By Executive Scheduling Associates CEO Mitch Santala
One of the most common questions we are asked when offering services to financial wholesalers is, "Do you guarantee meetings?"
During the 17 years we have supported financial wholesalers, we have discovered that guaranteeing a fixed number of appointments booked doesn't work for a few reasons. Too many factors are outside your appointment-setting service's control to make that promise.
Let’s imagine some possible scenarios... Maybe the new territory you just acquired from your company has been neglected by your predecessor, leaving a less-than-optimal service reputation for your scheduler as they try to get you into those offices. It's possible your company's product is currently performing poorly in the market, causing more turndowns than usual. Or, maybe your company's data is in poor shape, resulting in fewer live connects as your scheduler spends time finding missing data.
There are other risks associated with putting a guarantee on the number of appointments your scheduler must deliver. One of the biggest is shifting your focus from quality to quantity. Your calendar might get filled quickly but not necessarily with the right clients. The moment you put a guarantee on a number of appointments, you cause your scheduler to focus on the wrong goal, sacrificing quality over quantity.
Here is how to (almost) guarantee results and fill your calendar with both quality and quantity appointments.
Number one, measure targets not time.
The amount of time spent on a project isn't what gives support value. It's the work that's performed in the amount of time on a project that gives it value. When trying to (almost) guarantee results from your appointment-setting service, ask a few questions to ensure they're not using time as their sole value-add metric.
You could ask how many appointments they set for you during the last month. And how many activities or outbound attempts were sent out. And the number of logs entered into the contact database regarding the work performed on your account. These are measurements that can help you create context regarding the value your appointment-setting service is providing.
Number two, prepare your data like a chef.
If you want to (almost) guarantee results from your appointment-setting service, you need to think like a chef about your data. Ask your support team if it is fresh and clean. The greatest chefs will only produce mediocre cuisines with substandard ingredients. In the same way, a great scheduler will produce a second-rate calendar using questionable data.
When was the last time your data was refreshed? When was it updated with a segment list, ranking system, or the new producers in your territory? If you don't know the date of your last refresh, it's a good time for you to work with your scheduling service to develop the freshest data possible.
If you would enjoy watching more on this topic, click here.