sales

How to Ask for an Appointment with an Email Cold Call

October 28, 2013

When sending an initial email to a potential client, you may feel that because you have not established a relationship with the prospect that you cannot request an appointment too soon. The truth is many salespeople are creating very effective emails that are putting them in the best possible position to get those appointments time after time. Here are some very effective strategies created by Jill Konrath, that will help you to get better results from your email campaigns.

When you end your email asking the prospective client to call you back, you are putting them in the position to wonder why. They will think to themselves that calling you back will result in some type of sales pitch, and they simply do not have the time to deal with that at this moment. The way to close your cold call email should read more like you are simple continuing the conversation from the email, and that you are not aggressively pushing products on them. Jill also says simply telling your prospect that you have some time on this Friday at 3pm, that you will reach out to them and hope to continue the conversation, reads much better than call me back.

Jill also says that if you can connect the prospect to another employee within the organization, it shows you are doing your homework. Ending your email by telling the prospect that you will reach out to Kim, the assistant, to see if the prospect has free time on Friday, is a great way to continue the conversation. You are following the correct protocol and not intruding on their busy schedule. The prospect feels a personal connection by way of their assistant, and this in turn opens the door to your appointment.

End you email by telling the prospect when you have some free time, and would it be good to talk then. You are still asking them to do something but it is very minimal and simply requires them to check their appointment book. If you can give them a week to set up an appointment you will have a much better chance of finding an open spot on their calendar. Try giving them an option of two weeks out, so they can now make a decision on which day is best for them. By offering a prospect the choice of two dates you are putting them in the position to choose one or the other, a much better option than yes and no.

You can also increase your chances of getting those appointments by following up the morning of your appointment with a follow up email that your appointment is today. That allows the prospect the opportunity to reply back if something did come up, and to reschedule. It also shows that you care enough to remind them and that will be remembered at your appointment. When you have made three or more attempts at an appointment to no avail, it is usually best to begin contacting another employee within the company. Your prospect may simply have a big project or unforeseen circumstances, a polite email that you were sorry it did not work out is the professional way to move on.

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