Activity Management: SAM Skills - Phoning

So if your success (or failure) hinges on the number of quality appointments that you are able to set and hold on a weekly basis, how do we improve this essential skill?

Before we talk strategy, let’s talk about weekly goals for setting appointments. What is your daily goal for setting appointments? Our research suggests that you should be setting two appointments as a resulting of your daily phoning, five to six days a week. So goal number one is to set at least 10 appointments per week as a result of phoning.

I’d like to share a tip I got from another sales newsletter… and that is that you should be setting your follow up meetings (second or third interviews) with your prospects (or repeat business with an existing client) at the conclusion of your previous meeting. The same goes for annual or semi-annual reviews, there is nothing wrong with scheduling appointments up to 12 months in advance. Just make sure you send a reminder and/or follow up by phone to make sure they keep the meeting. How refreshing would it be to review your upcoming month and see that you already have 10 appointments on the books?

If we work the math, so far you are setting (on average) 10 appointments per week and you have another two that were previously set, then you are up to 12. Not bad, but will this help you reach your goals? The answer is maybe…it really depends on the quality of your prospects/target market. If you do your annual business plan and these numbers don’t get you where you want to be, then you need to adjust accordingly. This can be in the form of working an additional target market (more people to call) or a sixth day so you can put in more time on the phones.

The real point is to have daily/weekly goals so you have something to shoot for, Every Week, Without Fail, No Exceptions.