Getting Appointments to “Stick”

If you follow the steps outlined in this article and the prospect can’t make it to your meeting, he will reschedule rather than cancel.

By Bill Cates, CSP, CPAE

Don’t you hate it when you finally get a prospect to set an appointment for a meeting and they cancel, or even worse, are a “no show”? And do you ever find yourself reluctant to confirm an appointment for fear that it will give your prospects an opportunity to cancel?

This topic came up during a recent coaching call with a wealth-advisory group that is participating in my program. I’ll let you in on some of the ideas and the conversation we had, and I hope you will find them helpful for your own business.

The following are five steps you can take if you want your appointments to stick:

#1. Secure a solid introduction that piques the prospect’s interest. This is an underutilized strategy. Collaborate with your referral source for an introduction that truly entices the prospect to take your call and meet with you. Discuss with your referral source why they thought of this person and why they think they might be a good match for your business. Discuss what they need to say to the prospect (usually in the email introduction) to pique their interest.

Work with your referral source to create a highly relevant introduction and follow-up from you. Remember that if you’re not relevant, you’ll be ignored.

#2. Discuss the agenda with the prospect before the meeting. As you’re scheduling your first meeting with your prospect, discuss what they would like to cover at the meeting. What caught their interest enough to take your call and decide to meet with you? What might they like to accomplish in the first meeting? Build the agenda around their needs and wants, as well as your process.

#3. Create more engagement before the meeting. If you have an engaged prospect or client, it means that you have begun to establish a value connection and a personal connection . They like the questions you are asking, the concepts you’re covering and your responsiveness. They also feel good about you and believe that you’re being genuine and confident, but not pushy. Also, send something of value before the meeting, such as a (complianceapproved) guide, a checklist or a link to a short video. In addition, you can send a link to a website that is related to one of the prospect’s personal interests that you’ve discovered. Get the engagement process started quickly. the meeting. Keep the prospect engaged by showing the value, with you and with their agreement to meet with you.

#4. Keep your referral source engaged. You always want to keep your referral source in the loop as you follow up on their introductions. Let them know that you’ve set an appointment and see if they will put in another good word about you before the meeting by talking with, emailing or texting the prospect.

#5. Confirm both the meeting and the agenda with the prospect. When you confirm the meeting, reinforce what the prospect said they wanted to discuss or accomplish during

If you follow the steps outlined in this article and the prospect truly can’t make it to the meeting, rather than cancel the meeting or be a no show, they will reschedule the meeting. The steps outlined will create that all-important sense of engagement with you and reinforce your value.

Bill Cates is the President of, Referral Coach International at www.ReferralCoach.com . He is the author of Get More Referrals Now! Beyond Referrals, Radical Relevance , and the founder of The Cates Academy for Relationship Marketing. He works with financial professionals and their companies to increase sales by attracting high-quality clients through a steady and predictable flow of referrals.