Getting more sales appointments sounds easy enough in theory. Theoretically, all you have to do is strike up a conversation, set your meeting time, and sell your product or service.
But in practice this is a very complicated process. Outbound sales requires a great deal of patience and persistence to be effective. But, to increase your chances of getting sales appointments via email, you need to have the right tools and you should lead with value.
Preparing your cold email campaign
There are steps you must follow to prepare your email campaign. Simply sending out an email to as many people as possible will not achieve your desired results.
Choosing your prospects
The first step to improving the power of your email campaign is choosing your prospects. Just because you have the ability to reach out to anyone, doesn’t mean that you should. You need to choose your prospects wisely and if you do so, the subsequent steps in your sales process should go much smoother.
In this regard more is not necessarily better. Your goal here is quality prospects, not quantity. Choose people who would actually benefit from the solution you have to offer.
Research your target demographic and uncover some valuable information about their goals, interests, or problems. All of this information builds higher quality personalized emails.
That leads directly to the next step.
Craft more personalized emails
Remember that with an email campaign you are reaching out to people that you don’t know. You have to accept that at first, people might have no interest in you or what you have to offer, and that’s fine. With a 30-day deadline you have plenty of time to catch their interest.
Do not start an email campaign talking about yourself or your business. This makes the focus all about you and it’s simply not what potential leads want.
Start by referring to them, talking about their achievements, their work, their struggles. Doing this will build the context necessary for you to insert whatever offer you have.
This is a sample cold email that will turn away prospects immediately. This is the absolute epitome of what not to do:
Hi,
I hope this email finds you well. My name is John and I work with ABC company. ABC company offers online accounting services that can be used on mobile platforms and desktop satellite, perfectly integrated with a financial services you are probably already using. Our accounting service help small businesses to better manage things like payroll and keep track of invoices.
What is the problem with this email?
The focus is entirely on the company. This type of approach wouldn’t work in a social environment like a grocery store, a restaurant, or a bar and it certainly won’t work with a cold email.
If you simply walked up to someone and started talking about yourself it would come off as a little self-centered, abrasive, and possibly odd. But talking about the other persons attributes is a much different story.
Below is a much better introduction to a cold email, one that focuses on the prospect:
Hi Katie,
I read on Twitter about your new project, waterfall. I love the idea and I really think that waterfall has wonderful potential as a startup. You wrote that you are improving your product development and adding many new employees to your payroll. I was wondering if you have an in-house accounting team or if you are planning to outsource your accounting needs.
And don’t worry, it is perfectly possible to send cold emails that include an introduction like this to scale, especially if you use automation tools. Below is an example of a template you could set up for personalized introductions like the aforementioned:
Hi {FIRST_ NAME},
I read on {snippet_1} about your new project, {WWW}. I love the idea and I really think that {COMPANY} has wonderful potential as a startup. You wrote that {snippet_2}. I was wondering if you have an in-house accounting team or if you are planning to outsource your accounting needs.
Only after you have used a personalized introduction can you begin a sentence that covers what it is you offer.
For example after the sample introduction above you could start your second paragraph with a sentence such as:
My team and I specialize in accounting for small businesses and would be very happy to help you better manager invoices and your new payroll requirements.
Then, at the closing of your email, you could include a question that is easy for your prospect to respond to such as the following:
Can you let me know if you are seriously considering outsourcing your accounting needs right now?
Conversely, at this stage in the email, you can simply dive right into a call for the meeting that you want.
Invitations for meetings
Now, setting up the meeting is not a simple task. This is especially true if the prospect you are targeting is very busy, which more often than not is the case. One objective for you that should be most important is to make the meeting set up as simple as possible for your prospect.
Traditionally, email campaigns require you to propose a date or two so that your prospect has options to pick from that work for you. An example couple be something similar to the following:
Do you have 20 minutes to talk about this on Wednesday or Thursday morning?
Now, this only works if the prospect in question has free time that happens to align with one of those two days. If not, setting up the sales appointment is going to take at least two more messages shared between both of you, one from them saying that they don’t have the time and another from you proposing new times. In essence this means more time and more effort spent.
