3 Tips to Set More Appointments Over the Phone!

When was the last time that you looked at the phone-based activity of your reps?  If you are not on top of the inbound phone-based sales calls that are being conducted by your reps, then it is nearly impossible for you, as a sales leader, to coach your team to success.To avoid wasting opportunities over the phone, it is crucial that sales managers take a calculated approach to improving calls-to-appointment conversion rates. Here is a three-step, data-driven approach to help you set more appointments this year.

I. It’s all About the Phone

Evaluating your reps’ behavior on the phone is the first step to more effectively improve contact to appointment conversion.  To start, take a customer-centric approach. Instead of pushing your product or proposition, focus on your customer’s needs, challenges, and objectives. Further, call at the right time, when your prospects are available, and call the right people. Sales reps need to be able to have an actual conversation, be able to engage, ask questions, and understand their prospective client, not just follow a script. Better messaging means better accountability and a higher sense of trust for the customer. Engage with prospects and build the value of setting an appointment.

2. Implement Call Tracking

While it is effective, changing behaviors simply isn’t enough. Managers need to be able to track these changes to monitor adherence and effectiveness, and continue to improve their team’s performance. Call tracking provides accurate insight into the day-to-day activities of a sales team to improve how reps communicate over the phone. Deploying a call-tracking system enables managers to identify behavior patterns, those that work and those that do not. This allows them to better coach and train reps to adhere to these behaviors and find greater success on the phone.

Managers can then use these insights to improve sales scripts and hone in on how to best deliver their offer. So, gather and standardize calling activity data across your organization. Pinpoint words, phrases, tones, best practices, and patterns to better manage your team and make more educated business decisions. The greater insight into calling best practices can, in turn, increase productivity and future revenue potential.

3. Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Using data collected through call tracking, implement specific KPIs tailored to your team’s unique goals, such as call attempt frequency or contacts to set appointment. Adopting a sales intelligence technology will improve the accuracy of sales KPIs, and implementing KPIs will reinforce the behaviors and patterns of success determined through call tracking. Managers need the right metrics to look at to effectively manage and grow their teams. Using KPIs built to their team’s specific goals will allow them to accurately track progress, prioritize, and hone in on key metrics to set benchmarks for their team.

Set More Appointments

Increasing the success of your reps on the phone means increasing your business’ overall success. If you can adjust the behavior or your reps based on accurate data proven to yield results, you are well on your way to managing a team of superstars. Make sure to enforce these specifically tailored metrics designed to move the sales conversation along and your efforts will yield real results. Improving sales call conversion rates means more appointments, thus creating opportunities for more deals and a greater revenue potential.