Appointment Setting Tips

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• In order to book a solid weeks worth of appointments every week, you will need to work fresh leads at the beginning of each week mixed in with some follow up leads when possible. You must keep a consistent flow of new leads coming in without fail.

• If you plan on generating and working referrals, we recommend taking 20 - 30 new leads each week and phoning your leads on Sunday scheduling for Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday phoning your referrals scheduling for Thursday and Friday.

• If you plan on primarily working only leads throughout the week, we recommend taking 40 - 60+ leads phoning Saturday & Sunday scheduling for Monday - Thursday. 

• You should be shooting for 8 to 10 scheduled appointments for every day that you are in the field.

• Manage your territory and group your appointments so they are relatively close geographically. Ideally you should only be in one confined area per day. Never more than one county. If your leads cover multiple counties or areas, pick a different county/area to be in each day and book accordingly.

• The earliest you want to start phoning for the upcoming week is on Saturday. Calling on both Saturday and Sunday to ensure the rest of the week is loaded up with appointments is ideal. If you had to choose one day to dial, Sunday's afternoons are your best option. The closer you can schedule the appointment to the day you are calling, the better the chances are that your client will remember the appointment and be present when you arrive.  The farther out your appointment is scheduled, the higher your chances of getting stood up, or porched, on the appointment.

• Whatever day(s) you make as your appointment setting day, you MUST BLOCK OFF a dedicated window of time to doing nothing but smiling and dialing. Eliminate yourself from any distractions - family, television, etc. Be relentlessly focused when scheduling appointments.

• Recommended calling times is ANYTIME from 8:00am till 8:59pm. Never concern yourself about the possibility of your client sleeping, eating breakfast, bothering them at lunch or dinner. You simply never know who is available at any time throughout the day, regardless their age.

• Your appointment setting schedule / calling times should look like:  9am-12pm, 1-5pm and 6-9pm. If you cycle through all of your leads you should restart the list from the top. DO NOT take sections of your leads and focus on them one at a time. You should call all of your leads from top to bottom and then repeat each time you finish the list.

• DO NOT focus on customer service work or new business follow ups during calling hours.

• A good method for getting people to answer their phones is the 3X3 rule or Triple Tap Dial. The TTD is letting it ring 3 times 3 dials in a row. People who typically don't answer their phones become curious when they see the same number immediately call back a second or third time in a row.

• DO NOT start leaving voice messages until around the 20th attempt. By leaving people messages in your first handful of attempts, you are identifying yourself and in most cases, giving people a reason to avoid the "sales call". Once you've made a valiant effort to reach the prospect, then it is acceptable to start leaving messages that are short, sweet, and to the point. Less is more. "Hi Mary, this is John your Senior Benefits Coordinator. I'm getting back to you on your request so when you have a moment, I can be reached at XXX-XXX-XXXX. Thank you."

• When making contact with the prospect and unsuccessful in booking an appointment (not interested, too busy, can't afford it, already bought insurance, etc.) Door knock the lead a few days later anyway. 90% they were just putting you off over the phone but end up letting you in when you show up at their doorstep. When door knocking a lead that you made contact with over the phone, stay with the script. Don't divulge that you spoke with them over the phone just a day or two ago.