Whenever you pick up the phone, you aim to schedule an appointment. Everything you do is to get towards that potential sale. Whether that’s an appointment at the store, one offsite, or for a call, that appointment is a sale!
But how do we go about asking for an appointment? Do you back into the question a little bit?
The best way to do this is to ask the client, “When would it be possible for you to come in? Or what would be the best time for you to stop by? Maybe this weekend?”
We want to be very authoritative in this situation. We want to take control and be very direct when we ask for an appointment. This will allow the customer to feel comfortable enough to follow the lead being taken, which will lead to agreeing to an appointment!
The next way to ensure this is to combine 2 very effective words. These effective words? WHEN and ARE!
Phrases like “When are you more available? Now or later today to come in and look at the truck?” and “When are you more available? Thursday or Friday to come in and see the vehicle?” are great examples.
Now that we know what to work towards, what do you want to avoid? The answer to that is anything that makes us seem unsure. Avoid the words would, could, should, possibly, maybe, etc. Especially avoid the phrase “When do you think.”
You want to be VERY DIRECT, and those words are not that. Maybe they’ll say, “Maybe Saturday sounds good,” but it’s not a direct answer, which is not good enough. You do this for a living, so be confident in your responses. If you’re direct about it, they’re going to respond.
Instead, use phrases like “When are you more available?” But don’t just stop there. The next thing you will do is move into day and time options. Customers are more likely to respond when given choices. Asking, “When are you more available to come in? Now or later today?” is one of the best ways to prompt their definitive response.
You’re going to say, “Okay, I’m checking my appointment book. Let’s see what times I have available. I have 3:15 and 4:45. Which works best for you?”
Now, you may be wondering why you choose these times. Most of us have actually been trained to show up more on time for off-time appointments!
These are only a few very effective techniques that don’t cost anything! With this combination of strategies, the sky’s the limit for your appointments!
As the COO | Partner of Phone Ninjas, Chris delivers leadership, coaching, and mentorship to 55 team members providing software sales and phone skills coaching. He fosters powerful partnerships and collaborations with leaders across various business sectors, establishing expectations, communicating vision, and escalating performance to maximize productivity and effectiveness.
Chris is an innovation-driven business executive with over 25 years of experience delivering leadership to teams of up to 75 overseeing development, launch, and sale of website lead acquisition, reconditioning process software systems, and technology that support automotive dealerships across the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
