In its commonly-known manifestation, telemarketing conjures a narrative of cold-calls that interrupt unsuspecting consumers without any knowledge of the company that calls them or their products. With the expanding reach of e-commerce, companies attempt to cultivate some relationship with the customers prior to the “telemarketer’s” involvement. Customer relations management software, emails, social media and Internet search engines generate “leads” or signs of a customer’s interest in the product. At this stage, the appointment setter attempts to convert the lead ultimately into a source of sales revenue.
Job Overview: What Does an Appointment Setter Do?
The appointment setter job description reaches beyond scheduling a date and time for a meeting. It presents an important piece of the sales or business development strategy. The appointment setter must convince customers of the value of a product or product, persevere in the face of constant rejections and objections and display exemplary customer service. Appointment setting often sets the table for the sales representatives to close the deals.
Appointment Setter Job Description For Resume – Responsibilities
- Call prospective customers from lists or leads generated by Internet site visits
- Explain features of product or service
- Read statements about products, services and company from scripts
- Rebut customers’ objections to statements, offers or company
- Describe discounts and special offers
- Schedule meetings and conferences with salespeople, device technicians and advisors
- Record results of sales call and information on potential and current clients
- Document contact information, preferences, concerns and suggestions of customers following appointment calls or appointments with sales or service people
Appointment Setter Job Essential Skills
Communication. Appointment Setters speak constantly with potential customers by phone. Communication skills include noticing the tone of the prospect’s voice, and verbal clues about the response or receptiveness to the presentation. With an increasingly diverse population in various areas, appointment settlers may need the ability to speak languages other than English.
Computers. Customer Relations Management software allows appointment setters to access and review information about potential clients, such as their addresses, ages, occupation and family size. Appointment setters need skills in reading and entering information into the applications.
Customer Service. Fruitful cold calls should feature courteous speech, especially in the face of reluctant customers. Appointment setters need to understand the concerns of the customers and respond appropriately. This may include fielding complaints about prior experiences with the company, type of product or industry. Customer service also involves accommodation of the customer’s schedule when making the appointment.
Persuasive. The appointment setter job description features many skills involved with sales. These include the ability to convince prospects to purchase a good or service for which they might not perceive the need or value. Appointment setters must know the specifications and relate the benefits of the service or product to the customer’s situation.
Reading. Appointment setters must be able to read scripts, service or product literature and notes on prospective customers.
Becoming an Appointment Setter
Appointment setters develop the needed abilities and skills through education and especially work experience. Post-secondary institutions usually do not offer formal programs for appointment setters, so coursework related to the skills of appointment setting or telemarketing usually affords the educational background.
Education & Training
A high school education normally suffices for an appointment setter job. O*NET reports that 59 percent of telemarketers have a high school diploma. Nearly three out of ten did not complete high school, while 11percent attended college but did not graduate.
Applicants for appointment setter positions with larger companies or those selling specialized products or services may need a bachelor’s degree. Companies that sell to other companies rather than consumers might prefer these candidates due to the technical nature or specifications of the products and services the company furnishes. For example, appointment setters for pharmaceutical firms may need a bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutics or biochemistry to have familiarity with the terminology of drugs. Courses in engineering may equip appointment setters working in the manufacturing setter to speak with and make appointments with small businesses that purchase from manufacturers.
Work Experience
Employers normally prefer that candidates for appointment setter jobs have prior experience in sales, telemarketing, customer service and Internet or other forms of ecommerce.
Companies that perform in-house telemarketing and appointment setting seek employees with prior call-center experience. This history can come from the help desks or call centers of consumer products’ makers, wireless phone providers and cable or satellite companies.
Work Schedule
The appointment setter job description presents a mix of work environments and conditions. Positions can either be full-time or part-time. According to O*NET, approximately 57 percent of appointment setters worked less than 40 hours per week. Only 37 percent logged 40 hours per week.
As appointment setting relies on telephones and computers, some companies offer work-at-home opportunities to reduce the costs of overhead generated by buildings and equipment. Many of these off-site jobs go to freelancers or contract help.
Career Prospects
O*NET reports a decline of two percent in the employment of telemarketers through 2024. This drop in employment results from the rise of the Internet, email and social media as prominent methods of business development. Whereas traditional telemarketing features calls to those who have not contacted the company, appointment setters are more likely find leads, or those who have at least inquired about some service or product of the company through one of these methods. As a result, appointment setter openings might prove somewhat greater than traditional telemarketing jobs.
Companies may turn to customer relations management and Internet-generated leads rather than pure telemarketing also as a result of “Do Not Call” laws. Specifically, companies are generally prohibited from contacted consumers who are registered on a “Do Not Call” list. Consumers who have purchased from the company are not protected by the list for a period of 18 months from the last transaction, unless the customer specifically asks to not be called again. For those who have inquired about a product or offers, the period lasts three months.
Conclusion
Appointment setters share many of the skills and work conditions of traditional telemarketing. They must persuade, respond to concerns and reluctance and exhibit patience and courtesy to customers who might appear busy, irritated and ultimately not interested notwithstanding their checking a box to receive offers and contacts.
Job prospects for appointment setters should be solid for candidates with previous sales, customer service and e-commerce or Internet experience and demonstrated skills in communication, persuasion and perseverance.