The Art of Appointment Setting

What do we do?

Over the years we've spoken to so many people about what we do in our business, be it within academia, government departments, or the myriad businesses and while they listen intently, some have little understanding of what we do all day.
"So you just call up strangers out of the blue?" Well, yes, and most definitely, No! The data we use is crucial, as are the Data Protection laws, norms, and best practices. Gone are the days of boiler-room telecanvassers given the Yellow Pages and told to start at A.A.Aardvark and call everyone thereafter listed.
Today's professional telemarketers use carefully researched data sets purchased from GDPR-compliant licensed companies, regularly updated and carefully curated to target the business managers and directors likely to deal with the call. We pay heed to those registering with CTPS and after that, remove them and any other unsuitable records, and then our initial approach needs to be a carefully crafted introduction that breaks the ice, not the icebreaker that sinks without a trace.

What Works and Why

Few would call a digital design company offering a 1950's 1950s-style copying machine - unless it's to their interior designer as a tongue-in-cheek décor idea. It would take a nut job to want to sell hair stylers to members of the mythical Institute of Bald Persons...and so it's not about calling everyone everywhere, it's about addressing likely business needs and offering a solution.
“Do you find that you have an issue around…” (insert the name of a problem) “Do you think you might benefit from learning more about…” (a solution) These are closed questions that can shut down a call with a curt no.
No, might mean many things – the company "don't have an issue with" or "don’t want to learn more about" might be the common assumption at this point, but it may well be that the company has an issue, but they're not the person that deals with this. I imagine that if was interrupted by a cold call out of the wide blue yonder, in their shoes, I would have no interest in learning about underwater basketball-weaving because I'm the designated dream-knitter and I've got 240, crafted by the hopes and dreams of others, to craft by lunchtime tomorrow! And I get a bonus for smashing the hopes and dreams of others. End of call…results of telemarketing, dispirited caller and irked target. Of course, these are made-up job titles and fanciful scenarios. But they highlight how some people who don't engage by telephone feel about contacting strangers and intruding on their time. It fills them with dread. That's where we come in.

Making it Personal Tailor the Approach

Years ago, I worked in recruitment during a period of nationwide mass redundancies. We were tasked with calling companies in the vain hope of finding a vacant post for us to work on. My colleague was always busier than we were – after weeks of resentment that she was a winner and I was a miserable loser on the office leaderboard, doubting my skills and dreading the telephone, I listened carefully to what she was asking. Far from the approved “do you have any vacancies” rebuffed by the wails of “Don’t you know, we’re making redundancies!” (This is a situation, far from our Lockdown-furlough when people were paid not to work, people sometimes sacrificed part of their salaries to keep co-workers in jobs!) She asked “Who would the company turn to if they needed extra help when you’re busy, say because of sickness or holiday? I understand you can’t HIRE anyone but do you sometimes need HELP?” You see the market was booming for temps, who could be used when headcount was banned (sometimes by an offshore Head Office) and often these roles were then filled by the incumbent temp when hiring started again, months later. Rona was blowing up her revenue streams because she was canny and knew not just businesses but she was good at people. She knew a hard sell was anathema to many gatekeepers, but if she became their saviour, whose only desire was to assist them when times were tough, she had them calling her back, not something many of us experienced until we adapted by adopting her style.
We can try the direct approach - and it can yield fantastic results if we're confident we've engaged with the right person at the right time. And if you listen and not talk over them in a massive rush to blurt out what it is you want to sell them, then “Not interested” often becomes much more nuanced; “It’s not me” - I’m sorry to have interrupted, may I ask if you to transfer me so that I can speak to that person, or ask them when I should call them back? Ok, yes indeed I can send an email but can we earmark 15 minutes for a call together because they’re bound to have some questions… “We’re not doing it” - Oh, thank you. May I ask, is that not yet, or never? What would need to change for that to be on the cards? And if it’s a “Not yet” – When should we call you back? might better be expressed as How would you like me to reach you in the future?) “We haven’t got the budget” - I so understand – might this be this quarter or next, or in the new year…and may I call back or email you then?) “We’re not out of contract” - Oh, we have experience managing this for clients, would it have an impact on your thinking? How can I let you know more? Would a video chat work, or do you want to see case studies of our success in this area? “We have not set the tender framework” - Oh, is that to be agreed at the next board meeting, or later in the year? Do you mind sharing how I might follow up, with whom, and when would be a good time? “We’ve not fully decided who’s going to drive the project” Could I possibly keep in touch to find out more? Can you introduce me to the team perhaps in a quick Teams meeting All of these build a pipeline for later follow-up. But before we get to be someone’s credible ambassador, to get to the call itself, we need to be confident we're approaching the right target group of personnel and ask if we may have some of their time...we do this by clever data curation. And employing many differing touchpoints after all the desk research, data-checking, deletions, call planning, and training. This all takes TIME…