What Is Appointment Setting?
Appointment setting is the process of contacting businesses and individuals to find interested buyers to set up sales meetings. The contacts are typically taken from a list of previously generated leads. The goal is to turn interested prospects into warm leads. From there, you and your sales team turn those warm leads into satisfied customers and grow your company. Appointment setting is the first impression you make on potential customers, so it is absolutely crucial that it is done efficiently and successfully.
Benefits of Outsourcing Appointment Setting
Managing a business is a demanding job that requires you to focus on an enormous array of individual tasks. Outsourcing the aspects of your business that don’t require your expertise saves you time, energy, and expenses. Some of the benefits of outsourcing appointment setting include:
- Dedicated talent: In-house appointment setting requires that you either train a team specifically for appointment setting or train your sales reps to take care of it. One option comes with the cost of training and possibly inexperienced workers. The other leaves your sales people less time to focus on their primary job – closing the deal. Outsourcing your appointment setting puts the work in the hands of a trained, experienced team dedicated to appointment setting.
- Cost effectiveness: Training a team or employee might seem like the less expensive option, but that is not necessarily true. Additional employees have onboarding and training costs and there is no guarantee of how long they may stay. By outsourcing, you pay only for the services rendered and never have to worry about time off, paying for benefits and salary, or employee turnover.
- Expanded service: It is difficult to break into new markets and expand your customer base. An appointment setting service gives you access to a broad range of potential clients from various locations, helping to grow your business.
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How Much Does an Appointment Setting Service Cost?
The price of appointment setting services varies, as different companies have different methods of charging.
- For companies that charge by the hour, the average cost of appointment setting services is between $25 and $75 per hour.
- Companies that charge by the month typically base their pricing structure around the amount of time worked, the complexity of the script, and the number of calls being made. The averages cost for 100 calls per month is between $300 and $500 per month.
- Companies that charge by the appointment charge between $15 and $100 per appointment.
Other costs include:
- Setup fees, which cover the cost of campaign strategies and script development, have an average cost between $300 and $500.
- If you do not have your own list of leads, the service may offer its own, which comes with an average cost between $100 and $1,000.
Some providers charge a flat fee, which varies from company to company and is based on the complexity of the script and amount of work being done.
What to Look for in an Appointment Setting Service
Price is an important factor when purchasing any product or service, but it should never be your only consideration. When choosing an appointment setting service, keep an eye out for qualities such as:
- Communication skills: Appointment setting may not be the sale itself, but part of the process is convincing potential clients to choose your company. Make sure your service is staffed with employees who are able to provide clear explanations and details about your business without overloading prospects with information.
- Experience: One of the main reasons to outsource any aspect of your business is to ensure it is handled by experienced professionals. You want a service that has experienced and talented workers that can grow your business.
- Reporting: You never really know if an outsourced company is doing a good job unless you review their performance. A good appointment setting service should provide detailed reports about metrics such as call length, call volume, and the number of hangups to give you an idea of how they’re doing.