7 Proven AI Tools for Sales Appointment Setting Services

Outbound sales ain’t easy. From buyer identification to prospecting and pitching, salespeople have a lot on their plate.

And appointment setting is one common outbound sales aspect that’s seemingly more complex than it sounds. 

Why?

Because the appointment setting process is more than just picking a random prospect, scheduling a meeting with them, and successfully closing the deal in a jiffy.

Here’s what a revenue-generating appointment setting process for lead generation entails:

Buyer identification ➜ Prospecting ➜ Outreach ➜ Lead qualification ➜ Pitching ➜ Closing the sale ➜ Nurturing.

So if you’re considering which latest tool in the market fits your outbound sales strategy, we’ve got you.

This article shows you seven tried-and-true AI tools for sales appointment setting services. 

GPT changed our lives, now we know that we can do our job 10x faster using AI. That’s why we decided to focus on tools that already implemented AI, so you can leverage your productivity even more.

But there’s a twist. There’s no ‘one-tool-fits-all’ solution for outbound sales. So instead of showing you just one tool for all your needs, we’ve sorted them into every stage of a typical outbound sales process for a complete tool stack.

Ready? Let’s begin.

Before that, you may question why you need a tool ‘stack’…

Importance of utilizing a comprehensive tool stack for effective lead generation at every stage of outbound sales 

A ‘sales tool stack’ is a popular lingo used in the business world. It indicates a collection of tools/software salespeople need to execute their everyday tasks extra efficiently. 

For example:

A CRM tool like HubSpot to track activities, an email automation tool to carry out outreach, and a scheduling tool like Zoom to schedule meetings — you get the point.

Now, from an appointment setting perspective, let’s go over the importance of using a tool stack rather than one tool to handle all your outbound sales activities:

• Tailor-made solutions — Instead of choosing just one tool that’s a jack of all trades but the master of none, a tool stack with niche-specific features lets you focus on each stage of your lead generation process.
• Frictionless sales funnel — No more silos. You build a well-oiled sales funnel by integrating multiple tools like email outreach, reporting, presentation creators, etc. 
• A more personalized approach to appointment setting — When tailored tools work together, they make it simpler for you to create and send personalized communication that prospects love. For example, personalized LinkedIn cold direct messages and cold emails.
• Maximizes productivity — A comprehensive tool stack makes collaboration between managers, teams, and prospects seamless. It’s easier to send each other real-time updates when you have a dedicated tool at your disposal.

Best AI tools for outbound sales stages in appointment setting 

We’ve hunted down the seven best AI-powered tools you can include in your appointment setting tool stack right away:

1. Identifying the target audiences (ICP and buyer personas)

Identifying buyer personas and the ICP (ideal customer profile) of your targets are the first steps in the appointment setting process. 

AI tools for ICP and buyer personas filter prospects that may or may not be worth the persuasion and let you personalize messaging by understanding their backgrounds.

AI tool to identify ICP and buyer personas: Delve AI

Delve AI creates buyer personas automatically based on your Google Analytics data. The tool’s ‘Live Persona’ feature refines your target audience and generates data-driven personas using error-proof web analytics. 

All you need to do is connect your web analytics tool like Google Analytics and leave the rest to Delve AI to generate detailed personas and uncover your ICP. The tool uses valuable segmentation types, such as behavioral, demographic, geographic, and psychographic segmentations, to build in-depth personas you can pursue. 

Cost: Agency plans start from $209/mo.

G2 rating: 4.7/5

2. Outbound prospecting (segmenting, search, scraping, validation) 

Outbound prospecting is where sales teams search for target audiences, scrape prospects, and reach out to them. Researching, prospect validation, and scraping involved in this stage are better off when handled by an advanced tool for more data accuracy.

AI tool for outbound prospecting: ZoomInfo

ZoomInfo lets you build outbound prospect lists based on your ICPs. It scrapes through its up-to-date database of 65M+ phone numbers and 150M+ verified email addresses to give you a fully validated prospect list.

Using AI, ZoomInfo analyzes your previous searches and auto-recommends prospects you can reach out to. Also, you can identify buyer intent and reach prospects at the perfect time of their buyer journeys.  

For example:

Say the Co-founder of the brand ‘XYZ’ has just searched for ‘Accounting services,’ a solution your company specializes in. ZoomInfo identifies this high-intent prospect and connects you to this Co-founder or key decision-makers using verified data.

Cost: On request.

G2 rating: 4.4/5

3. Cold outreach (text, images, and video personalization, Automation)

It’s time you created a great first impression. 

Since cold outreach methods involve reaching out to prospects who had zero interaction with your business but would be keen on learning more, using intelligent cold outreach tools is the only way to stand out.

But what’s the end goal of this stage? Getting the prospect to say yes to an appointment. And for this, we have just the right tool(s) for you.

AI tool for cold outreach: Copy.ai

Copy.ai auto-generates personalized cold sales emails based on its in-built advanced copywriting frameworks.

