I wanted to give you a sequence of words you could use to get you more of something you ardently desire and want more of.  I’m guessing that most of you would like to be sat in front of more of the right kind of people?

Earlier we covered building a prospect list and creating more opportunities, but ideally we want to be face-to-face for the best level of success. Appointments with the right kind of people are typically best achieved by picking up the phone. If you agree with ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get’, gaining appointments will come from asking for them. Think–you’re selling the appointment and not your product or service, as it’s unlikely your client will make a decision in that first meeting to part with their hard earned money. With that in mind, the ‘purpose’ of the script is to get to your face-to-face conversation.

When asking for an appointment, what you’re actually asking for is a short appointment. Now in your own mind, consider how long a short appointment is to you – it’s not an hour is it? It’s a shorter time. So using psychology, ask for one thing that people always love to give–their opinion. That’s the key thing you’re going to ask for when inviting somebody for an appointment.

These ideas will help you to see if your customers are open-minded. So think about this script–how could it go? I could be picking up the phone to you and the call would come through something like this:

‘Hi, it’s Phil calling, I’ve stumbled across your details and it seems that we both know (insert a name) and we might be able to help each other in business – I’ve got a couple of ideas that I’d like to bounce off you and could really do with 10-15 minutes of your time, I really value your opinion. Now if you’re open-minded to seeing how this might be able to work and how we might be able to help each other, I’m free Wednesday, Thursday next week, when suits you best?’ 

That’s quite a simple set of words to use:

• Mention a mutual acquaintance
• Ask for their opinion
• Ask for an appointment of a certain period of time
• See if they’re open-minded to take action
• Offer one or two dates because they will either pick one or suggest an alternative

Try those words, or similar, the next time you’re trying to get in front of somebody. Simply pick up the phone, and invite them to spend some time with you. Find out if there’s a genuine opportunity, then introduce your product and service, and then ask them to make a decision. But you’re selling the appointment first, and not the product or service.