The last thing a new business Salesperson wants is to go to a first appointment that has no 'active project with budget' and is therefore a waste of their time.
We understand that Sales Directors want as many good deals won with continuity and Finance Directors want to ensure Cost of Sale is minimised throughout the entire business, to improve the bottom line (from both ends).
At Reflex IT Marketing, we strive to ensure that every appointment we make for a client really counts and a salesperson is delighted to add to their potential prospect list, after the very first visit.
We eliminate the pain from both identifying key prospects and agreeing appointments that sales personnel will find to be of great added value.
Some surveys suggest that as many as 73% of leads passed from Marketing to Sales are rejected by Sales - much of the time because the timing is not right.
At Reflex IT Marketing, 95%+ of our leads that are passed to Sales teams are ACCEPTED by our respective client Sales teams!
With the majority of campaigns that we execute for our clients, the onus for a great quality sales leads is on 'appointments with project and/or budget' if possible.
This way, the very best leads are qualified favourably and there is an ongoing ripple effect, of a far higher conversion ratio from first appointment, to becoming a hot prospect – as we have removed the bulk of the ‘Marketing cycle’ with correct qualification and discipline, enabling our Marketing clients to hand over our leads to Sales at the right time for the ‘Sales-cycle proper’ to commence.
We simply do not see the value in making appointments just for the sake of it. It wastes valuable Sales and Marketing resource in time, budgets, increases cost of sale and creates a lot of tension between the Sales and Marketing team members.
So think very carefully about people that say they can make at least one appointment per day for you! Chances are they can, but these appointments are poorly qualified, so often won’t have a project with budget and are therefore most definitely no use to any Sales team!
As with all things, there are exceptions to the rule. Sometimes, some clients don’t mind having appointments with a primary target if it just gets them through the door, as some clients play the ‘long-term card’ and sell to their targets in a different way – with business health checks or having the opportunity in a face to face situation to demonstrate significant know-how and empathy with a target, for example.
Time should be of the essence for all! The sooner a target with a need is identified 'and is a good match for a relevant supplier' to convert them to a new customer, the better.