marketing guide and livecast recording on how to consistently get one to two new MSP or IT services clients a month . Does that sound like something you ’ d like to have ?”
No To Free Information : “ Okay , thank you for your time !” ( Hang up and mark “ Not Interested .”)
Yes To Free Information : “ Okay , great ! Along with this free program , we can also offer you a free , private , one-on-one consultation to review your specific situation and make suggestions about how to get more clients . During that session , we give you our proprietary marketing road map to IT services — it ’ s a plan we ’ ve developed over 20 years of working with well over 10,000 IT firms like yours . It shows you where to start and what is required to fully implement a working marketing plan . Would you like to also schedule that now in addition to us setting you up with the free program ?”
As you can see , we ’ re being very concise about what we can do and the benefit to the prospect . You should also notice we ’ re leading with free information FIRST , then offering the consultation . The free information will also “ sell ” them on the next step of a consultation , so if they get that material , there ’ s a high chance they ’ ll come back to book the appointment later .
What I would also encourage you to notice is how we ask , “ Is that something you ’ d like to have ?” IF they say NO , then we move on . Same with the appointment . I don ’ t want them trying to “ talk ” or pressure someone into being interested . It wears them out and annoys the prospect .
Step 4 : Know Your Numbers .
Another key area to look at if you ’ re failing at booking new appointments is your numbers — specifically the dials , connections , and activities you ’ re doing to get the appointments . Most are making far too few calls to get sufficient momentum and results . Then , to make it worse , they ’ re coming to a negative assumption on too small a data set .
From my experience , most people are GUESS- ING their numbers . They THINK they made about 100 calls . They THINK they talked to 10 people . They don ’ t know what objections they got , and they don ’ t know if they had any callbacks or what percentage of the list was “ bad ” ( wrong numbers , wrong person , wrong company , etc .).
You cannot improve what you cannot measure ( or won ’ t measure ). I would also suggest you don ’ t come to any conclusion about a list , offer , or script until you ’ ve TALKED TO at least 50 – 100 decision-makers . That means you might have to call 500 – 1,000 prospects to get the 50 conversations . If you make a decision on too small a data set , like talking to five people , you don ’ t have a statistically accurate test . MOST people give up way too early , assuming the list is bad , the offer doesn ’ t work , “ people ” aren ’ t interested , etc . Bull . Work on your script , delivery , and overall strategy until you get the right recipe of list , script , offer , and process .
Here are other things you can do to improve your results :
• Take a closer look at the list . Is it qualified ? ICE- COLD ? Obviously , an ice-cold list is going to be far less welcoming of your call than a list of unconverted leads you previously engaged with on a webinar or at a trade show in your marketing .
• Send a marketing piece in advance of the call . All things being equal , sending out a quality sales letter in advance of a call will soften the beachhead and improve the effectiveness of the call . It also gives you a reason to call .
• Stop obsessing and move on . Keep calling and let the “ nos ” roll off your back . If they tell you to take them off your list , then do it and call the next one . It ’ s ALL a numbers game , and you have to make up in activity what you lack in skill . If you ’ re so thin-skinned that all of this bothers you , get out of sales . n
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