision-makers love to see numbers.
2. Poorly Timed Outreach
Imagine connecting with a decision-maker on a Monday morning.
Futile! Decision-makers barely have the time to breathe on Monday mornings or any weekday early morning office hours, for that matter.
But this is where most companies struggle. They don’t time their outreach, thus floundering with the right time and opportunity to connect with their prospect.
In other words, they adopt a spray and pray approach, doing everything randomly.
As a result, they don’t even get noticed. Let alone engage!
Timing the outreach is as important as your message. Companies must identify the best strategic times to connect with every prospect to ensure they are seen and heard.
3. Inadequate Lead Nurturing
Not every prospect is equal.
While some are prepared to book a meeting and get the thing going, most others will take time to think and consider multiple options before entering a dialogue.
Many businesses fail to understand this and work with a generic strategy. They don’t personalize their interactions with the lead.
As a result, they fail to nurture them adequately and potentially lose them.
Stronger relationships and more personalized communication are among the keys to nurturing leads and holding them. Think of it like a parent who convinces their offspring about something in different ways based on their behavior, age, and maturity.
4. Relying on a Single Channel
The lack of a properly defined and well-coordinated multi-channel strategy is another challenge businesses face. Many rely on a single communication channel, like LinkedIn, email, WhatsApp, or social media, and expect outcomes. They don’t leverage the collaborative impact of these channels, one of the keys to B2B appointment success.
So, how do you drive qualified sales appointments to your table? Let’s find out.
5. Timing Your Outreach: Best Days and Hours for B2B Appointments
Reaching out to someone at the right time can increase the chances of engagement.
Although there’s nothing like a perfect time to connect, research suggests mid-week (Tuesday to Thursday) and late mornings at 10-10:30 AM are the optimal outreach timings.
The reason is obvious. This is the period when professionals are less swamped compared to Mondays and haven’t started winding down for the weekend yet.
Simple, right? But let’s now talk about the tricky part. Companies usually struggle due to time zone differences, varied schedules, and dynamic client schedules. Here, businesses must study and understand the target audience’s routine.
So, how to deal with the situation? You can consider using data analytics to identify patterns in lead engagement and optimize your outreach schedule.
Know more about B2B Appointment setting, check out this blog – How to Choose the Right Appointment Setting Service for Your Business?
6. How to Write Subject Lines That Get Meetings Booked?
Subject lines are your gate pass to the client’s thought premises. If they aren’t effective enough, your email will likely end up in a digital abyss – never to be found again!
So, how do you write engaging, compelling, and noticeable subject lines?
OK. Before we look at some examples, let’s see some guidelines.
- Keep it Concise and Clear: Limit your title to 6-10 words – max! Talk business and indicate numbers. Avoid jargon or overly creative phrasing. The already swamped decision-makers may not have the emotional bandwidth to decode your creative phrases, nor will they be in the mood to do it!
- Personalize the Title: A personalized title can make a huge difference and engage the reader more meaningfully. For instance, you can customize your email title for a company struggling to grow sales for a couple of years and indicate the growth you can foster with your strategies.
- Highlight a Tangible Benefit: People want to know what’s in store for them in the email. A measurable advantage, like 35% assured lead growth, can drive attention.
- Create Urgency: Everything is urgent and wanted yesterday in the business world. Hence, the word urgent is overused everywhere. However, you can still leverage the urgency situation with words like quick question, urgent, discover how, etc., to encourage them to open the email. But use them carefully, as using them in excess can make your communication look fake!
- Avoid Clickbait: Refrain from making false claims. Be truthful and write only what you can deliver and what seems viable.
Some examples can include: Enhance Your Quarterly Sales by ___ % (instead of Custom Sales Solutions for Your Business, or Save 40% of Your Time Reconciling Bank Statements (instead of Amazing Software Solutions Tailored for You)
7. The Power of Voicemails in B2B Appointment Setting
Voicemails are fading away. But if you use them correctly, they may still work. For that, you must keep your voicemails concise, precise, yet compelling and engaging enough to encourage a callback from the listener. Here are some vital tips to help you leverage the power of voicemails and enhance your B2B appointment setting efforts.
- Keep it Short: Don’t go beyond 20-30 seconds. Decision-makers would have multiple voicemails to listen to apart from yours. So, respect their time.
- Be Clear: State your name and that of your company clearly. Simplify it for them to identify who’s calling and why.
- Provide the Reason: Let them know why you had called them and state your value proposition briefly. Talk about a specific problem you can address or a benefit you can deliver. Calls with a reason are sharper and more action-oriented.
- Suggest the Next Step: Don’t let the listener wonder what to do after your call. Request them to provide a callback time or invite them to respond to your call through email so that you can take the conversation further.
- Be Confident: Let your voice convey zeal and professionalism. Maintain sufficient energy levels and indicate interest in working with them.
8. Nurturing Leads Who Aren’t Ready to Book Yet
Not every prospect you encounter would book an immediate appointment. Rather, most of them would ignore your call or invitation. Such leads require nurturing. It involves building relationships and providing value until the leads prepare themselves to have a more comprehensive and pointed conversation.
Here’s how you can nurture leads, while not letting them feel like being chased.
- Understand their Objections: Remember, it isn’t a rejection but an objection. So, that’s not the end of the road for you. If a lead isn’t prepared to book yet, attempt to understand the reason and work it out to reflect it in the next conversation.
- Provide Value: Giving is the base of every relationship. So, begin by providing value through relevant articles, case studies, blog posts, etc., that address their issues, demonstrate your expertise, and also help them derive relevant insights.
- Follow-Up Strategically: Periodic and strategic follow-ups with the relevant value can help you get closer to the lead. Avoid generic “checking in” emails.
- Segment the Leads: Group your leads, depending on their stage in the buyer’s journey, and stitch your nurturing efforts accordingly.
- Track Your Engagement: Monitor lead interaction with your content and comprehend their level of interest to customize your follow-up strategy.
Email vs. LinkedIn for B2B Appointment Setting: What Works Better?
Both are effective. However, their effectiveness greatly depends on how you use them.
For example, leads are more direct and enable long-term communication. But on the other hand, leads can easily ignore them or mark them as spam. Hence, they require a solid subject line. They are best-suited for known contacts, following up after an initial conversation, and sharing detailed information.
Speaking of LinkedIn, it is more personal, enabling you to build relationships. Besides, it is useful for identifying and researching prospects. Nevertheless, LinkedIn messages can disappear into thin air, and the response rates also can vary. The platform is best-suited for building initial outreach and rapport, and indulging in industry conversations.
The moral of the story? Use both – adopt a multi-channel approach. So, you can connect with a prospect on LinkedIn, send them a personalized email, and follow up on LinkedIn.
Ready to Run the Appointment Setting Marathon!
Driving qualified sales meetings isn’t a sprint but a marathon. Thus, it requires a long-term, persistent, and strategic approach, designed after understanding the target audience, their needs, and expectations. You must be straight, short, and value-driven to be noticed and connected. But it isn’t usually as straightforward. That’s where experts like us step in. So, connect with us to drive and more productive leads your way. Email us at hi@demandfluence.com to talk to our experts and explore our proposition.
