Most salespeople agonize over the fact that precious few voicemails left for prospects are returned. Although it is certainly not surprising there ARE a few things you can do to get a better rate of return.
Tip #1: Don’t Sound like A Salesperson- Although this may seem painfully obvious many of the voice mails I receive from sellers are far too “salesy” in both content and tonality. According to recent research you have approximately 2.7 seconds to capture the attention of the voice mail recipient before the message is deleted. If you set off the “anti-salesperson alarm” by sounding like a typical seller the content of your message will never even be heard. Relax and sound “matter of fact” in both tonality and pace.
Tip #2- Don’t Sell To The Answering Machine- No one wants to listen to long winded sales messages in person let alone on an answering machine. Be brief and leave some mystery as to why you are calling for the best results. Simply leaving your name (but no company name) and a return number yields the best results.
Tip #3- Create Doubt As to the Nature Of Your Call- Let me first say I do NOT believe in trickery or outright lying but a voice mail that simply states “This is Chuck Terry at 555-5555. This is certainly NOT emergency but please call me at your earliest convenience at 555-5555.” Seems to work pretty well for the reasons stated in tip #2. Letting the person know you are leaving your personal cell phone number adds to the effectiveness although many are uncomfortable or prohibited by rules from doing so.
Tip#4- Be Creative- There is a Sandler Rule which states “You can’t lose something you don’t have” so have fun and be creative with your voice mails. I share some of my best “out of the box” voice mails I have come up with in our classes but injecting humor, etc. can help keep it fun for you while also prompting some interesting return calls.
Tip #5- Leave A Voice Mail- As odd as this tip may seem more and more salespeople are not even leaving voice mails anymore due to the low rate of return. In the words of the great Wayne Gretzky “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” so use the preceding tips and leave a voice mail when prospecting.
There are no tactics that will result in all your calls being returned but you CAN improve your rate. Try the tips above and please let me know of any great ideas you may have that get people to call you back.
Sandler Training in Denver provides sales training, management and leadership training, and professional development for individuals and organizations. Let us know how we can help your team.
