CHRISISM #83 - Only Sell an Appointment

22 January 2019

When seeking to make a first appointment with someone you haven’t met before, whether it is a red hot referral or a relatively cool lead, there are certain basic rules that need to be followed in order to maximise your chance of making the appointment – and one of those basic rules is to remember that you are only selling an appointment.

When making a prospecting call we need to keep in mind the fact that it is human nature to resist commitment – especially commitment to time or money, which is a bit inconvenient for us, isn’t it, because when we are looking to make an appointment with someone we are seeking a commitment of that person’s time, and when we are looking to do business with someone we are looking for a commitment of that person’s money!

So is it really that surprising that we have to overcome resistance all the way through the engagement process?! And of course that engagement process all starts with the initial prospecting call. Therefore, because it is human nature to resist commitment, if we give a prospect the opportunity of putting up the shutters and saying “No”, we can be certain that they will take that opportunity, and that is why it so important that we are only selling an appointment – or to put it another way:- we are only selling an opportunity to meet with us on a totally non-committal basis.

Because your prospect will not be able to justify turning down an invitation to meet with you on a totally non committal basis simply to see if you can help them in any way, provided you are smiling down the phone (see Chrisism#74), it is crucial that you remember that you are only selling an appointment.

This is why your prospect will want to know exactly how you may be able to help them, because as soon as you go down the path of offering specific products or services that could be of benefit to them, you have now given them ‘hooks’ on which to hang a lack of interest, thereby giving them the justification for turning down your invitation. So, if asked to be more specific as to how you may be able to help them, you simply explain that this exploration of how you may be able to help them would be the exact purpose of the appointment – “So have you got your diary handy?”

Remember – the sole purpose of a prospecting call is to motivate your prospect to want to meet with you on a totally non committal basis to see how you might be able to help them. It is not to wax lyrical about all the wonderful products and services you can offer, because you can only do that once you have done a comprehensive face to face fact find.

The Risk Workshop by Chris Unwin

Are you a financial adviser who would like all of your clients to have appropriate types and levels of personal protection? But perhaps you feel you need a more structured and client friendly engagement process?