10 Methods to Setting Appointments

When you get down to it there are only 10 ways to set an appointment truly. While there are lots of methods to get a lead, you have to utilize one of these mediums in order to actually set the appointment.

The three broad Mediums are Digitally, Personally, and via phone. While each of these has 3-4 different ways to connect to your potential prospects. It’s essential to keep in mind that there is not one “best” method of prospecting or asking for referrals. Much like having a toolbox, it’s important not to just consider everything fixable with a hammer, when clearly you are going to need some glue. Discerning and utilizing the most effective method will maximize your prospecting efforts and ultimately result in the highest return on your time. So let’s dive in.

Digitally - This is utilizing any type of medium where you are not going to have to interact with this person physically, or even through voice in most instances. While some of these are more effective through video chatting, or voice memos, it is entirely possible to book appointments with any type of digital medium if you were both deaf, and mute, you could even program an AI to have these conversations and book the appointment for you (although, then you run the risk of them not seeing your glowing personality.)

1. social selling

This makes the top of the digital list because you can, right now, start DMing or messaging people on social media and within probably the same hour you can start getting responses back from potential clients. The important thing to remember with this method is that you are going to have the highest chance of success when you already hold some kind of a relationship with the person you’re messaging, or they have directly expressed interest in the service or product that you offer.

2. digital networking

Rounding in at number 2, digital networking events became HUGE during covid, and many of them appear to be here to stay. Everything from virtual cocktail hours, down to formalized networking groups like BNI, these groups make it easy to show up, make introductions, let others know what you offer, and build solid relationships. A quick google or bing search will uncover dozens of events being held every day of the week ranging from early morning to later at night, some even spanning nationwide or worldwide. In rare instances, these could also include events taking place in the virtual world, although these aren’t very commonplace as of the writing of this article.

3. funnel linked to an auto-scheduler

This one is a bit nuanced because there is a fine line between a page, video, or article designed to capture a lead (meaning just get their information) and actually setting an appointment. Ultimately, unless they have a way of getting into your calendar (such as with Calendly or some other similar app) and booking an appointment directly with you or your company, you would have to utilize a different method on this list in order to set the appointment.

4. Direct Email asks

Very similar to a cold call, you can send someone an email directly asking for a referral, or simply asking inside of an already existing chain of emails to jump on a call rather than going back and forth. This is probably the simplest and most straightforward way to utilize digital mediums to set appointments.

PERSONALLY - there are two methods to book appointments personally: either in person or through a phone, we’ll separate and dive into some of the different ways you could use both of these methods in the best way possible.

In-person- as the name implies, this would be anytime you are physically present.

4. Door Pulling

This ranks at the top of the list for in-person as, like social selling, it is the fastest way to get a 1:1 interaction with a decision maker that can say yes to an appointment. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, door pulling is effectively cold-calling, but in person. It is the literal pulling of a businesses door, walking in, and introducing yourself. In my experience, if this is implemented properly it has one of the highest conversions when working in a B2B space, however, it can become very time-consuming compared to many other methods on this list.

5. Networking

This is one of the oldest methods of personal appointment scheduling. Much like digital networking, this allows you to meet people in a wide variety of industries and can provide formal settings such as BNI, where it requires membership and structure, or open networking events such as after-hour cocktail events where anyone can show up with a pocket full of business cards and meet new people. Whatever type of event you choose to attend, the goal of the event should be to meet people who can increase your overall network, and identify people you could help. Or vice-versa, and schedule 1:! Times to sit down either for a sales appointment, or simply to get to know each other's businesses better.

6. personal introduction

This one is likely the most difficult way of setting appointments across this entire list, simply due to the social discomfort some people may have with it. This is truly walking up to a person that you do not know, introducing yourself, and asking for an appointment. While this can seem difficult, with a proper strategy it can come off as very genuine, and be incredibly rewarding. This method is difficult to deploy consistently though without a very specific plan but can be mastered for times when you see or hear someone in public that could utilize your product or service.

7. Door-to-door

This type of appointment setting probably has the highest stigma against it simply due to the personal nature of going up to someone's home. While this is often criticized, I’ve met many D2D salespeople who could easily pay cash for the luxury homes they knock on with a years of wages. While generally looked on as the lowliest form of prospecting, if you can master this skill you will likely succeed highly in any sales position you could be put into, but it takes a lot of rejection bounceback, and practice to really be able to set consistent appointments with this method.

Phone- The phone is likely one of the most widely used tools in any sales department, and for good reason. While in-person has a generally higher overall conversion, there isn’t a single method that can touch more potential clients in an afternoon (without using bots) than the phone. And for some reason, this also seems to be the most fear and procrastination-inducing device in the entire arsenal. Much like D2D, if you can get comfortable with the constant rejection of the phones, you’ll likely never be without a high-paying career.

8. Cold Calling

The feared death of many inexperienced sales professionals' careers. The cold call. While we’re a bit past the old day of grabbing a yellow pages and calling it front to back, we’re not very far past. With advanced raking AI like Seamless, or Zoominfo, you can compile accurate lists of specific people with relatively little effort, now you have to hope you have a strategy good enough to convert them into an appointment if they answer at all that is.

9. Warm Market Recycling

This is probably the easiest method to utilize in the entire list. Call your clients who have done business with you before, and simply offer to do business with them again. You already know they’re willing to buy your product, and if it’s something that can wear out, or you release something new, they’re very likely to agree and make it an easy sale for you.

10. Recalling not-interested lists

Second, only to cold calling in the fear factor, calling on old clients who have previously stated that they were not interested in working with your company is an amazing method for filling up your books. You never know what changes a company may have gone through in the last 3, 6, or 12 months that changed their situation (or their ownership). These are never lists to throw out, but always worth going through occasionally to pick out the diamonds that were accidentally thrown in with the glass.

As stated before, while there are nuances between many of these, I feel this is the most boiled down you can get as far as methods to utilize in order to get to a point where you can ask for an appointment. If you can master even one from each medium, you're setting yourself up to become an incredible asset to your job, or simply grow your own business. While it may be easier to just try and stick with one method, there’s also nothing saying that you can’t put the same leads through multiple tactics to get them to respond. While it has become commonplace to not answer the phone if the number is unsaved, they may be perfectly happy to talk to someone who walks straight up to the door and introduces themselves.

Go fill your calendar.