6 Key Skills to Check When Hiring Sales Appointment Setters

Who does not want to onboard professionals – adept at orchestrating impactful business meetings with potential clients – correct? As you strive to connect with your audience and secure the desired sales, the role of an appointment setter becomes critical. 

• The diverse skill set required
• The need for industry-specific knowledge
• Adaptability to dynamic sales environments
• Alignment with company culture
• Technological proficiency
• The demand for consistent performance

At Revnew, we recognize these challenges. We also know that navigating the landscape of appointment setting requires a keen comprehension of the role – alongside the nuanced attributes that set exceptional appointment setters apart.

Therefore, our experts have developed this ultimate guide – that shall help you in this quest. Here are some questions we’ll answer:

• What can an appointment setter do?
• How do you evaluate an appointment setter who can book high-ticket meetings?
• What are the critical skills to prioritize when searching for such professionals?
• Is an outsourced appointment setting process a more viable option for you?

Check out this article to uncover the essential insights!

Who Are  Appointment Setters and What Do They Do?

A B2B appointment setter orchestrates meetings and consultations between your company's sales representatives and potential clients. They handle the entire appointment setting process – from prospecting to ghosting management – within their organization or on behalf of clients. 

The six critical responsibilities of appointment setters include:

1. Understanding Products/Services: Sales appointment setters immerse themselves in a comprehensive knowledge of your company's offerings. It enables them to communicate value propositions to potential clients effectively.
2. Managing Outbound Calls: They proactively call potential clients from a designated contact list provided by the sales team. They employ persuasive communication to generate interest.
3. Handling Inbound Calls: They proficiently manage incoming calls from potential customers where they:
   • Address inquiries
   • Provide information
   • Steer the conversation toward appointment setting
4. Addressing Questions and Concerns: B2B appointment setters skillfully handle prospects' queries about the company's products and services. They resolve issues and foster confidence in potential clients.
5. Managing Databases: They maintain a meticulous appointment setting database, which involves:
   • Logging calls
   • Recording relevant details
   • Managing a calendar with timelines of scheduled meetings
6. Reducing No-Show Rates: They play a pivotal role in ensuring scheduled appointments occur by confirming commitments. Plus, they implement strategies to minimize the no-show rate.

Now that you understand the detailed role of these experts let’s check out how to hire appointment setters for your firm.

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Top 6 Skills to Consider When You Hire Appointment Setters

A proficient specialist should have these six essential appointment setting skills:

1. Outbound Calling

In a B2B appointment setting, effectual outbound calling is integral. It is a part of communication skills, which involves continuous interaction with:

• Potential customers
• Internal sales teams

Your appointment setter must be able to establish a robust connection with colleagues and prospects. And this demands a foundational set of essential soft skills:

• Perceptiveness
• Confidence
• Concentration
• Regard
• Emotional intelligence
• Assertiveness

When evaluating communication skills, look for proficiency in verbal (phone calls) and written (email) forms. 

 Assess these skills during discussions, interviews, or written correspondences early in the recruitment process.

Now, coming to the primary topic here, your firm may prioritize avenues beyond email outreach to achieve its appointment setting goals. In such cases, your potential appointment setter should demonstrate substantial experience in both cold and warm sales calling. Successful execution of calls demands:

• Flexibility in adapting to dynamic situations
• Problem-solving skills during challenging scenarios
• Proactive approach in identifying and addressing potential issues
• Adaptability to evolving customer needs and market trends
• Strong follow-up skills to ensure continuity in communication
• Ability to collaborate seamlessly with cross-functional teams

PRO TIP: Incorporate active questioning techniques during outbound calls to deepen engagement and uncover valuable insights. A lack of adept questioning may limit the depth of understanding and connection with potential clients.

2. Prospecting

Effective prospecting ensures a steady influx of potential clients. It also contributes to the overall efficiency and success of your sales process. 

However, more than 40% of salespeople say prospecting is the most challenging part of the sales process.

A skilled appointment setter must have a strong prospecting skillset. It significantly enhances the chances of securing meaningful sales appointments and fostering long-term client relationships.

Prospecting skills include:

• Quality Lead Identification: Adeptly identifying potential leads by thoroughly researching target markets. Knowing frameworks like BANT, CHAMP, and MEDDIC to qualify leads and assess the potential of closing deals:
• Qualification Criteria Incorporation: Applying criteria to assess leads' suitability, evaluating factors like:
  • Needs
  • Budget
  • Decision-making authority
  • Alignment with your company's offerings
• Continuous Engagement: Being present and responsive across channels where potential clients reside the most.
  For example: 
  • Partaking in LinkedIn Groups – To establish expertise, foster connections, and organically engage with potential B2B clients.  
  • Engaging in Industry-specific Online Forums – To share insights, solve problems, and build relationships, creating opportunities for B2B prospecting.
• Sales Cadences: Sharing strategically timed and varied communication sequences to engage prospects over multiple touchpoints.
• Personalized Outreach: Tailoring communication by referencing specific details about a prospect's business.
• Consistent Requests for Referrals: Actively seeking introductions from satisfied clients or professional contacts. It helps expand your B2B network and secure warm introductions to potential prospects.

