Residential Metal Roofing Executive Report

Setting Appointments

Issue #111 | October 10, 2018 | Todd Miller

In this issue of the Residential Metal Roofing Executive Report, we’re tackling a subject that I think most home improvement contractors do not pay enough attention to – appointment setting. Done properly, appointment selling can be a huge driver for your organization. Before we start that topic though, I want to tell you about an important upcoming opportunity – a conference call we have set for Thursday, October 18 at 11 am Eastern.

This conference call will feature Dane Sander of HD Marketing. Dane will be covering the following topics during this call – all to give you impactful ideas for powerful lead generation:

Are you looking for a lucrative, powerful, and strategic campaign to help your business grow? 90% of the roofing industry gain leads from repairs that need to be made on consumers’ roofs. In this call, we will learn the difference between lead generation and lead conversion as well look at ad samples that can be used for highly-converting offers. You will learn a ridiculously valuable roof repair claim offer that is generating sales around the country and you will learn about how much it should cost you to generate leads, and the return you should expect to close from those leads.

To attend this call with Dane Sander, please dial in to 857-232-0476 and enter the code 332616 on Thursday, October 18 at 11 am eastern.

Now, let’s talk about Appointment Setting as part of our ongoing series regarding “What Does It Take To Be Successful?” Throughout 2018, we have been taking a look at core attributes of successful home improvement contractors. In previous issues, we have looked at Business Systemization, Professionalism, Commitment, Knowing Your Numbers, Marketing and Lead Generation, Referral Maximization, Gaining Local Expert Status, Total Industry Knowledge, Lead Qualification, and Leadership.

For many contractors, setting an appointment for a salesperson to visit a prospective customer consists of just a place and a time. But, for maximum success, it needs to be much more than that! Each additional thing that you bring into your appointment setting process increases your chance of selling the deal. Let’s look at a few of the things that a good appointment setting process can accomplish for your company.

1. It sets the tone for what your company is all about. The person assigned to setting appointments – and, yes, there should be a specific appointment setter and it should NEVER be the salesperson – needs to represent the professionalism, friendliness, and attention to detail that are a part of your company. So, why should the salesperson not set their own appointments? Because they will qualify them too hard. I can say this because I have been there but many salespeople are basically lazy and they will look for every reason to declare that prospect is a bad lead and to not run the appointment.
2. It is a great place to gather information. Homeowners will be much more open with the appointment setter than the salesperson. Even though the sales presentation will still go through needs analysis with the homeowner, your appointment setter needs to do a bit of that as well. They need to be working hard to find out the real reasons why that homeowner wants a new roof. It’s too easy for us to assume that they want a new roof so that they don’t have to deal with leaks in their old roof. And that’s very good and logical thinking. But, if that’s the case, then the real reason they want a new roof goes even deeper. The real reason may be that they are afraid of mold in their attic. Or it may be that they are afraid of leaks in that upstairs closet at the base of the valley on their roof – you know the one – the closet where old family photos and mementos are stored. That means that their real reason is they do not want those things to be damaged. Train your appointment setter to gather as much information as possible – information that is then passed on to the salesperson to help them.
3. Your appointment setter sets expectations for the in-home meeting. They set the expectation of who will be there, who your company is sending, what will happen during the appointment, and how long it will take. They get the prospect’s approval on what will happen. If, as I suggest, you normally run a 2 – 3 hour appointment, the appointment setter must be trained to sell the homeowner on why that is necessary. We can provide ideas on how to do that. The bottom line, though, is that 2 – 3 hours is still a minimal time investment for a major purchase such as this.
4. Your appointment setter introduces the salesperson and helps the customer see that person as an expert that will be there to analyze their needs. They even tell the homeowner what the salesperson will be driving and wearing, so they have the comfort level of knowing that they will be able to recognize them when they arrive.
5. Your appointment setter makes sure that your company knows exactly where the house is and how to get there. Also, after they set the appointment, they google the house and analyze it and the neighborhood. They google for the homeowner to learn what they can about them. They then pass all that information, along with their Needs Analysis summary, along to the salesperson. Your appointment setter can even use free online satellite images to create a sketch of the home’s footprint that will help the salesperson as they measure and sketch the roof.
6. Your appointment setter calls the homeowner the day before the appointment to confirm everything, and to once again learn what they can and re-affirm the expectation for the appointment.

At the core of good Appointment Setting will be a well-done script but the Appointment Setter still understands the goals and importance of what they are doing.

As always, thank you for being a loyal reader of the Residential Metal Roofing Executive Report. Please contact me anytime to talk about what’s working well in your business, or to kick around ideas on what could be better. I’d love to hear from you!

You may pull quotes from this article provided you include a link back to the original article on this site. You may not reprint this full article, or even a significant amount of the article, without explicit permission. To gain permission, click here.