Appointment Generation Businesses
Discussion
Hi all,
I'm hoping to hear of people's experiences using external businesses to make sales meeting appointments on your behalf.
I'm in a position currently that I'm sure a lot of others have been in: I'm tied up dealing with existing accounts and admin, then when I do have chance to make calls if the recipient isn't available I might not have chance to call them again soon enough meaning they go cold.
I am also willing to admit using the phone to make appointments is not a strength of mine. Face to face I am quite good and in fact rarely don't convert those meetings in to profitable business, however getting the meetings I find difficult.
Looking forward to hearing of experiences both good and bad and any recommendations for companies worth speaking to about this.
I'm hoping to hear of people's experiences using external businesses to make sales meeting appointments on your behalf.
I'm in a position currently that I'm sure a lot of others have been in: I'm tied up dealing with existing accounts and admin, then when I do have chance to make calls if the recipient isn't available I might not have chance to call them again soon enough meaning they go cold.
I am also willing to admit using the phone to make appointments is not a strength of mine. Face to face I am quite good and in fact rarely don't convert those meetings in to profitable business, however getting the meetings I find difficult.
Looking forward to hearing of experiences both good and bad and any recommendations for companies worth speaking to about this.
We've used a few providers over the years and their effect is dependent upon your business and market.
To get the best out of them, you need to properly brief them and provide them the best database you can. Simply handing them a trade directory and asking them to crack on seldom works well. You also need to think about what your USP and key offer is - what will their opening gambit be when they make calls to prospects?
You should avoid paying them any bonus related to the number of appointments they get for you. The risk is that you'll end up spending half your time travelling to meetings that have no merit whatsoever.
Don't expect results in the first week, or even months. The company you appoint will need a time to bed in and also feel that you have made a commitment to them for them to be properly invested in you. I've found the best results come when you commit to at least a 12-month contract. The most successful arrangement we had was with a chap who got us three meetings in one year, two of which yielded contracts, one of which turned into one of our largest orders and two follow up contracts as well. Another company we used prior would get us three or four meetings a month from which hardly anything came. Less can sometimes be a lot more.
You should also weigh up the cost benefits of outsourcing compared to hiring someone on a part time basis. We've gone to the latter as we've found it costs the same but we have better control and they are genuinely part of the team.
Two companies I can recommend (although haven't used either for a long time) are The Telephone Marketing Company and Future Business Intelligence.
HTH.
To get the best out of them, you need to properly brief them and provide them the best database you can. Simply handing them a trade directory and asking them to crack on seldom works well. You also need to think about what your USP and key offer is - what will their opening gambit be when they make calls to prospects?
You should avoid paying them any bonus related to the number of appointments they get for you. The risk is that you'll end up spending half your time travelling to meetings that have no merit whatsoever.
Don't expect results in the first week, or even months. The company you appoint will need a time to bed in and also feel that you have made a commitment to them for them to be properly invested in you. I've found the best results come when you commit to at least a 12-month contract. The most successful arrangement we had was with a chap who got us three meetings in one year, two of which yielded contracts, one of which turned into one of our largest orders and two follow up contracts as well. Another company we used prior would get us three or four meetings a month from which hardly anything came. Less can sometimes be a lot more.
You should also weigh up the cost benefits of outsourcing compared to hiring someone on a part time basis. We've gone to the latter as we've found it costs the same but we have better control and they are genuinely part of the team.
Two companies I can recommend (although haven't used either for a long time) are The Telephone Marketing Company and Future Business Intelligence.
HTH.
The best advice I've heard is to treat any external sales team the same as you would an internal team; you need to be talking to them everyday, motivating them, seeing what's going on, advising them, kicking them up the ass when needed.
If you think you can get an external team in to make your life easier, it doesn't really work out that way.
If you think you can get an external team in to make your life easier, it doesn't really work out that way.
I used chap to get appointments for me over a period of three years or so and he did a very good job. Obviously over that period of time he got to know how to 'sell me' and get me in the door at CEO level. He had worked as an executive assistant to the CEO of a very blue chip company so he was comfortable communicating at that level.
What kind of people are you trying to get in front of?
What kind of people are you trying to get in front of?
I employ a couple of part-time contractors to generate warm leads, each one does a different database. For all intents and purposes, it's the same as an external company, and as someone mentioned, you have to work closely with them (make sure they understand the service, get lots of feedback so you know what potential customers are saying in response to what the sales people are saying, update if things aren't working right, work with them for a fair length of time). It seems to be working. 
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