Voicemail: 5 Proven Techniques That Get Your Calls Back!
If you’re struggling to get your voicemail back, then you’re not alone. Industry statistics show that less than 10% of voicemails to new leads are returned. Therefore, finding the right voicemail message and knowing a few proven techniques can be the key to not only making contact with those hard-to-reach prospects, but also developing relationships and landing new accounts.
Here are five proven techniques that give you the best chance of getting your voicemail messages back:
Proven technique number one: Don’t even leave a voicemail! Sounds weird, huh? The truth is, the best technique to follow when trying to reach a prospect for the first time is to persevere and call five, seven or even ten times first before leaving a message. Your goal is to get them to pick up the phone and have a conversation instead of leaving multiple unreturned voicemails.
Try calling at different times of the day and even several times on Friday. Fridays are the most relaxed days and most people prepare for the weekend instead of preparing for the week. Worst day to leave a voicemail? Monday
A word of warning: For those of you who are worried that when you finally get someone to pick up the phone and are upset that you didn’t leave a message (yet they’ve seen you call multiple times), be prepared with good script! Something like, “I didn’t want to bother you with a few voicemails, so I decided to just try to get a hold of you. Anyway, I’m glad I did…”
Being persistent like this is the best way to really get someone on the phone, and since most sales reps won’t, you’ll be way ahead if you do.
Proven technique number two: You must write an effective voicemail message in advance. Nothing will delete your message faster than the sound of an unprepared and unprofessional message full of um’s and uh’s.
As soon as a busy prospect hears a message like this, especially from someone they don’t know (and a salesperson on top of that!), they automatically reach for the delete button. don’t you
Additionally, you want to make sure your scripted voicemail has these three elements: 1) Put the focus on your prospect – NOT your product or service. 2) Never say, “I’d like to take some time to learn more about you…” 3) Leave your number SLOWLY and twice.
As you will see in the following examples, most sales reps leave a message that is all about them – this never works. Second, they sometimes think that by wanting to “learn more about how you deal with…”, they think they’re putting the prospect first. WRONG. All the prospect thinks is that they don’t want to spend valuable time training you so you can sell them.
And third, the worst technique of all is to leave your phone number so quickly that you force your prospect to repeat your message over and over again just to get your phone number. Yes, just as if someone would…
Here’s an example of what to do and what not to do:
Proven technique number three: Turn a bad VM message into an effective one:
THE WRONG way to exit a virtual machine (and unfortunately how most people do it):
“Hi, this is (Your Name) from (Your Company) and we offer supplies and packaging for all your shipping needs. The reason I’m calling is to learn a little more about your business and find out more about your shipping needs and see if we can save you some money. If you could call me at (888) 555-1234 that would be great. I look forward to hearing from you soon.”
This message checks all the “don’t” boxes I listed in technique number two. It all depends on the caller; he wants to take time from the prospect so they can “introduce” more, and the number is only left once.
Here is the CORRECT virtual machine to exit:
“Hello (prospect name), this is (your name) with (your company). We offer discounted supplies and packaging, and if you’re like most of the companies we work with, then you’re probably paying too much! Our customers save between 10 to 15% every month and you will get guaranteed better service. To find out how much you can save, just call me at (SLOW Leave your phone number.)
Once again, my name is (Your Name) and my toll-free number is: (Leave the number again slowly). If you do not hear back in the next few days, I will contact you again. If you prefer to be removed from our list or if you prefer to receive information by email, just give me a call and leave a message. Will be in touch soon!”
This virtual machine is effective because it focuses first and foremost on the prospect and what’s in it for them (10 – 15% savings). The phone number was left twice slowly. But the magic technique was:
You gave your perspective an outlet! You let them know that they can just call you back, leave you a message (so they don’t have to talk to you or get hung up on when they call), and they can opt out of a call back from you. if they are I’m interested! This is good for you too, as you won’t be wasting your time with uninterested prospects.
One note: If you find the above message too long, please edit it! Script your VM to your liking and then use it consistently. In fact, spend some time now reworking your existing voicemail message so that it meets the rules above.
Proven technique number four: Combine your voice messages with an email campaign for maximum effectiveness. The number one law in all of marketing is repetition.
So is getting your potential customers to notice you. The most effective way is to use a bi-monthly campaign that goes like this:
First: Try to connect with someone for a few weeks without leaving a virtual machine. Week 1: Leave one virtual machine and follow up with an email the same day. Then leave a second virtual machine the same week. Week Two: Send email #2, then leave a VM at the beginning of the week and this Friday. Week Three: Send an email at the beginning and end of the week. Leave the VM in between. Week Four: Send another email on Tuesday and leave VM on Thursday. Second month: Send either one email or leave one VM per week for four weeks. Also: Call between them and don’t leave a message.
Anytime between week two and week three, one of your emails should be the “Should I stay or should I go” email. If you haven’t heard of this email, your bounce rate is about to go up by 60%! It goes like this:
Your subject is: (prospect’s first name) Should I stay or should I go?
Email Body:
Dear _________,
I haven’t heard from you, and that tells me one of three things:
1) You currently do not need or have already chosen another company for this.
2) You’re still interested, but haven’t had time to contact me yet.
3) You’ve fallen and can’t get up and in that case, please let me know and I’ll call 911 for you…
Please tell me who it is because I’m getting worried.
Honestly, all kidding aside, I understand you are very busy and the last thing I want to do is have a sore neck once a week. Whether your schedule has just been busy or you’ve gone in a different direction, I’d appreciate it if you could take a second to let me know so I can follow up accordingly.
Thank you in advance and I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards,
If you’re smiling while reading this, so is your prospect! Again, this is a high rate email that gets a response about 60% of the time. Compare this to your current results.
Proven Technique Number Five: If your VM and email campaigns aren’t working, consider going even further – as a top producer once said, “The extra mile is never crowded.” Although the prospect may not be in the market now, as we all know, things change. And when they do, you want to be top of mind so they think of you when they’re finally ready.
The most effective way to do this is by sending physical greeting cards. This is very effective. In fact, did you know that the number one seller in the world – according to the Guinness Book of World Records – is a man named Joe Girard? He was a car salesman and sold an average of six new cars EVERY DAY! How did you do it? He sent a card to every customer and prospect every month (and one for Christmas), a total of 13 cards.
Joe was so successful that people had to make an appointment with him to buy a car!
So there you have it: The Five Proven Voicemail Techniques to Get Your Calls Back. Follow them and you will be much more successful than you are now. Don’t follow them and, well, you already know how that goes.
Copyright (c) 2016 Mr. Inside Sales
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