Which Channels Should You Use for Appointment Setting?

Appointment setting is a popular B2B strategy. Regardless of what your B2B company sells, you may want to solicit appointments from prospects before pitching those products or services. A marketing and sales process known as appointment setting, it can help you close more deals. You can use appointments to convey a value proposition while also addressing any concerns prospects have.

If you're going to include appointment setting in your B2B company's operations, though, you'll need to use the right channels. Like most marketing and sales processes, it involves communications between your B2B company and prospects. Channels are the methods or platforms on which you communicate with prospects. You don't have to rely on any single channel. Instead, you can use multiple channels for appointment setting, such as the following.

LinkedIn

You should consider using LinkedIn as an appointment setting channel. Appointments are essentially leads. Each appointment is an opportunity to close a new deal and secure a buyer. Statistics show that up to 80% of all leads generated through social media come from LinkedIn. That makes LinkedIn a more effective appointment setting channel than Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest combined. You can use it to identify prospects who match your B2B company's ideal buyer profile, after which you can reach out to them to see if they are interested in scheduling an appointment.

Cold Calling

Cold calling continues to rank as one of the leading channels for appointment setting in the B2B industry. You can call prospects, and after getting them to pick up, you can seek an appointment.

Prospects who are experiencing a problem within their business's own operations -- internal problems such as these are known as "pain points" -- may be interested in a product or service as a solution. You shouldn't attempt to sell the product or service during this initial cold call. Instead, you should sell the appointment. During the initial cold call, you can touch base with the prospect while explaining that your B2B company has a product or service that can solve their problem. The prospect may then schedule an appointment to discuss the product or service on a later date.

Warm Calling

In addition to cold calling, you should consider using warm calling as an appointment setting channel. Warm channel is an outreach tactic that, like cold calling, involves picking up the phone and calling a prospect. The difference is that warm calling specifically involves calling a prospect with whom you've already had contact.

Warm calling is typically more effective than cold calling. Statistics show that only 1% of cold calls result in an appointment. For every 100 cold calls you make, you can expect to secure just one appointment. Numbers such as these can be disheartening, but warm calling almost always delivers higher success rates. Since it involves calling prospects with whom you've already had contact, warm calling will allow you to reach more prospects. And by reaching more prospects, you'll inevitably secure more appointments.

SMS

Short Message Service (SMS) is another channel to consider using for appointment setting. Also known simply as text messaging, SMS is a messaging protocol. It's used to send and receive text-only messages over cellular networks, such as 3G, 4G and 5G networks. All smartphones, as well as most older phones, support SMS. 

You can use SMS for appointment setting by sending prospects text messages. Of course, you'll need to identify prospects' phone numbers before sending them text messages. Once you've identified a prospect's phone number, you can send him or her a text message. In this text message, explain who you are and why you are reaching out to them. You can conclude the text message with a solicitation asking the prospect if he or she would like to schedule an appointment to discuss a potential deal.

Email

Most B2B companies use email as an appointment setting channel. Even if you're unable to identify a prospect's phone number, you may be able to find his or her email address. Prospects often include C-suite executives, most of whom have an online presence. By searching for them online, you may come across their email addresses. Once you've identified a prospect's email address, you can prepare an appointment setting email for him or her.

The goal of an appointment setting email is to secure an appointment. You can send prospects emails to solicit appointments. To streamline the process, you can include a link to an appointment setting calendar in these emails. Prospects can click this link, after which they can choose a date and time for the appointment.

Direct Mail

With the era of the internet upon us, many sales reps focus on email while turning a blind eye to direct mail. After all, email is faster, easier and typically delivers better results. But that doesn't mean direct mail has lost its efficacy. You can still use direct mail to secure appointments. You can send prospects direct mail messages in hopes of securing new appointments.

Outsouce Appointment Setting

You can always outsource your B2B company's appointment setting strategy to SalesLeads as well. Outsourcing involves the appointment setting services such as a lead generation specialist. SalesLeads will generate appointments on your B2B company's behalf. You can specify your B2B company's ideal buyer profile and other information, and we will do the rest. Outsourcing offers a quick and easy way to secure high-quality appointments.

Website

If your B2B company has a website, you may want to use it to secure more appointments. Most B2B companies have a website. Unfortunately, many of them neglect to use their website as an appointment setting channel. They may list their products or services, and some of these B2B companies may display the contact information of their sales reps, but they don't use their website to solicit appointments.

You can leverage your B2B company's website for appointment setting by including a calendar on it. Just add an appointment setting calendar to your B2B company's website that allows prospects to choose a date and time for the appointment.