Appointment Setting: How Long Should an Appointment Take?

When including appointment setting in your B2B company's sales strategy, you must value prospects' time. Prospects in the B2B industry typically consist of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and other C-suite executives, most of whom are busy running their own businesses. You can still ask them to schedule appointments to discuss a potential deal. If an appointment is too long, however, the prospect may end it prematurely without giving you the opportunity to complete your sales pitch. How long should an appointment take exactly?

Cold Calls Last About 7 to 8 Minutes

Before revealing the ideal length of an appointment, it's important to note that most cold calls last for about seven to eight minutes. Cold calls involve calling prospects with whom your B2B company hasn't interacted in the past. After harvesting prospects' phone numbers, you can call them. During these cold calls, you can touch base with prospects while also inquiring about an appointment. You don't have to necessarily sell any products or services during these cold calls. Rather, you can use the cold calls as an opportunity to secure appointments.

15 to 20 Minutes Is the Sweet Spot for Appointments

While the average length of cold calls is about seven to eight minutes, appointments can be a little longer. You can experiment with different lengths, but 15 to 20 minutes is typically the sweet spot for appointments.

Cold calls are typically shorter than appointments because they are unexpected. As previously mentioned, cold calls involve calling prospects who haven't yet communicated with your B2B company. They aren't familiar with your B2B company, so they aren't expecting you or other sales reps at your B2B company to call them. Appointments are different in the sense that they are expected. Prospects will only participate in an appointment after scheduling an appointment. You can secure appointments through cold calls, social media or even a form on your B2B company's website. Regardless, prospects must schedule an appointment first.

Because appointments are expected, you can make them longer than cold calls. You should still value prospects' time by getting to the point, but you don't have to an appointment at the seven- or eight-minute mark.

In Conclusion

The purpose of an appointment is to nurture existing prospects through your B2B company's sales process. You may be able to close the deal during an appointment. Alternatively, you can move prospects to the next stage of the sales process. For most appointments, 15 to 20 minutes is the ideal length that's not too long or too short.

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