SDR Appointment Setting

“I am an SDR calling to schedule appointments. What do I do if a prospect wants to do most of the talking through email?”

If you have a prospect that refuses to get on the phone, it means you have not piqued their interest enough to the point where they are willing to talk. The prospect is being guarded, just like anyone would, when being contacted by a salesperson.

Here is how you solve this:

1) Does the prospect match your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) and I mean DO THEY MATCH?

Prospecting for new business can be dreadful if it is not done right. The first step in successful prospecting is to know who your target audience is. Do not make the mistake of thinking, “everyone is a prospect.” You want to go after the prospects that yield the highest % of win rates for yourself and your company. So you need to know how to pick your zebra out of the herd.

You start by identifying what the top three Titles of those who are almost always involved in the decision-making process are.

You should also know Industry, Location, Company Size, and Annual Revenue of your most frequent client.

These are the basics for an ICP.

Build your prospecting list with high probable targets that have the problems your solutions solve, and you will set more appointments.

2) Get to first base before trying to set the appointment.

Meaning, instead of calling and trying to set the appointment, focus on piquing interest to get a sales conversation started.

Once you get the conversation started and you and the prospect identify a problem, then set the appointment.

3) If you do have a prospect that meets your ICP and requests to discuss things via email first, grab the opportunity they are giving you and take another crack at piquing their interest. If they don’t want to play ball, don’t chase prospects that do not want to be caught.

Go after the low hanging fruit with the phone and use automated sales tools to nurture leads until they become hand-raisers.

– Michael Pedone

Michael Pedone teaches inside sales teams how to pick up the phone and close business. He is the CEO/FOUNDER of SalesBuzz.com – An online sales training company.