7 STEPS to SALES SCRIPTS for B2B APPOINTMENT SETTING.: Creating Cold Calling Phone Scripts for Business to Business Selling, Lead Generation and Sales Closing. A Primer for Appointment Setters.

UPDATE: After reading more books and working in the field, I feel I need to add some updated critique..It's important to note that this book is geared towards "low-hanging fruit sales" (the easy stuff): calling 100 people in a day and setting maybe 3 appointments - all of whom are likely 'buyers in heat' - they need your product and know it - and that's this books core issue. This method ensures you'll be letting a lot of buyers slip threw your fingers - the "high hanging fruit" - people who need your product, can buy it, but are not aware they need it - selling to that group is how you smash sales records. The author says he's set over 2000 executive meetings, but he leaves out the total number called... a rather important fact to omit. All that being said - if you have thousands of leads to work with and want to get sales moving fast, this is worth the read. If you're in a tighter situation, maybe you have only hundreds or less to call, or your fine with working a list of leads at a slower pace and closing far more of them; I'd seriously steer clear of this approach. You need to go for the Art Sobczak book "Smart Calling". I generally consider it a better book all around, but it is a different animal with a different end goal. Art's approach requires mastery. Channell's approach is workable in a call center with lower skilled guys pounding out calls.----------------Original Review:I really enjoyed this take on setting B2B sales appointments because it makes it very clear that when you call to set the appointment, you hold back on the details - many people cold call their way into an unplanned sale's meeting on the phone. For consumer goods, this can work, and you can in fact close - ask any door to door salesman - it is possible. B2B products with big ticket prices and extensive relationships - not so much. You gotta sell that in person at some point, especially if your fighting off an entrenched vendor or internal resource, because much of what your offering is in fact yourself. I think the only area where I really disagreed was on alternate of choice closes - he really slams them, and his reason is a solid reason, but there is a lack of true understanding of why 'Does Thursday or Wednesday?' not always work well. He points out that your offering two days, they might be busy both days, so there goes that close! The reality is that it *does* work, if you cover all bases in the format. For example: "Does Monday or another day work better?" or "What time is best to meet? Mornings or Afternoons?" - See what that does? You get the power of the alternate choice question, but kill off the possibility that your options are ones they can't or don't wont to pick. If you have only two options, then give both. It's that simple. People just screw this one up on *non-binary choices*.The section on information gathering is pure gold - many people try to do appointment setting in one go. This book opens people up to the idea that you can have a 'multi-call' system for setting appointments in a more effective manner.Last, but not least, the book is all 'how to' and zero motivational fluff. Worth the price.

So, i'm a salesdirector and I like to think I am pretty good at doing sales. That's when I am with the customer. The big issue for me is to get at the table with the customer. So, I need to become friends with my phone. The good thing about this book is this: it is very straight forward and does not leave any room for discussion: you need to call, call, call. Don't waste time on to much research for the first step in your salescycle. You are not selling your product there, you try to get an appointment. I used his script to identify the maker today for the first time. I called for one hour, got 15 names, including email. 3 companies didn't want to share their CMO's name (how can a company like that exist?) so I used Linkedin for that. I got no direct phone numbers although I used the scripts way of asking it. But as it was the case with all 15 companies, it wasn't the script that was wrong, it is how things go with these kind of customers. Anyways, I am happy with the book. Thanks Scott!

I think that you can find good ideas for cold calling, but the book is very brief. And it continuously sends you to the website where you can get "the rest of it".It's not that the website is the bonus and completes the book content. It seems like this book it's just a flyer to encite you to go to the website and get involved in the author's sales programs... maybe then it's a bit overpriced flier.

If you are a sales manager, or AE, looking for increased results on the phone then look no further. This is a very well written, rated "R" version of B2B teleprospecting. There is no fluff or theory here!!As a regional sales manager I have applied Scott's approach and can tell you from direct experience that it works. This book is a practical "how to" manual for professionals looking for a holistic and proven system to set meetings, in the right companies, with the right contacts. Professionals who use the phone to prospect typically get a few things right. Scott brings all those and more together and then guides the reader step by step on how to build a duplicable process.Warning: Procrastinators need not apply. Also, readers should check their egos at the door. The author does not sugar coat the fact that gimmicky conventional methods don't work. My team and I learned through application of this work that the author is sharing from direct experience where there are land mines. Bottom line- this book is worth far more than the price for admission.

What I loved about this book is that the author cuts the crap and gets to the point. It respects your time. It is a lean book that guides you step by step from picking up the phone to getting a "yes, I'm interested in a demonstration".I was so nervous and so stressed about the prospect of selling, but after reading this book, I felt so much more comfortable and much more powerful; as if I have been doing this for a while already, because I learned how it works. And I think that's the point of this book--you get to learn from many years of experience what works and what doesn't. What to do when your prospect says "Send me an email with some information" or "Call me next week".It is frankly not a natural process to call a CXO who is very busy and sell them something. In fact, it doesn't exactly work like that. This book taught me the art of effective cold calling and that cold calling is the most effective way to sell. Don't send email, call them!

I first tried Wendy Weiss's book, but found it a tad frustrating. This book was more concise and comprehensive.It gave me some extra tools that have helped immeasurably.It's amazing to get such a wealth of information, for pennies on the dollar.It's not just a one and done, but something you can keep referencing over time.I highly recommend this book, as well as his other book, "Setting Sales Appointments". Between the two, it's a road map to success.

Interesante

I enjoyed this book and for £3.50 on Kindle I can’t complain. I’m a complete beginner to sales and soon I need to start approaching small companies to try and sell my digital products. I found this book very helpful in getting me ready for this task. Scott prepares you well with what to say when cold calling and he helps you with what to say to probable rejection. You will have to prep your own scripts but he provides you with ample scripts and dialogue that you can tweak to fit your agenda.I really hate cold calling people but after reading this book in full I do feel much more confident. I haven’t tried it yet but my fear has already greatly diminished. For me, that's £3.50 well spent already. I’m going to have to call random people anyway but at least now I feel much better prepared.A couple of minor quibbles. The book’s geared more towards high end sales, it would be nice if in a future reprint he could offer advice for smaller people like myself as well. The solo entrepreneur etc.It’s 2016, and many more people now email rather than call. For example, I never use my phone anymore. I always email, text or whatsapp people.This doesn’t get discussed in the book it’s all about calling. I did a quick Google search and there seems to be a divide in what’s better. 50% seem to think cold email is better where as 50% think cold calling is better. It maybe that now you could cold call to get the right contact details first and then follow up with an email? I honestly don’t know so it would be nice to get Scott's view on this. I will probably try both approaches and just see what happens?A minor thing is that at the end of each chapter he keeps referring you to his website where there’s more free material for you. This gets a bit annoying as there are 16 chapters. Why not put this material into the book and charge more?Even though it’s an American book its approach would work for the UK market. It’s not your typical US saley’s in your face approach, which is probably why I like it.Overall I enjoyed reading it, i feel I've learned a lot, and I feel much more confident about the task I’m going to have to do.

Great book that has really helped me to understand sales scripts

Not good.You will get better ideas free on google.