Filling Out an Appt Request for Maximum Results

Put your best foot forward!

This information is put together to help you get the most out of sending an Appointment Request to your prospect.  We will go by each question on the Appointment Request form and how to properly answer them.

A few tips before we get started:

• Answer with your prospect's needs in mind.  Put your value proposition in their words not yours.  Remember people meet with us because they believe we have something of value for them.
• Research your prospect before you submit an Appointment Request.  There are many places to gain valuable insight:
  • Your prospect’s own website – I would start here.  There is so much valuable information you can glean.
  • Google – this will be our friend for many years to come.  Just search your prospect and see what comes up.  Many times you can get insight as to your prospects interests, hobbies and business.
  • LinkedIn – connect with your prospect – this is a great resource into your prospect’s mindset and it is all on your prospect’s profile.  Caveat - when your prospect moves to another company you will still be connected with them and you can continue the relationship instead of them falling into the ‘black-hole.’
  • Shy away from your industry jargon – this is real easy to get caught up in using words most people not in your industry wouldn’t recognize.  I could say, “My CPU is bogged down so I need to upgrade my RAM and bandwidth from 1.5 up to 5 up.”  Or I could just say, “My computer is running slow so I need to get more memory and a faster internet connection.” 
  • Be specific not vague – the more specific you are about how you can the help the prospect the more prospect will tune into what you are offering.
  • Always answer truthfully – there is nothing we can do or say that our customers won’t find out in 30 days.

Suggestions on how to answer the Appointment Request questions for best results:

1. How long have you been with your current company?

(Keep in mind you can say whatever you want here.  We left this for you to place text here on purpose.)

We recommend places all your answers in “Years + Months” this makes you appear to be working at your company longer and promotes more stability and your attention to detail.  “5 Years 6 Months” sounds a lot longer and more stable than “5.5 Years” or “5 ½ Years.” 

If you have been with your company less than a year, we recommend answering, “Almost One Year” if you have been working for your company 7 months or longer.

If you just started we recommend you answering, “Almost 6 months and I am really excited to work for such a great company.

2. How long have you been working in our industry?

We recommend you answer similarly like question 1.  But this is how long you have been working in the prospect’s industry not your own.

3. What is your product or service you are offering?

Be very simple and plain here.  Instead of saying “Merchant Services” or “Multifunction Machines.”  We recommend you say – “Credit card processing” or “Copier Machines.”  We suggest staying away from industry jargon and just call it what most prospects would recognize your product or service as.

4. How can your product or service help my business?

This is your value proposition.  We recommend putting the information here from your prospect’s perspective not your own.  Think about the following:

• How does your product/service make your prospect money?
• How does your product/service save them money?
• How does your product/service make your prospect’s life easier or better?
• What specific results will your product/service give the prospect?
• What should the prospect look to gain from buying your product/service?

Answer in as few words as possible but cover as much specific detail as possible.

Stay away from generalities here.

5. How would you say you are different from your competitors?

Here we would recommend listing the reasons your company or product shines.  Do not knock your competition it will only make you sound negative.  For example, you could say, “Our customer support number is always answered by real person before the fourth ring.”  If you are selling floor wax you could suggest your product only needs one coat of wax instead of three.

6. What title, position, or department would you like an appointment with?

We recommend using the person’s full name if you know it.  Be as specific as possible.  When you say you want to meet with the “doctor,” it does not mean as much as saying you would like to meet with “Dr. Dan Singh.”  If you don’t know the name then think of the person’s title who would most likely make the decision for your product or service.  Most of this information is on your prospect’s website.

7. How long would the initial appointment take?

We believe the shorter the better.  The best appointments are between 20 and 25 minutes for the initial appointment. This should be enough time for most salespeople to get all of the information from the decision maker that is needed and to briefly explain how your product can help.  Most of the time a first meeting is a information gathering session and the second meeting is going over your value proposition to the prospect.

8. Company Website or URL?

Put your company’s website or a specific “landing page” here for your prospect to get more information to help them decide if they want to meet you.

9. Please share a success you are most proud of?

We recommend putting one or two testimonials here of previous customers you have helped.  Try to put your testimonial’s Company, Contact Name, what the specific problem was, how you fixed the problem with your product and what was the specific outcome.  Be as precise and specific as you can be.  Of course, you may not be able to disclose some information because of confidentiality reasons but give as much as you can.

10. Feel free to share any other thoughts or ideas here:

If you have any last thoughts or ideas in which you can help the prospect you can list them here.  It is a real nice touch to leave a personal note too your prospect letting them know you care, are available to help and you can help them.  Sincerity is best...