If you’re a busy founder and don’t have the time to book sales meetings yourself, or you don’t have an in-house sales team, you might want to consider hiring a B2B appointment-setting company.
An appointment-setting agency will schedule appointments or meetings for businesses with potential clients.
Salesbread isn’t exactly an appointment-setting service, but it is something we offer our clients if they ask for it.
Our main goal is to find qualified sales leads for businesses.
This article will share everything you need to know about b2b appointment setting and the lead-generation strategy we use to book 1 lead per day for our clients.
If you use the same strategy, we’re pretty sure you will be able to generate at least 1 qualified sales lead per day for your company.
Or you could just hop on a free 15-minute strategy call with Salesbread, and we can help you find qualified appointments.
(P.S: If you’re not interested in our strategy and are just looking for some of the best appointment-setting companies read this article: Top 10 Appointment-Setting Companies in the U.S.)
What is appointment setting?
B2B appointment setting and lead generation are integral components of the sales process. It involves finding the right customers.
Ie: Clients who need what you’re selling, who have the budget and who have the buying power.
Next, you will need to engage with these prospects and finally, nurture potential clients or decision-makers to schedule meetings or presentations.
This process significantly contributes to filling the sales pipeline with qualified leads and expediting the sales cycle.
What key strategies do appointment setters use and what challenges do they face?
The number one most important factor for successful B2B appointment setting is understanding and finding the right target audience.
This is where prospecting and in-depth list-building come in.
You can’t have a basic list and expect to book 20+ leads per month.
The video below goes into detail on how we build prospecting lists for our clients.
We encourage salespeople to have a look at WHO has purchased their company’s products or services within the past 6 months.
Once you have this data, you can then analyze it by looking for patterns between buyers.
This will help you build look-alike lists of accounts to go after.
We will go into list building in more detail further on in the article.
Next, you will need to establish effective communication channels. So think about which channels your audience spends most of their time on.
You could reach out to them via:
- Linkedin messaging
- SMS
- Cold calling
- Other social media channels, like Instagram or Twitter.
Once you have established which channels you will be using, you will then have to craft killer outreach messages that are NOT salesy.
Think of compelling value propositions, and employ personalized outreach techniques.
This means not sending the same automated sales email or outreach message to every single person on your list, but rather researching each prospect, and finding something very specific to mention about them in your message.
(This article goes into more detail on how to write personalized outreach messages that convert.)
Once your messages have been sent, you have to follow up with the prospect and ask for a booked call.
This could be as simple as saying:
- “Would you be available next week for a quick 5-minute chat?”
- “Is this something that you might be interested in?”
- “Send me your calendar link and I will book an appointment.”
What challenges might B2B appointment setters face?
Challenges often include identifying the right decision-makers, facing rejection, and optimizing the process for efficiency and effectiveness.
Understanding the B2B Sales Cycle and Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
The B2B sales cycle typically involves stages like lead generation, prospect nurturing, appointment setting, presentations, and deal closure. Understanding and addressing each stage strategically is vital for successful conversions.
Defining an Ideal Customer Profile helps with precise targeting and resource allocation.
It outlines the characteristics of businesses or individuals most likely to benefit from the offered products or services, ensuring focused and efficient outreach efforts.
You also have to think about your client’s pain points. What keeps them up at night and how can your product or service help their “bleeding neck” problem?
When you recognize the challenges, concerns, and requirements that your potential clients are facing, it will help you tailor your solutions or outreach strategy in a way that directly addresses their needs.
Identifying pain points allows for more personalized and persuasive communication during the sales process, and this in turn will lead to more booked appointments.
Lead Generation Strategies to try for more booked appointments
At Salesbread we focus on Linkedin and cold email outreach. The approach below has helped us generate close to 7000 qualified sales leads for our clients.
You can read some of the case studies below:
Our methodology is simple, but it does take time and research for our b2b lead generation strategy to work effectively.
This “secret sauce” appointment-setting strategy guarantees 1 lead per day, and we have various case studies to prove it. (
So how do we book appointments for our clients?
Well, before we can actually book the appointment, we have to nab the client first, and it all starts with building the perfect list of prospects for our clients.
Step 1: Build an ultra-refined list of potential customers.
Before we build a list of customers for our clients, we always ask them who has purchased their product or service over the past 6 months.
This allows us to find patterns between prospects who are actually buying.
We look at whether they are all in a specific location, or if they are using a certain type of CRM, or whether or not they have a certain amount of employees working for them.
It’s all about seeing patterns and then targeting the right people.
(Whether it’s the decision-makers at a company or even just targets for referrals, we will find them.)
Remember, there is no point in trying to target teachers if you’re selling medical equipment.
So, sending out thousands of emails or LinkedIn messages to a random list of people and just hoping some will take, does not work anymore.
So we define the list over and over again until it’s perfect.
The video below explains this process in detail.
We will then show the list to our clients and ensure it meets their approval. If our clients are happy, we then start with the next step in our sales process.
