When I entered the world of selling, voicemail had started making its way into businesses, and the instruction was clear from my boss: “Don’t leave a message. Hang up and go to the next call – it’s a numbers game!”
In 1995, that made sense. The only goal of making calls was to schedule appointments, and the more calls you made, the more appointments you made. Not today. In today’s world of b2b sales, prospective customers don’t schedule time with sales people unless they need a price or believe the sales person can solve their problem better than a Google search can. Today, leaving a voicemail can meet many objectives: help set up a subsequent email or text, provide 10-second commercial about your unique expertise, illustrate confidence, and possibly spark a return call.
Unfortunately, most sales people don’t leave voicemails because they’re still dialing for dollars, or they leave the wrong type of voicemail that gets deleted before the first sentence is ended. Below is a very simple guide for sales people to leave voicemails for prospective customers.
- Let them know who you are and why it matters to them. State your name and company name, and then let them know what you do specifically for their type of business: “Hi Mike. This is Chris Peterson with Vector Firm. We provide sales training specifically designed for system integration companies.”
- Tell them why you’re calling and tie it back to your unique benefit. Don’t waste their time with a value proposition. Any sales pitch will be deleted. Get to the point: “The reason for my call is to schedule a brief discovery call with you to see if we may be able to help your sales team like we have for dozens of other integrators like yours.”
- State your name, company name, and phone number. “Chris Peterson with Vector Firm – 321-439-3025."
- Let them know that you’re going to follow-up with an email. Most people fall into one of two categories – they like the phone or they don’t. If you offer your prospect two options of connecting with you, your chances for a reply escalates. If you don’t like email, follow a voicemail with a text or LinkedIn direct message. The secret is to give them two options. “I’ll send an email too, in case it’s easier for you to respond that way.”
That’s it. Twenty seconds. Straight to the point. Unique benefit clearly stated. Let them know about an email is coming their way. No sales pitch. No five-minute explanation. No annoyance. No deleting!
Try it. Don’t worry about the return call as much as the other objectives … and then watch as the return calls start to arrive.
