4/22/2013

Guest Post: The Fallacy of Appointment Setting

Guest Post: The Fallacy of Appointment Setting:from Jonathan Farrington's Blog 
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It has been written that the best scams are ones in which the victim does not know he or she has been taken. By the end of this discussion, you will understand how this comment relates to appointment setting.
Most companies have previously experienced lead traction issues. The biggest complaint heard from C-level executives is that they have historically had no idea whether or not leads were being followed up. In addition, they have had no way of knowing how effective the follow-up is on the few leads that are.
One tactic some organizations have used to solve this problem is appointment setting. A number of so-called appointment-setting companies have sprung up over the past several years. However, to call what these firms provide an “appointment” is a misnomer. They are really scheduling “appearances” and creating the illusion that these appearances are with qualified prospects.
In reality, appointment/appearance-setting programs unnecessarily add cost to the selling process without corresponding benefit. Here is why:
The most logical argument against appointment setting is, ironically, at the heart of its selling proposition. The selling proposition is that someone agreeing to see your sales representative has to be more qualified than another prospect simply forwarded to you as a lead. The truth is that in most complex selling situations, anyone who agrees to see your sales representative for any amount of time, without additional preparatory conversation, has more time to waste than most senior-level executives. On the basis of guaranteed appointments large companies send their sales forces on expensive trips (whether across town or across the country) when as many as three out of five of those appointments are with no-opportunity prospects, and at least one out of five doesn’t remember scheduling the appointment.
Companies like yours typically sell complex, relatively expensive B2B solutions requiring the involvement of multiple decision makers and multiple levels of evaluation. Could an appearance with one person, without advanced discovery, possibly be the best first step with a new prospect in that situation? The answer is that it is not an effective use of resources at this stage in the process.
When good salespeople sell, they like to know something about the person they are selling to. They would prefer to present in a warm environment rather than in a cold-call situation. If they prepare the audience right, their visit is like a discussion with a new friend. If they have to go in cold, all of the focus is on the presentation. The reality is, few of your field salespeople are great cold-call presenters and when put in this situation, they’re not being utilized effectively.
You can search career sites and find dozens of ads for appointment setters. They are usually headlined as follows:
“Earn up to $2,500 per week setting appointments!”
“Earn money setting appointments, no cold calling!”
“Earn $100,000 per year part time, no experience
necessary!”

Are these the type of people you want engaging your market for the first time? If you never get a second chance to make a first impression, how would you like that impression to be made by someone who responds to one of the ads above?
Appointment setting works for the appointment-setting company, but not for its clients. The reason? The sales force’s behavior on very expensive appointments is just like its behavior on any other lead source. They follow up the first few appointments received from any new source, find little or nothing in the way of real activity based on a few calls to each, and then no longer call on any new “appointments” and do not make the “appearances.” Since the guarantee from most appointment-setting companies only pays off if a sales representative makes the appointment, the appointment-setting company is off the hook, you have paid a premium for the appointment, the sales representative fails to make the appearance, and in essence voids the guarantee.
Unfortunately, the company using appointment setting has probably squandered the marketing dollars that might have otherwise uncovered real deals.
If you are deploying your sales force by appearance only, better look under the covers as to what is going on and what is closing before the money runs out.

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This post is an excerpt from Dan McDade’s game-changing book, “The Truth About Leads,”  published in 2011.  Now in its second printing, McDade’s book is regarded as the Rosetta Stone of lead generation.  “The Truth About Leads can be purchased on Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/The-Truth-About-Leads-McDade/dp/098302670X   McDade is President of PointClear a B2B sales prospecting company, which he founded in 1997. He can be reached at Dan.McDade@pointclear.com

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