Nothing feels better during a cold call than a prospect agreeing to an appointment. For the Business Development Representative (BDR) making the call, it’s a genuine moment of triumph.
Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee the prospect will actually show up for the appointment.
At VSA, we take multiple steps to reduce the number of no-shows. We make sure we’re only setting appointments with qualified decision makers. We always ask a prospect if there are specific topics they want to discuss during their appointment, so they’re confident their concerns will be addressed. We use automated tools to streamline scheduling, and we follow up initial calls with confirmation emails and reminder calls and emails.
But it’s impossible to eliminate no-shows entirely. During a recent webinar on the topic co-hosted by the CEOs of Selling Power and ConnectAndSell, audience members were asked their show rate for first meetings set by phone. A quarter of respondents said it was less than 50 percent. Only 7 percent of respondents said that almost everybody shows up.
While industry-wide statistics on dropped appointments among top-of-funnel prospects aren’t readily available (perhaps because few companies want to admit to them), the consensus seems to be that 20 percent or under should be the goal. Which means that even in the best of circumstances, about one in five scheduled meetings goes unattended.
The good news is that a dropped appointment isn’t the end of the line. In many cases, it’s just the beginning.
Here are five reasons why you should never give up after a dropped appointment and always attempt to reschedule:
1. You’re not your prospect’s first priority
No matter how attractive your offer, it’s not the only thing on your prospect’s mind that week. In fact, it might be the last thing on their mind. Whether they’re an executive within a large corporation or the owner of a mom-and-pop shop, they’re likely putting out a million different fires on any given day, so it’s entirely possible that a conflict with your meeting could arise. It doesn’t mean they’re suddenly not interested in your offering—it just means a more pressing matter arose.
Or maybe there was no real conflict, and they just didn’t feel like showing up that day. Either way, the best strategy is to follow up, politely, without any hint of anger or resentment. If they were legitimately interested the first time, they’ll appreciate hearing from you a second time and more than likely will be apologetic about missing the meeting.
2. You know you can reach them
Unlike with other types of follow-up calls, where you might have previously spoken to the wrong person or perhaps only reached a voicemail, you know you’re able to get a no-show on the phone because you’ve done it before. Not only that, but you also know they’re willing to have a meaningful conversation with you and are open to scheduling a meeting.
The odds of reaching a decision maker are long and the odds of scheduling a conversation are even longer, so when you’ve previously accomplished both with a prospect, it significantly increases the chances of a successful follow-up call.
3. It’s a natural conversation starter
No matter how relaxed you are on the phone or how solid the messaging, you never know how deep into the conversation you’ll be able to get during a cold call or how a prospect will react. Any time two strangers talk on the phone, there’s an air of uncertainty.
But when you’re following up with a no-show, it’s no longer a conversation between strangers. You’ve already talked, so rather than jump right into the same familiar pitch, you can immediately personalize the call by referencing the missed appointment.
“Hi, John, I see we were supposed to talk yesterday afternoon, and I figured something must have come up. When would be a good time to meet this week?”
4. Previous no-shows are much more likely to schedule—and show up for—a meeting
According to a case study by sales acceleration platform ConnectAndSell, one of VSA’s partners, conversations with prospects who have previously scheduled a meeting result in rescheduled meetings 29 percent of the time. Conversations during cold calls result in scheduled meetings only 5 percent of the time.
And once they reschedule, they are much more likely to show up. According to the ConnectAndSell case study, prospects who reschedule a meeting have an 85 percent show rate, compared to a 60 percent show rate for meetings scheduled during a cold call.
5. Repeat no-shows are a natural disqualifier
It’s often hard to gauge a prospect’s level of interest in your offerings. As we have written in previous articles, no’s are not always permanent, which is why it’s important to always follow up.
After a while, though, certain patterns do emerge. And if the same prospect skips a scheduled meeting three or more times without offering a valid reason, it’s likely they were never genuinely interested and just accepted the meetings to get you off the phone.
Repeat dropped appointments remove the ambiguity surrounding a prospect’s intentions. At that point, you can confidently move on without feeling like you’re missing out on an opportunity.
Conclusion
In the often-complex world of B2B lead generation, no-shows are inevitable. We’re setting appointments with extremely busy employees with a slew of responsibilities, and it’s natural that conflicts will occur.
At VSA, we work hard to ensure that the meetings we schedule take place, but if they don’t, we do everything we can to get them back on your calendar. We know that dropped appointments are just part of the process.
If you need a hand following up with no-shows, let’s schedule some time to talk. We promise we’ll keep the appointment.