Do you ever just, out of nowhere, randomly invite somebody over to your house without first checking their availability or seeing if they have any plans first? No, of course you don't, that would be weird. And yet, that's how most of us in the car business ask for appointments on incoming sales calls. I get it, they're calling us so they should already be thinking about coming in, right? Right. So, use that...open up the conversation...make them more of an active participant in the appointment setting process with you, before you ask for a specific date and time. That way, it's more their idea. This reveals to them (before you reveal too much) that you see them as a smart shopper who of course was already planning on visiting the dealership at some point.
So, before you start trying to set an appointment and perhaps right after you confirm their contact info, use what we refer to as the pre-appointment question:
“Hey, just curious, assuming the vehicle is still available, were you thinking about stopping by later today, tomorrow...? What sort of plan did you have in mind?”
Or, it could be something like, “Let's say everything goes to plan and it's still here and there's no deposits on it, were you wanting to take it for a test drive as soon as later today or would tomorrow be better?”
After you confirm the details, you can start setting the appointment with them using their words.
“Earlier you had said that tomorrow would probably be best, are you thinking morning, afternoon?”
An easier appointment setting process with full participation from your customer, all because of just one extra question you asked ahead of time...that's the pre-appointment question and you should use it on every sales call.