Give YOURSELF Leverage When You Schedule Appointments

[InHomeComputerHelp.com]

Give YOURSELF Leverage When You Schedule Appointments


My first year of business was tough. I went in cold turkey, building up my business as I was paying bills and feeding the family. That had an affect on how I set appointments.


I would say things to the I'll get back to you thing like:


I hope to hear from you I could use the business.

Or when asked when I was free I'd say

My schedule is pretty clear what's good for you?




This from a guy with over 30+ years of sales experience and training. It's almost, no it is, embarrassing when I think of such rookie mistakes.


As I got busier, the way I set appointments changed and became more successful.


I told my future client when I was available
I told them my schedule could change in five minutes
Even my attitude changed which was me trying find an opening for them which they could hear in my voice.


Now I got less I'll get back to you's and more grateful thank you's for finding a slot for them.

Don't make the same rookie mistakes as I did when setting your appointments. People, no matter how they feel about your situation, want to work with someone successful. Someone who is busy and therefore appears to be in demand and successful.

Give your prospect a couple a choices for appointment times thus utilizing the choice close
I don't care if your schedule is clear for the week and you need this appointment to buy yourself and sandwich so you can eat that day,

YOU take the leverage
YOU take charge
YOU set the appointment

I know this is basic stuff to most of you as it actually was to me, but desperation sometimes makes one forget these basic psychological techniques which then places one further into a desperate situation.

God bless,

Rick

 

[mraikes]

Absolutely right. +1 (or whatever my "plus" is worth today).

 

[JustInspired]

Give YOURSELF Leverage When You Schedule Appointments


My first year of business was tough. I went in cold turkey, building up my business as I was paying bills and feeding the family. That had an affect on how I set appointments.


I would say things to the I'll get back to you thing like:


I hope to hear from you I could use the business.

Or when asked when I was free I'd say

My schedule is pretty clear what's good for you?




This from a guy with over 30+ years of sales experience and training. It's almost, no it is, embarrassing when I think of such rookie mistakes.


As I got busier, the way I set appointments changed and became more successful.


I told my future client when I was available
I told them my schedule could change in five minutes
Even my attitude changed which was me trying find an opening for them which they could hear in my voice.


Now I got less I'll get back to you's and more grateful thank you's for finding a slot for them.

Don't make the same rookie mistakes as I did when setting your appointments. People, no matter how they feel about your situation, want to work with someone successful. Someone who is busy and therefore appears to be in demand and successful.

Give your prospect a couple a choices for appointment times thus utilizing the choice close
I don't care if your schedule is clear for the week and you need this appointment to buy yourself and sandwich so you can eat that day,

YOU take the leverage
YOU take charge
YOU set the appointment

I know this is basic stuff to most of you as it actually was to me, but desperation sometimes makes one forget these basic psychological techniques which then places one further into a desperate situation.

God bless,

Rick

Sounds like my present self going back in time to tell my just-starting-out self what took me a while to find out.

So true. Listen to Rick.

Also, sounding confident on the phone or in person will help your potential client feel confident in you.

 

[lan101]

Yep this is great advice. I know my first two years I could almost always be right out but I would usually say something like, we might be able to fit you in during the afternoon or at the end of the day. Sometimes I didn't feel like doing a call that day so I would say, "we're tied up today, but could come by sometime tomorrow?"

No matter your personal situation, you always want to sound busy even if you are not. Also when I go somewhere, a lot of folks will ask how business is going or how's it been lately. My answer is almost always the same regardless. It's been staying pretty busy lately and things have been going well. If they get into more details I just tell them that like every job it has good times and not so good, but it pretty well evens out. So it's a good answer without being total BS either lol.

 

[frederick]

When I statted, I always made myself sound busy...

Never say someone cancelled. Always say you have a reschedule for this afternoon.
Never say you are just open. I have an open slot for 2, we can do a pickup then if you'd like.

 

[jmatt]

Take the opportunity to not only sound busy, but bigger.

"Tomorrow looks pretty busy but I'll schedule a man to be there at 3pm. If the day is real crazy I'll just come out there myself."

 

[frederick]

That's a good one.

 

[cypress]

This is a great reminder. I suffer from not saying I am busy at the moment. This has helped me to reflect how potential customers look at me.

Thank you for this! Going to adjust!

 

[RA|Consult]

It is interesting how, as humans, normally our first reaction is to jump to somebodies aide. But you are defenseless if you react this way. Great pointer, thank you very much!

 

[HFultzjr]

One thing I would like to add.

I can't stress enough as to how important it is to let your customer/client know if you will be running late. Call as far in advance and let them know the situation you are in (we all have them). DO NOT just show up late and expect to get a warm welcome with no advance notice. Customers are as busy as we are and time is important to them as it is to us.

Communication, communication, communication......goes a long way in keeping people happy.

If you are going to miss your scheduled time, it's much better to find out you may need to re-schedule before you travel 1/2 hour, fight traffic, parking, etc., then find out you need to re-schedule because YOU are running late.

