Appointment setting is a critical part of lead generation.
For a lot of campaigns, it’s the first time that there’ll be one-on-one contact between a prospect and your organization.
And, there’s a lot of ways it can go well – or fail.
In this guide, we’ll talk about how to create appointment setting scripts that work and throw in a template that’s never failed us.
So, can we have a couple of minutes of your time for growth?
Thanks!
Let’s get cracking.
(Note: In this guide, we’ll tackle appointment setting via phone call, but you don’t have to limit it to that, we also have upcoming guides for Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms.)
The Role of an Appointment Setting Script
Appointment setting is a foundational part of lead generation because it serves as the precursor to the sales discovery call.
Its main goal is to make sure that an appointment is booked with a prospect.
But, that’s not all it does.
An appointment setting script will have three main roles:
- It Helps the Prospect Get to Know You – This is an opportunity for the organization to show the prospect a little bit of the company culture. Your assigned appointment setter can be fun, serious, jolly, etc., and you can even highlight some of the company values via predetermined spiels.
- It Helps With Lead Qualification – Not all the leads coming through your funnel will be perfect, that’s why an appointment setting script has elements of lead qualification engineered in them. This will help the sales team assess if the organization is a good fit for the prospect or if they should pass on the leads.
- It Helps With Gathering Additional Information – Apart from qualification, you can also use this time to find out a couple more details about the prospect. You can even check out their personality and make notes for the closer teams.
Check out our ultimate guide to sales scripts!
The Sample Script
We’ve outlined the script that we use here and you can edit it as much as you want. We’ve marked them as quotes to help you go through them quickly.
Opening Statement
Hi! My name is *appointment setter’s name* from *business name”.
Start off simply. You don’t need anything elaborate at this point.
Make sure your appointment setter puts up some energy when they greet the prospect, this really sets the tone right.
Note: if you’re recording the call, you have to let them that you’re doing so.
Is this *lead/prospect’s name*?
*give them some time to respond*
Verify that you are indeed taking to the intended prospect or else you’re wasting time. If it’s a gatekeeper, ask them how you can reach the lead or if they can help you schedule the next call.
Hi *lead name*!
Always greet them by their first name, it helps build rapport and shows that the organization being represented is friendly.
OPTIONAL: How have you been?
*give them some time to respond*
If you’re going to use a phrase like “how are you?” or some other similar greeting, we advise that you stick to this one. It catches the prospect off guard, and if the delivery is right, can elicit a favorable response.
If you decide on skipping it, it’s a nice addition to the sales discovery call itself.
I’m calling because I see that you signed up for more information regarding *your offer*
Always tell your prospect why you’re calling, that’s just good courtesy.
Also, a reminder is always a good move because there’s a good chance that they might have forgotten about your offer.
You want to tell them that they’re the ones who signed up in the first place, this helps disarm them and makes them more open to the call.
I wanted to ask if you had any questions that I could answer about our service?
Make sure that you have a script ready for FAQs about your organization, you should also have a quick one-sentence elevator pitch.
This opens the door for a two-way conversation, which is really important in any sales call. The more your prospect talks, the more comfortable they are with you, and the more rapport is built.
It also gives the appointment setter time to listen to possible questions and make notes for the closers.
If they don’t have a lot of questions or none at all, that’s perfectly fine. You can move onwards to the qualification stage or the appointment setting.
Qualification
The inclusion of a qualification section in appointment setting scripts is entirely optional.
However, a qualification stage allows appointment setters to decide which closer the prospect should be handed off to, or which solutions they should be offered.
Also, if there were only a couple of questions in a lead generation form on the landing page that the prospect came from, having qualification questions makes sense.
Here’s what.
You don’t really need a qualification stage if you have a lead generation campaign that only brings in targeted leads, but they can add a good latter of verification.
I just have a couple of questions that should take about a minute or two. I hope that’s cool…
*move to your qualification questions*
Prep your prospects before you start bombarding them with questions.
Also, before they can protest, the appointment setter should already be asking the first qualification question.
Sample Question 1: What industries are you currently catering to?
Sample Question 2: How does your conversion rate look like?
Sample Question 3: What are your current lead generation bottlenecks?
Scheduling
Scheduling the main purpose of the appointment setting script.
And, it’s pretty easy to do on the phone.
Once you’re done with the introduction or the introduction plus qualification, you can immediately jump onto scheduling.
Thanks for answering our quick questions, you’re the best!
I’ll put you down for a scheduled call with our *business owner/closer/founder/account executive* who can get you started with us.
I’m looking at the calendar, and we’ve got free time on *suggest two days*, do those dates work?
*wait for response*
Always give them options, but limit those options so that there’s a little urgency. If they don’t mind any of those two days, make sure you book the nearest date.
Sounds good! We can put you down for *the agreed date*, are you alright with an appointment in the morning or afternoon?
*wait for response*
During this time, you should be able to check out the available times that the closer has.
Alright, this is great. Just to confirm, we’ll see you on *day* at *date*.
Closing Statement
Great work.
The lead has been booked.
Now it’s time to end everything on a high note and get them excited for the meeting!
Here’s a simple way to say goodbye:
Thank you, again, *lead name* for answering all our questions, and we’re looking forward to speaking with you on *meeting day* at *meeting time*.
This last little confirmation of the time slot really helps.
Do you have questions about anything else?
*answer their last batch of questions, if any*
Nice!
Looking forward to it!
Takeaways
Appointment setting scripts are this easy!
They don’t have to be filled with fluff or use a lot of psychology to get the job done.
By being direct, friendly, and respectful, you can create scripts that sound sincere and resonate with your prospect.
You see the goal is to build a real connection from the very beginning.
The first voice that they hear from the company will come from the first appointment setting call.
That’s why this call is so important.
So, whatever you do.
Make sure you try and connect with your prospects.