One way to avoid this unnecessary back and forth is to use an appointment setting tool that generates a link embedded in your cold email to a calendar where the prospect can choose the date that is suitable for them from a drop-down menu.
At which point, they then select the time frame that is available and suitable for them. After they click on the link in your cold email, it takes them straight to the calendar function which alleviates the back and forth.
This is especially effective because it doesn’t require them to sign up anywhere or create a new account or login.
If you pick the right tool all they have to do is click on the time and date they want and then set up the meeting with you.
If you are using an effective calendar tool you won’t have to worry about calculating time zone differences because calendars will automatically adjust to the time zone of the person viewing it.
This means you would reach out to someone who is 3 hours away, they pick a time that is 11:30 in the morning for them and when you received notification that an appointment time, it automatically shows up as 8:30 a.m. on your calendar.
If you choose to use a tool like this do not send the invitation in your first cold email. Leave it for a follow-up.
If you are using an automation program to create templates for these different emails you can set up a follow-up sequence to be automatically sent out just in case your prospect responds to your initial email. Then they still get that invitation.
Improving Your Success with B2B Sales Appointments
For you, a 20 or 30 minute meeting might seem like a simple request, even a 10 minute phone call can seem like nothing. But on the receiving end, that might be a lot to handle especially if your business is targeting business owners who are very busy.
You have to be incredibly considerate and careful about the diction when you create your email campaign especially the ones with intention to bring about sales appointments. Remember that your prospects view their time as one of the most valuable assets they have to offer, which is why you need to show some respect by offering them legitimate value.
So, in order to set up 30 more sales appointments within the next 30 days, make sure to consider these three steps:
Step 1:
Start by giving your prospect a reason to respond to you. If your sales pitch comes off like your only goal is a sale, they are going to be much less inclined to follow up with you.
If you build a context that makes them truly consider using your company and talking to you, that’s of higher value. Personalize your messages and choose your prospects wisely so that you are only reaching out to those people who could legitimately benefit from what you have to offer.
Another part of that is to demonstrate that you have done your research. Show them that you care, because in reality that’s what potential clients care most about. Cold emails and other marketing campaigns come off like they are cold and impersonal.
Those on the receiving end will feel like you don’t care about them, you don’t care about their business, and you don’t care about their time.
So prove them wrong by giving them some value long before you ask them to give you something in return.
Step 2:
Make sure you follow up. Everybody is busy and everyone is balancing a lot. Sometimes your prospect might read that first email and truly want to follow up with you but in that moment, something distracts them.
Then, another issue manifests and before too long that email has gotten lost in their inbox. This is no reflection on you or them. In fact, if they wait too long to respond, they might feel bad and not want to.
But if you send a follow-up email after a few days, this reminds them that you actually care and are intentional on wanting to connect.
By sending a follow-up email, you demonstrate that you actually care. It doesn’t matter if you used an automated tool to set up a follow-up sequence. To them it will feel like you care more than normal companies sending cold emails.
Step 3:
Make it as easy as possible for them to set up the sales appointment with you. The less effort that is required of them, the easier it becomes and the more likely they will make an appointment.
Using the previously discussed link to a calendar makes it as simple and convenient for them as possible so they can pick a meeting spot that works best for them.
There are also add-ons from various platforms, like Doodle that allow you to have pre-set times and allow the prospect to choose from those listed options.
Again, you are making it simple for them, you are catering to their needs, you are demonstrating your respect for their most valuable asset being their personal time, and you are standing out.
Wrapping Up
Overall, your goal is to demonstrate value to your prospects that makes you stand out. Make things as easy as possible for them and you will see much faster results from lead gen efforts.
There are tools that can make this process simpler not just for you, but for your prospects as well.
Don’t rush into things. If you put in the extra effort in your sequence of cold emails to simply establish connection, focus on your client first, and then follow up with a sales meeting request, it will increase your chances of crafting a successful lead generation campaign.
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