Appointment Setting & Building Relationships
by Chris David, Founder, VentureStreet.com

Regardless of the business you are in, you need to continually set new appointments.  Schedule times to meet with both your existing clients and prospective clients.  All are important because they are critical to the relationship building process.  Here are some appointment setting suggestions...

You Need To Develop Relationships

Building new business and appointment setting are similar to growing trees.  Your first call to a prospect plants you in the mind of your prospect.  Your follow-up calls and meetings nurture and grow relationships.  Eventually these relationships turn into clients and if you are successful at making them "Raving Fans" they will start developing new clients for you. OK, so what the heck does that mean?  Here's an easy system to follow:

• At a minimum, set at least one appointment a week (if you are in sales, this needs to be at least three).
• At any given time, keep 10 contacts on your active appointment list (I suggest you keep this in a paper notebook).  Have a specific objective for each contact (you want to introduce yourself, send information, set an appointment).  My suggestion is...get in front of them somehow.  Meet them in person.  Anything less is taking the easy way out.  You need personal contact to build relationships.
• Each week make certain that you make 10 calls.  After you have made three unsuccessful attempts to a person, move them off the list and replace them with another prospect.
• After you have left three unreturned messages...put the person into your database so they can receive your ongoing marketing material and put them at the back of your list.
• Each time you speak to someone, follow-through on your objective with that person (appointment, etc), take them off your weekly list, and set a date to contact them again.  Replace them with another prospect.
• Every time a person comes off of your weekly list, update your electronic database and schedule the date of your next task with that person.

Simple and effective, but you have to be persistent.  Don't stop after you have had a successful round of calls.  Keep the flow going every week and you will generate a constant set of new appointments.

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