Cold Calling - Appointment booking vs closing the sale on first contact

An earlier thread about "what do you do differently" got me thinking about this.

When cold calling for appointments what percentage of your prospects book an appointment and then cancel.

For me this number is high therefore I try and close on the initial contact. -IBJDPCNT

I'm having trouble following that. On a cold call it would be common to either "close for the appointment" as part of a selling process--or--"close" for the sale.

If you're closing for the sale as you state, what is your frame of reference for the poor results (cancellations) that you say you have when closing for the appointment?

If you're trying to juggle both, no wonder the high appointment cancellation rate. You've overstepped the process which is always a mistake.

One of my companies uses a process where we always try to secure the appointment to present our services. We would never attempt to sell over the phone. Our appointment cancellation rate is very very low.

I comment on this because it's a good lesson for newcomers to sales. -Gary A Boye

My 1st thought was "no wait you misunderstand" but I realize your point has merit.

My "cold calling" is done in person and I find many people who set up an appointment to talk don't follow up on the appointment or spend the time between the initial contact and the appointment coming up with reasons not to close. This moves me into focusing on closing during this initial contact.

Of course the answer to the question that raises is "no I'm not giving them enough of an incentive and/or the information they need to feel the need to be at the follow up appointment" ;sm -IBJDPCNT

Yes.

The key to virtually all follow up in sales is to make it ALL promise generated. You set the seed on the first call. It accomplishes two things. First, it puts your prospect into an anticipatory frame of mind. Second, it allows you to impress your prospect with the fact that you keep your promises.

In simple terms, you state a reason that you will be calling on them again. The best reason is "further important information" that you do not have at your disposal at the present time. -Gary A Boye