What do Doctor’s offices, Dentists, Tutors and Sales Coaches do every time you are done with that appointment?

They are scheduling the next appointment with you before you leave.

Some of the Kitchen and Bath Designers I talk to repeatedly have a hard time getting a response from a client after the first design presentation whether this be on the phone or by email. They keep calling and emailing and fail to receive a reply. It’s as though their client fell off the face of the earth. Have you ever felt this way?

…schedule the next appointment before your customer leaves you.

One great way to avoid this is to be sure to schedule the next appointment before your customer leaves you. By doing this, there is a mutual agreement about when the next touch point will be. Respectfully request that if they need to reschedule this, to contact you more than 24 hours in advance. Also very important here is to be sure to review what will be discussed, reviewed or accomplished at this appointment. This will hopefully alleviate any fear of the unknown that your customer may be experiencing and set their expectations properly for the next meeting.

What’s going on?

It may happen that your client either won’t show or will reschedule with you. Sometimes it may feel as though your client is losing interest in continuing their project with you. A great way to “keep tabs” on your customer to determine early on if this is happening, is to get small buy-in commitments from them with each appointment. Try giving your customer “homework”.

Let’s say, for example, that your customer still needs to select their built-in appliances. Because of this, you cannot move forward on their cabinet purchase since you can’t yet be sure that the appliances will fit the cabinets. Simply ask your client when they expect to be able to select the exact models of appliances and ask if it makes sense to schedule a meeting shortly after this. Explain what information you will need from them and request that they bring it with them.

When the time comes close for that next appointment and your customer says that they just haven’t had the opportunity to shop for appliances yet, it could be possible that your clients excitement for doing this project with you has waned. Naturally, you may be able to reschedule this but if your client seems to be dragging their heels on advancing the sale, this may provide some insight as to how urgent this is for them.

I hope this helps you as you look for ways in which to move your transactions forward!