You put a lot of effort into front-desk staff training, relationship-building techniques, sales psychology… what’s the end goal? Make no mistake: what you’re trying to accomplish is getting appointments booked. You know that you shouldn’t quote prices over the phone. You know that it’s essential to build a relationship between the caller and your business. You know how important it is to create the effect of scarcity when scheduling so that the caller feels fortunate to have gotten in.If you do all of that, but don’t wind up booking the client for an appointment at the office, your efforts have fallen short. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why booking that appointment is so important.
Revenue Builder
Of course, booking an appointment with a new client is a way to keep your business revenue flowing. In the short-term, new-client bookings are essential. Plus, once a client meets you in person, you and your staff have the opportunity to start forming a relationship, resulting in gains for the future.
Lifelong Clients
The more long-term goal of booking that initial appointment is the chance of turning a first-time client into a lifelong one. That’s where your background work—starting to build the relationship over the phone, using the client’s name frequently, etc.—couples with the relationship-building that happens in-person, and gets that client to come back the next time they need your services.
The Greater Good
Let’s not forget why you’re running your business in the first place. The ultimate goal, of course, is to better the lives of your customers. If you don’t book appointments and get people to use your services, you can’t help them!
So, what can you do to make sure that appointment gets booked?
First, don’t give out a price over the phone; the conversation will soon be over. Instead, tell the caller that you can’t offer an accurate quote until the specific details are ironed out, ideally in person.
Any promotions you’re running are also helpful when it comes to booking, especially with difficult clients. Discounts on services or a monthly special, for instance, will help to entice many callers into scheduling the appointment.
Your front-desk staff’s role is about much more than simply fielding incoming calls all day. Using the right approach, they’ll turn those calls into real-life appointments on the books! That keeps your business thriving and allows you to do what you do best: help your clients.
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