Step 2: Plug the list into LinkedIn Sales Navigator and connect with the right people.
As mentioned before we are not a cold calling agency and there is no phone involved when we set up meetings.
Instead, we make use of the social media platform, Linkedin, and cold email to find our sales leads.
If we don’t get replies via Linkedin or email, we will even send out SMSs to catch their attention.
We filter our list by second-degree connections and by those who have recently posted something on Linkedin within the last 30 days.
This ensures that they are active on the platform, and don’t miss your message. If the prospect isn’t active on Linkedin, we will then add them to an email outreach campaign.
Step 3: Next, we write personalized messages.
Did you know that Salebread has a full-time research and personalization expert on their marketing team? This means that all they do is research each prospect and write a personalized message for them.
When you throw something personal about a prospect into a message, it’s very hard for them to ignore it.
Personalization creates curiosity and engagement.
It helps the prospect see that there is a real person on the other side of the screen and not just some robot, sending out thousands of the same messages to people.
Because of this, our lead rate is about 1 lead per day for each client.
(Need some free personalized LinkedIn connection templates? Go here.)
Step 4: Follow up 3 times – 6 times and ask for booked a meeting
Once we have gotten a prospect to connect with us, we will then follow up with them 3- 6 times. In our next few messages, we will add in more personalization, and throw in a value proposition.
We never sell in our messages, but rather just get a foot in the door, for further discussions.
In our messages, we speak about the prospect 90% of the time and only 10% about ourselves for reference.
In these follow-up messages, our sales reps always ask for a meeting.
Here are some ways in which we do so:
- How about a quick call to discuss this?
- Would a quick 10-minute call work for you? (time and date)
- Send me your calendar link and I will book an appointment to chat.
- Can I arrange with you P.A to book a quick call?
Follow-up templates
Below are some follow-up templates you can use for your outreach:
1. {{!First Name}} good to connect, By the way, congrats on your new role at {{company name.}}
2.Good to connect {{!First name}}. By the way, what are your favorite hiking spots these days? Saw you’re in charge of account management, do you also handle clip reports {{to keep clients updated?}} Or am I way off?
3.{{!First Name}}, good to connect. By the way, happy to give you an intro to anyone in my network now that we’re connected. I’ve been doing some research on {{pain points}} We provide {{solution}}.Since we’re newly connected, I’d like to share this post with you: {{Share a link that’s helpful from your website.}} P.S. It explains {{XYZ}}
4.Hi {{!First Name}}, If you could help {company_name} with {{solving pain point}} would that be worth a short conversation?
5.Thanks for connecting {{!First Name}}. I’d love to connect outside of Linkedin too. Very curious to hear about where you get most of your {{tool}}. What does your calendar look like over the next week or two to connect? PS: For background, my company does {{XYZ}}.
Does this work? Here are some replies that we have gotten recently from prospects.
What happens when a prospect wants to schedule a meeting?
If prospects show interest in chatting more, our SDRs will share our client’s calendar link (usually Calendly) with prospects to set meetings.
All our clients have to do is show up for the meeting and close the B2B sale.
Other ways in which B2B appointment-setting services can generate leads
Inbound Marketing
Inbound strategies involve attracting prospects through content, SEO, and providing valuable
resources, whereas outbound methods include direct outreach through emails, calls, and social media targeting.
Utilizing diverse platforms such as content marketing, email campaigns, social media engagement, and targeted outreach aids in reaching and engaging potential clients at various touchpoints in the buying journey.
B2B Appointment Setting Techniques
Cold calling and cold emailing strategies:
These techniques involve reaching out to prospects without prior interaction. Cold calling focuses on phone conversations, while cold emailing involves initiating contact through email.
Appointment setting process and best practices:
The process includes initial contact, presenting a value proposition, proposing a meeting time, and confirming the appointment.
Best practices involve personalized communication, active listening, and prompt follow-ups.
You can make use of efficient scheduling tools and follow-up strategies to ensure seamless coordination for setting appointments and maintaining communication for confirmations or rescheduling, enhancing the chances of successful meetings.
Should you Outsource Appointment Setting Services?
There are various pros and cons of outsourcing B2B appointment-setting services.
For example, outsourcing offers access to specialized expertise, cost-effectiveness, and scalability but may pose challenges related to maintaining brand consistency and control over the process.
When it comes to choosing the right sales appointment agency have a look at their expertise in the industry, their track record of success, alignment with your business goals, transparency in their operations, and adherence to quality standards.
Also, ask them if they have been able to book appointments in your industry and whether they have some in-depth case studies to share with you.
Read this article: 10 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Cold Email Agency
Need 1 guaranteed booked appointment per day? Get in touch below.
By Salesbread qualifying your prospects, we can guarantee 1 lead per day.
Because our lead generation service includes ultra-refined prospecting lists and expert personalization, we have managed to book close to 7000 sales-qualified leads in the past 24 months for our clients.
If you don’t want to worry about this process yourself and would like to just focus on closing deals, book a free 15-minute strategy call below.