Cold Calling Tip | Never Set an Appointment Out More Than Two Days

[Josh]

I was talking with a friend of mine last night about appointment setting and realized it was a conversation that probably should be shared publicly. He is an experienced agent, but was about to make a rookie mistake.

The short version is that if you set an appointment out more than two days you're going to have a no-show rate much higher than you would want. Obviously this is the rule, not the exception, but if you are setting an appointment more than two days in advance you'll want to call the day before to confirm. This was something I learned at my very first job and the numbers were remarkably consistent. If you're setting appointments, here is the formula we worked that ended up being fairly productive:

Call Monday to book for Tuesday and Wednesday.
During no-shows and downtime on Tuesday call to fill Wednesday.
If you are keeping busy, keep doing that through the end of the week.
Usually, you'll we'd use Thursday to set for Friday and Saturday morning.
Sunday was a day of rest.

Rinse and repeat.

If you do an every other day regimen what will end up happening is you're either trying to book for tomorrow or three days out and your show rate will drop 20% that way.

As is always the case, your experience may vary, but this is a recipe that has worked for a lot of agents for a very long time.


.

 

[Wtprice]

I was interviewed at a company that sort of did the same thing, except they wanted you to call on Friday for appointments on Monday. I raised an eyebrow at that because just from personal experience, I forget appointments that I set with someone 3+ days out as a consumer.

I wonder if it would be just as productive to set a block of time (2-4 hours) everyday to set appoints on that or the next day.

 

[ABC]

Depends on what you are selling.

From the employee benefits side sometimes I am setting appointments 2-3 weeks out.

 

[Oneputt]

I was talking with a friend of mine last night about appointment setting and realized it was a conversation that probably should be shared publicly. He is an experienced agent, but was about to make a rookie mistake.

The short version is that if you set an appointment out more than two days you're going to have a no-show rate much higher than you would want. Obviously this is the rule, not the exception, but if you are setting an appointment more than two days in advance you'll want to call the day before to confirm. This was something I learned at my very first job and the numbers were remarkably consistent. If you're setting appointments, here is the formula we worked that ended up being fairly productive:

Call Monday to book for Tuesday and Wednesday.
During no-shows and downtime on Tuesday call to fill Wednesday.
If you are keeping busy, keep doing that through the end of the week.
Usually, you'll we'd use Thursday to set for Friday and Saturday morning.
Sunday was a day of rest.

Rinse and repeat.

If you do an every other day regimen what will end up happening is you're either trying to book for tomorrow or three days out and your show rate will drop 20% that way.

As is always the case, your experience may vary, but this is a recipe that has worked for a lot of agents for a very long time.


.

Great advice..........especially if you are calling me. I forget my tee time if I make it more than a few days in advance and that is just plain sad.

 

[Josh]

Depends on what you are selling.

From the employee benefits side sometimes I am setting appointments 2-3 weeks out.

Excellent point. I was referring mostly to b2c. On b2b calls where they actually have structured time and use a calendar it isn't nearly as much of an issue.

 

[Aaron_4SIGHT]

Scheduling an appointment just one or two days out also means there's less of a chance for them to forget who you are.

Another tip: In my cold calling days, we stopped doing the "reminder" call the day before because it became the "cancellation" call. If you're scheduling out a ways and do a reminder a few days before, keep track of how many people use that as a chance to cancel.

 

[TylerDurdan]

We do the tuesday friday call days in the field mon wed thurs.

 

[Frank Stastny]

I have discovered that with Med Supp sales it is important that I see them as soon after I hang up the phone as possible. When setting appointments I want to see them the day I set the appointment if possible. Many times it is an emotional decision for them to decide to change. The savings in money almost seems secondary sometimes.

If I can't see them the day I set the appointment then I feel I have to see them "tomorrow". Every day that goes beyond tomorrow my chances of making a sale begin diminishing.

They may forget I'm coming even though I ask them to write it down. If I show up and they are home they probably will have forgotten I'm coming and be involved in doing something or working on some kind of project. If so then I become a distraction. Not the best way to start an appointment.

 

[b2bsalesexpert]

i think that is a mistake - you need to plan your schedule much further out than a couple of days. when people cancel - it is our fault as sales people. We did not identify a true need they had. Once someone agrees to meet - POST SELL. Meaning after they agree you essentially need to get them to commit a couple times more and find out why they are committing to meeting with you.

 

[xrac]

Good posts. If someone is willing to meet with you but cannot meeting you in the 1-2 day time frame how do you handle it?