Here’s how you can generate a personalized cold email using Copy.ai:

• Choose an email template on the tool’s dashboard. In our case, a sales cold email.
• Provide context by entering the prospect’s LinkedIn URL and information about your company/product/service.
• Copy.ai generates a hyper-personalized cold email based on the prospect’s Linkedin profile.
• Finally, polish your cold email and click send!

Why all the stress on personalization?

Picture this:

You receive two emails from unknown people. One addresses you by your first name and compliments you for recent work achievements. The second one is generalized, with long sentences and gloat. Now, which email stands out?

You’re compelled to read through the first email and respond to the sender for being thoughtful. That’s what personalization stands for.

Copy.ai Cost: Starts from $36/mo.

G2 rating: 4.8/5

Copy.ai was all about customizing emails and messages using LinkedIn. But what if you had a tool to automate LinkedIn and email outreach?

Presenting Expandi.

Did you know you could triple the possibility of getting responses through cold outreach? 

Expandi is your one-stop, omnichannel outreach platform to automate the two indispensable cold outreach methods – email and LinkedIn, to triple the chances of prospect confirmations for future appointments. 

The tool also offers LinkedIn and email follow-ups to double the chances of a prospect conversion.

4. Lead qualification

You’ve successfully received a response from your cold outreach method using a tool like Expandi. And you’re now flipping pages to convert the prospect into a qualified lead. 

If you’re thinking of directly jumping into the appointment with your prospect, think again.

Did you know an unqualified appointment is highly unlikely to result in a closed sale?

And that’s one major reason you need a lead qualification tool to help save you/your team from wasting efforts.

AI tool for lead qualification: Pathmonk

Pathmonk is an AI-driven lead qualification tool that helps identify high-value leads using methods like lead scoring, potential deal value calculation, and more.

The tool identifies key insights, such as lead source, lead score, the likelihood of purchase, etc., about every prospect who visits your website. This way, you or your team never miss out on qualifying a hot lead for an appointment. 

Cost: $450/mo

Capterra rating: 4.8/5

5. Sales pitching and presentations 

There’s nothing worse than getting your outreach on point but creating a mediocre sales presentation for your appointment. 

Your sales pitch presentation should be informational and educative, motivating the qualified lead to trust your offering. 

And we have the perfect tool to make this happen for you.

AI tool for sales pitch presentations: Simplified

Simplified lets you create killer sales pitch presentations in seconds. All you need is to enter ‘Sales Pitch’ under the topic. 

Using AI, Simplified auto-generates a completely customizable and engaging presentation you can share with your sales team to collaborate and make it more personalized.

Cost: Starts from $20/mo.

G2 rating: 4.7/5

6. Closing the sale 

Studies suggest sales teams spend hardly 23% of their time on key sales activities like closing a deal and following up on a high-intent lead. 

That’s why you need a dedicated AI sales assistant to help your team fasten the time to close a sale.

AI tool for closing a sale: Conversica

Conversica is a conversational AI sales assistant tool that automatically follows up with the lead post an appointment, thus increasing the chance of closing a sale.

The tool warms up leads by engaging them through various touchpoints, such as chatbots, email, or SMS.

When you have an AI sales assistant tool like Conversica to do the following-up and lead engagement for you, your sales reps can devote more time to other productive tasks like prospect interactions. 

Cost: Custom pricing

G2 rating: 4.5/5

7. Nurturing 

An effective outbound sales pipeline does not abruptly end after a sale is closed or when a lead turns unresponsive. 

Post an appointment and deal closure, customer and lead nurturing is a must-have strategy to nurture healthy customer/prospect relationships and ensure satisfaction to turn customers/prospects into brand loyalists. 

Two foolproof strategies to nurture leads and customers are:

• Email nurturing — Running email nurture campaigns that offer leads and customers valuable insights on your products or services. For example, if you’ve launched a new feature, you can target certain high-value leads and send them personalized emails with exclusive offers to access the feature.
• LinkedIn social selling — Using LinkedIn to find, connect, and engage with leads, prospects, or past customers and turn them into paying/loyal customers.

AI tool for nurturing: FlowUp

Using FlowUp, you can set up a complete lead nurturing workflow with follow-ups across channels like emails, SMS, and voicemail.

And for more effective lead nurturing, FlowUp helps in smart lead segmentation, where you segment leads based on certain action triggers. This ensures the right messages reach the right set of audiences.

The only thing missing in FlowUp is a lead/customer nurturing solution using social channels like LinkedIn. But with a tool like Expandi, you can create custom campaigns for LinkedIn follow-ups and nurture leads by establishing a personal connection. 

And that’s a wrap on the leading AI tools and a complete tool stack for B2B appointment setting services.

Conclusion

Implementing AI tools for sales appointment-setting services can significantly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of outbound sales efforts. By utilizing a comprehensive tool stack tailored to meet your business’s unique needs, salespeople can drill down each stage of the sales process, identify internal roadblocks, and understand what solution can propel their sales performance.

 It’s important to choose the right combination of tools based on your specific business needs to optimize your outbound sales strategy. With the power of AI, sales teams can streamline their workflows, personalize communication, and maximize productivity, ultimately driving better results in their appointment-setting efforts.