Most small business owners are very
busy people who don’t have a lot of extra time on their
hands. They will happily outsource some of their daily time-consuming
tasks to a telecommuter. One of these time consuming tasks is
setting appointments. Appointment setting is a perfect occupation
for a telecommuter. The employer doesn’t necessarily need
a full-time employee to set his appointments, but at the same
time needs someone that is available the majority of business
hours in case his clients call in, or to make calls at different
times of the day.
A telecommuter is the perfect candidate for this
position. As a telecommuting appointment setter you can work with
your employer’s schedule. If he needs a few calls made in
the morning and then wants you to be available for callbacks in
the afternoon, you are there to help. Best of all, you are not
limited to just one employer or client. You can easily work as
an appointment setter for several business owners at the same
time. This will allow you to make a fulltime income while allowing
each employer to only pay you for a few hours per day or week.
Setting appointments is something you can easily
do from home. All you need is a phone and some way to organize
yourself. A computer with Microsoft Outlook, or an Excel spreadsheet
to keep track of your clients’ schedules would work well.
You could even do this with a good paper calendar at first.
You should have good telephone and written skills
to work as an appointment setter. Previous experience as an administrative
assistant or secretary is not necessary, but is definitely a plus
when it comes to the skills you need and when you are approaching
prospective employers or clients. You should also be fairly organized
to be able to keep up with multiple appointments for multiple
clients each day.
As an appointment setter you will be spending
a lot of time both on the phone and on email. You will be checking
in with your clients (the small business owners) on a daily basis
and then spend the rest of your time contacting their clients,
setting up and later confirming appointments. Of course you will
also keep your own clients or employers informed of any changes
or cancellations throughout the day.
If this is something you are interested in doing,
here’s how to start. Determine your hourly rate. You should
take the going rate for a task like this in an office setting
into consideration and then up it from there. Your employer does
not have to provide you with an office, a computer, telephone
or any other equipment. You are also most likely going to be an
independent contractor, which means he does not have to pay for
any of your benefits or taxes. You will be responsible for all
this, keep that in mind when determining your rate.
Now it’s time to approach small business
owners in your area with what you have to offer and start building
a client base. Once you have a few happy clients, word of mouth
advertising should start to bring you even more business.
Article
by:
Nell Taliercio is the owner and founder of www.TelecommutingMoms.com
– which is a leading resource website with work at home
jobs and everything a telecommuting mom would need. Come visit
us today!
