Appointment no shows - cancellations

I have an associate who sells water treatment products (softener, Reverse Osmosis, etc.)

Today he was complaining about a rash of no shows and cancellations. His joke was that there must be something in the water. Anyway...

I let him know that in the past, whenever I ran into a patch like that, it usually meant I had goofed something up when setting the appointment. Maybe I rushed the call. Maybe I didn't fuel enough interest.

What's everyone else's thoughts about the causes of frequent no shows and cancellations?

Hi Vince,

Mmmmm - nothing worse than no shows (but probably not as bad as no addresses ;-))

Most of the time no shows or cancellations happen when the prospect is not given a chance to say "NO" when the initial call is made.
It is always the key to make sure that the prospect has been qualified before hand - better to have 10 appts with a success rate of 25% - 50% than have 30 appts cancelled

Prospects perception must be worked on right from the initial contact. Once a prospect understands the benefits they can recieve from product or service being offered, the more educated their decision (whether yes or no) and the more natural it will be when closing the sale.

Bottom line - pre-qualify then pre-qualify more. The higher the cost of the sale, the more a prospect needs to understand the bottom line benefits. With this they will also place a more important emphasis on showing up and hearing the presentation through.

Why not work out a list of qualifying questions? The harder the questions (without putting the prospect off!) the more likely the success and the less wasted time on your part trying to convince prospects who haven't had a chance to say "No".

Tony D - Sales Journey

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tonyd

Most of the time no shows or cancellations happen when the prospect is not given a chance to say "NO" when the initial call is made.

This is along the lines of what I was thinking.

Thank you for the great response.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tonyd

Hi Vince,

Mmmmm - nothing worse than no shows (but probably not as bad as no addresses ;-))

Most of the time no shows or cancellations happen when the prospect is not given a chance to say "NO" when the initial call is made.
It is always the key to make sure that the prospect has been qualified before hand - better to have 10 appts with a success rate of 25% - 50% than have 30 appts cancelled

Prospects perception must be worked on right from the initial contact. Once a prospect understands the benefits they can recieve from product or service being offered, the more educated their decision (whether yes or no) and the more natural it will be when closing the sale.

Bottom line - pre-qualify then pre-qualify more. The higher the cost of the sale, the more a prospect needs to understand the bottom line benefits. With this they will also place a more important emphasis on showing up and hearing the presentation through.

Why not work out a list of qualifying questions? The harder the questions (without putting the prospect off!) the more likely the success and the less wasted time on your part trying to convince prospects who haven't had a chance to say "No".

Tony D - Sales Journey

I agree.
But to reduce no-shows to the negligible point, you also need to get their commitments. Here’s how.

“Please write down my name and phone number on your calendar and read it back to me. Can you do that now?”

After they read it back to you:

“Will you be sure to call me if either you or your spouse can not keep the appointment?”

The net result of Tony’s suggestion, plus this is, an 80 percent reduction of no-shows.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JacquesWerth

I agree.
But to reduce no-shows to the negligible point, you also need to get their commitments. Here’s how.

“Please write down my name and phone number on your calendar and read it back to me. Can you do that now?”

After they read it back to you:

“Will you be sure to call me if either you or your spouse can not keep the appointment?”

My manager told me something similar only he called it creating "obligation."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calvin

My manager told me something similar only he called it creating "obligation."

He might just as well have called it "manipulation". That's not similar.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JacquesWerth

He might just as well have called it "manipulation". That's not similar.

That's pretty good.

Not to be dense... but what is the difference? It sounds like both are about asking questions that get the customer to verbally commit to the appointment. By verbally committing it creates a sense of obligation for no showing or not calling to cancel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calvin

That's pretty good.

Not to be dense... but what is the difference? It sounds like both are about asking questions that get the customer to verbally commit to the appointment. By verbally committing it creates a sense of obligation for no showing or not calling to cancel.

Commitment is a choice that people make gladly.
Obligation created by a salesperson is usually resented.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JacquesWerth

Commitment is a choice that people make gladly.
Obligation created by a salesperson is usually resented.

Thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vince

I have an associate who sells water treatment products (softener, Reverse Osmosis, etc.)

Today he was complaining about a rash of no shows and cancellations. His joke was that there must be something in the water. Anyway...

I let him know that in the past, whenever I ran into a patch like that, it usually meant I had goofed something up when setting the appointment. Maybe I rushed the call. Maybe I didn't fuel enough interest.

What's everyone else's thoughts about the causes of frequent no shows and cancellations?

I work in new home sales so as you may guess, I am used to people not showing up for appointments as I am officed in one location and must wait for them to come to me. Usually I can tell if they are really going to come by the way the tell me. If they just quickley tell me, "yeah, well be back maybe tommorow" then 9 out of 10 times, it's just a lie so they can leave the selling situation. Usually if I set an appointment with someone, I give them a specific time or maybe precise time like 10:15pm as opposed to 10:00, and make it sound like you will be very busy through out the whole day so It's important they keep the appointment. Something like "hm.. I got a few lined up after 4pm so lets plan on meeting 3pm sharp." The more precise you are, the more the prospect willl feel obligated to showing up. Anyways, I'm not an expert at setting appointments but that's just my take, and I have dealt with thousands of no shows because of the industry I'm in. It also helps to call an ahead of time to confirm the appointment.

Appointment no shows - cancellations

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