Related Post: 7 Appointment Setting Tips to Increase Your Conversion Rate

3. Intent-based Research

In the appointment setting game, knowing your prospect's intent is critical. You must understand your target audience’s online behaviors and signals. These insights help you gauge your potential customer’s level of interest and willingness to engage.

As such, when your sales appointment setters possess this skill, they can customize their approach, delivering more targeted and relevant interactions. 

After all, personalization is critical. 75% of consumers agree they want to buy from brands offering custom experiences.

Plus, they can reach out precisely, increasing the chances of meaningful connections and successful appointments. 

Again, ensure your appointment setters know platforms like ZoomInfo, Clearbit, and Crunchbase. These databases help access accurate and up-to-date information about potential clients.

4. Objection Handling

When a prospect completes a contact form or reaches out to your company directly, it signals an interest in the offered product or service. However, expressing interest doesn't guarantee their agreement to meet with a sales representative. 

Convincing prospects to schedule an appointment becomes crucial for appointment setters. It underscores the significance of objection handling, a skill essential to becoming a pro in appointment setting techniques.

A proficient specialist in this role must adeptly address prospects' objections, making their doubts vanish – an art that demands:

• Mastery of tips and techniques to keep potential customers engaged and motivate them to commit to an appointment.

• Systematically collect and qualify common objections, devising effective methods and scripts for resolution.

This skill is indispensable; appointment setting becomes an insurmountable challenge without it. It is a paramount quality that you should prioritize when seeking employees for this role. 

Read More: How to Get Sales Appointments?

5. Business Understanding

A skilled sales appointment setter must address inquiries in a manner that secures a meeting with your company's representative and leads to a successful purchase. This proficiency hinges on a comprehensive business understanding.

What does it entail?

It goes beyond knowing the operational aspects of your business and delves into understanding its processes. It involves familiarity with your company's strategies for:

• Customer acquisition
• Marketing
• Sales 

Most crucially, an exceptional appointment setting specialist should possess an in-depth knowledge of your products or services, including:

• Features
• Specifications
• Benefits
• Differentiators from competitors, etc.

Thus, your appointment setters can craft effective strategies, delivering higher returns on investment and lowering appointment setting costs.

6. Time Management

B2B sales appointment setters must identify available slots in prospects' and representatives' schedules. It ensures optimal timing for each appointment. Simultaneously, they must coordinate consultations to avoid scheduling conflicts.

Achieving this demands robust time management skills. Additionally, outbound appointment setters must efficiently organize their own time, handling tasks like:

• Developing appointment setting scripts
• Coordinating workflows
• Sending timely messages
• Making calls
• Arranging meetings with teammates

– to enhance the overall efficiency of the sales process.

Why Choose Outsourced Sales Appointment Setters?

Let's check out the four upsides of partnering with an outsourced appointment setting agency:

1. Recruitment Budget Savings:

Scaling your sales department means doubling expenses for a recruiting team. Plus, recruiting an in-house top-tier appointment setter demands advanced sales knowledge.

And this know-how is seldom present in your firm. Therefore, you can seek help from an outsourced appointment setter instead.

2. Time Efficiency: 

Building an in-house sales team involves months of training and onboarding, delaying sales acceleration.

In this case, specialized outsourced appointment setting agencies streamline their workflow. They seamlessly integrate into your company's structure, initiating sales almost immediately.

3. Flexibility Boost:

You can enhance your in-house sales department with outsourced specialists. Then, you can gradually expand your internal team by cooperating with the outsourced sales agent.

4. Higher ROI: 

Outsourced appointment setting agents with exceptional sales expertise and industry specialization bring high-quality leads to your pipeline. It results in increased conversion rates and a higher return on investment.

Conclusion

Finding the correct sales appointment setter is crucial for the success of your sales team. The decision to build an in-house team or outsource this role depends on various factors, each with advantages and considerations. Making an informed choice can significantly impact the efficiency and productivity of your business's sales endeavors.

So, are you looking for a top-tier appointment setting expert? Look no further! Revnew, a trusted lead generation agency, is here to help you achieve your goals. With 79,425+ appointments generated, we’re adept at increasing your revenue. Don't hesitate to reach out!