He Who See Most Make Most – Chinese proverb

by | Oct 28, 2013 | Prospecting

Doug Robinson – Robinson Training Solutions, LLC

hewhoseemost1Although we are all up to our ears in technology, most appointment setting is still done by telephone. In light of the exorbitant cost of gasoline today, you can’t just bumble around through your marketplace hoping to “catch” folks.

So whether you particularly like doing it or not, if you are not competent and confident at contacting and connecting on the phone, now is the time to improve on that skill set.

Here is a short list of ideas that can improve your appointment setting results:

  1. Use a mirror – People can “hear” a smile over the phone, so occasionally glancing at a nearby mirror will remind you to smile.
  2. Use a timer – It only takes 2-3 minutes to complete a successful call, so don’t make them any longer than necessary. Block out the time for those calls by making an appointment with yourself. You can typically make 15 calls in about 40 minutes, so using that as a guideline, conduct as many 40 minute sessions as needed to set your required number of appointments.
  3. Practice – Role play with a spouse, adult child or another salesperson, but don’t practice on a live prospect. Three hours worth of practice will posture you for success. Have you seen a movie or TV show recently that you really liked? Did the actors sound like they were reading from a script? Of course not, because they practiced enough to memorize it!  Can you remember driving for the first time? You were nervous and struggled to remember every step you were to complete. Now you don’t even think about the steps in the process, because you too have memorized them.
  4. Keep a record of your calls – You need to know your stats so you can apply not only your law of averages, but the law of large numbers, as well. Even if you’re successful 20% of the time, but only dial 5 calls, you still have only one appointment. Therefore, use the stats from your calling to determine how many calls are needed to reach your appointment goals.
  5. Record your calls – Listen to 100% of your calls for one week, 75% for the 2nd week, 50% for the 3rd week, and 10% thereafter, as long as you are in this business. Listen to and acknowledge your mistakes. This step alone will improve your results by 35%, because we all have habits and mannerisms we don’t even realize, that can be dealt with when we hear them played back.
  6. hewhoseemost2Stand up – Results will improve by 30% because when you sit you sound tired. When you stand you are more animated. You will also feel better about yourself and have more energy, too.

Doug

©2013 Robinson Training Solutions, LLC