Most of my customers appreciate the call, understand that things happen, and will gladly accommodate. Never had one yet that liked being surprised by showing up late without warning. That tells them that they were not important enough for even a phone/text update.

 

[Martyn]

One thing I would like to add.

I can't stress enough as to how important it is to let your customer/client know if you will be running late. Call as far in advance and let them know the situation you are in (we all have them). DO NOT just show up late and expect to get a warm welcome with no advance notice. Customers are as busy as we are and time is important to them as it is to us.

Communication, communication, communication......goes a long way in keeping people happy.

If you are going to miss your scheduled time, it's much better to find out you may need to re-schedule before you travel 1/2 hour, fight traffic, parking, etc., then find out you need to re-schedule because YOU are running late.

Most of my customers appreciate the call, understand that things happen, and will gladly accommodate. Never had one yet that liked being surprised by showing up late without warning. That tells them that they were not important enough for even a phone/text update.

Good point, I always do it even for 10 minutes and often get a 'thanks for letting me know'. People are busy and 10 minutes waiting is lost time

 

[jmatt]

I can't stress enough as to how important it is to let your customer/client know if you will be running late.

Absolutely. If me or one of the guys are going to be 15 minutes late or more, a call is required. It's an easy way to show you care.

And I used to try to be the prince of customer service and call a few days later to say hi and see if everything was okay. Problem is it opens a can of worms for all of the *other* crap they didn't pay you to fix but will now take the opportunity to either blame on you or sit and 'just pick your brain' for 20 minutes trying fix without paying.

In a similar vein, I've had strangers call me out of the blue and expect me to talk them through their computer problems for free. "Is this technical support? I'm trying to get Excel to compute present value in a formula and I need someone to explain how it's done. See, I have these six variables and..."

 

[callthatgirl]

When clients call in hoping for same time assistance, I've tried to always say "Let's put some time on our calendars, I like to insure I have enough time to get the work done interrupted". Meaning, I am busy now, but can book the appt.

Most business clients understand the importance of a tight calendar and for billing purposes. Adds a professional touch in my opinion.

 

[Chadi]

You'll have to be careful with this technique though and if you do it, do it right and with confidence and be tactful

I've been on the other end of the conversation myself (with sales people) and I could see through when they're BS'ing their schedule

 

[JasonM]

I love the phsycology involved in making your services appear as important and as needed as you need them to be. Its the subtle things like this that make a huge difference in the eyes of your customers.

I know from my own experiences in business that my customers almost always react in the way I want them to when they are sold on the idea that I am extremely busy but can make time for them. Even when I don't have anything else to do (they don't need to know the truth). They are almost always grateful and pleasant when I show up to help.

 

[JasonM]

You'll have to be careful with this technique though and if you do it, do it right and with confidence and be tactful

I've been on the other end of the conversation myself (with sales people) and I could see through when they're BS'ing their schedule

You definitely need to be able to read the situation and the customer, no doubt.

 

[Digital Sage]

Great advice. Make yourself scarce and valuable. Doesn't always work (some people expect they can get it done today), but most of the time it does.

In the past nine months i've learnt that by sounding busy (& i actually am with my main job, and other commitments) then people know that you're booked out and surely that's a good thing.

Also, when a previous client emails or calls wanting 'some quick advice' i usually don't get back to them straight away. Most of the time they'll sort out these simple problems themselves.

You've got to train people, really.

Of course you get people who expect free advice, this week has been a shocker for that. I just repeat the same line 'look, i can't advise you on that' 'as i said, i cannot advise you on that' or 'i'm happy to make a booking but i don't give out advice without first looking at your system'. After they repeat the same question over and over, and i give them the same answer, they just give up. Some people have the stupidest expectations... Freetards.

 

[InHomeComputerHelp.com]

I love the term freetards that's great

 

[Rosco]

YEa the more busy you look the better. I used to fake it but now i am really busy. If you sound confident you will most likely get the job. If you sound like you don't know what you are talking about they will do somewhere else.

 

[CDOTR]

This may be taking this thread a little off-topic.

I'm curious how others might handle this.

I had a call today (Sunday) from a prospective residential client. He has the RCMP/FBI/IRS scareware on his computer. The call was first received by our call centre. Then I called him back and got his voice mail. I left a message and he called me back.

I tend not to work on Sunday's unless it is very special circumstances, and tomorrow is Thanksgiving Monday. In the province I live in its customary that most businesses are closed. All B2B businesses, and a majority of retail businesses are closed. Drug stores, gas stations, and restaurants are generally open.

When he called back at 4:30 PM he expected that I would schedule an appointment for the same day or for Monday, which as I noted most people will be off.

If I were working a 9-5 job and I worked on a Monday which is considered a statutory holiday I would receive overtime or a day off elsewhere in my schedule.

How do you leverage your schedule and make a very insitant person agree to an appointment during the next business day?

I look forward to your responses!

Cheers,
Chris