My calendar has no appointments….Insert colorful words here.
Have you ever found yourself looking at a completely blank calendar with NO appointments? This is obviously a huge problem when your job is to have appointments and SELL STUFF! ?
One of my responsibilities as a coach with team Emerge is to book complimentary coaching calls and enroll students into our coaching programs.
Just like our students, I too, have monthly goals to be met and appointments to be filled. The problem was I found myself staring at my calendar with a wide open schedule, and it was totally messing with my head.
I was feeling all this pressure to be sure my goals were met and like a total imposter because this is something I teach to people everyday, but I was failing completely at meeting my appointment goals. If this is something that I was failing at, I figured it was only fair to assume that those that I’m coaching might be failing too.
In the past few weeks I’ve actually had several students share about this very challenge in getting people to actually commit to scheduling an appointment with them. Maybe it was because of their crazy holiday schedule, their family holiday vacation, or simply just a matter of schedules not lining up.
For whatever reason, they had wide open schedules too.
Thankfully I was able to get things turned around within a matter of about a week and since that time my schedule has been booked solid. So today, if you’re finding yourself like I was, with goals to be met, appointments that need to be filled up, and an empty calendar…I want to share some practical and easy steps you can take on how to fill your schedule up by making yourself “hard to get.”
The reason this helps get your schedule filled up is because a limited supply increases attractiveness. Basically, people want more of what they think they can’t get. So essentially, you are playing hard to get.
So let’s take a closer look at the steps you can take here…
- Figure out how many appointments you need to meet your goals
- Figure out how many people you need to contact
- Schedule time to make your contacts (assuming you know who to contact…that’s for another podcast)
- Incorporate some scarcity verbiage into your appointment setting outline
If you’re not familiar with the steps to take on booking appointments you can check out more detailed info on this in one of signature training courses, Your Direct Sales Foundation, but today I’m operating with the assumption that most of our listeners are already familiar with that process.
So once you’ve taken the steps to determine your appointment goals, make your call lists, and block out the time, what do you say to get your schedule filled up?
You can incorporate some phrases like
When setting the appointment you can insert phrases like….
- My schedule fills up very quickly so I want to be sure I can get you in while I still can.
- I only have 2 more spots open this week.
- How about we schedule something for tomorrow or the day after so you don’t have to worry about remembering something that is a few weeks from now?
- I know life is super busy, so let’s go ahead and get something scheduled so it’s one more thing off your to do list.
- Most people I talk to are scheduling now before life gets super crazy with summer schedules.
- The first 10 who confirm are going to get a free gift.
- I’m only offering this to my VIP customers.
If you would like a few examples of exact verbiage you can use, then head over to the Blog post here.
Let’s walk through a couple examples….
Say you’re looking to book a 1:1 appointment, it might sound something like….
Hey, Cinderella. It’s Prince Charming, did I catch you at a bad time? Ok great. I was calling because I got your number from your fairy Godmother and she told me that you were looking for a Prince. I would love to set up some time to meet with you. We could talk about what it is you’re looking for in a Prince, and I can tell you a little about myself. You don’t have to do any dancing, but if you’d like to take a little extra time with me I’d be happy to take a spin or two around the ballroom. I’m thinking we’ll only need about 30 min, but if we go a little longer it probably means we’re having a really great time. Would you like to set up some time to come to over to my castle? …Ok great! My schedule usually fills up pretty quickly with all my Princely duties, so I want to be sure we get some time sooner than later.
If you’re looking to book a group event/class you’ll just need to make a few adjustments…
Hey, Cinderella. It’s Prince Charming, did I catch you at a bad time? Ok great. I was calling because I got your number from your fairy Godmother and she told me that you were looking for a Prince. I’m hosting a gathering at the castle and was wondering if you would like to come. I’m inviting some other people from the Kingdom for some food and dancing. Of course you don’t have to do any dancing if you don’t want to, but if you’d like to take a little extra time with me I’d be happy to take a spin or two around the ballroom. And you’re welcome to bring your step sisters too if you’d like. Usually these sort of gatherings fill up pretty quickly so I’m trying to get a head count. It’s going to be on Friday night at 7p. Do you think you can make it? …No, ok, no problem. I know you’re super busy with all your cleaning, so if it’s easier for your schedule we can always set up a private dinner, plus that would be a great way for us to get to know one another a little better. Would that be easier for you?
Now I know what some of you are thinking…What if the times you provide don’t work for them or your schedules don’t align and you’re still not able to book.
My tip here for you is to schedule an appointment to follow up…
For example…
If I have a cancellation: “would you like me to reach out to you just in case your free, or would it be better to check back in with you in a week when things have settled down for you?”
It’s important to keep in mind that not everyone will book appointments with you. Having a clear definition of success around this, can help to calm the crazy. 🙂 Remember, 20% of people will, 20% won’t, and the 60% is where we can make an impact with our approach.
I hope these tips will help you to schedule more appointments!
I’m curious to know if you were a customer and knew something was in limited supply how would you respond?
How would you feel about your business and how might you start showing up if you posed yourself as someone who was so busy everyone was trying to book a time with you?
Remember, as humans, we all want more of something that there is less of, so the next time you go to book an appointment, play a little hard to get!
Have a great day!