The branch manager at my local bank had been calling me for months about meeting and discussing my business account. She would leave a pleasant message every time, and when I erroneously answer every now and then, I’d thank her for the call but was always busy. I never returned her call. Two Fridays ago she emailed me, and it was actually a very good prospecting email – brief, one call to action, etc. I replied to her email and now we have an appointment scheduled to review my account.
I want to meet with her. I’ve been frustrated for years that my company’s reserve account is just sitting there earning practically nothing. However, I hate phones. My banker could’ve called me for years and offered all kinds of free stuff, but I never would’ve called her back. Unless I started losing money (which I am when you think about it), she never would’ve heard from me. Email is totally different. I can read it when I want; I’ve got my calendar right in front of me; and I can reply in 10 seconds without the chit chat. I will reply to most emails if I have any interest.
Are your prospects phone people or email people? How can you tell? These two questions lead us to our idea …
Idea for this Tuesday: Follow-up a voicemail with an email.
You’ll never be able to nail down whether your customers are phone or email people. For most people, it depends on the time of day. However, if you give them both options, your response rate will more than double.
The key factor is to be cognizant of your persistence and how it might be perceived – you don’t want to become a pest. At the end of your voicemail, let them know you’re sending an email. Simply say: “You’re probably slammed today, so I’ll send you an email in case it’s easier to reply that way.”
Another tip is to make the subject of your email “My Voicemail”. In the body of the email, let the prospect know that they can ignore your voicemail if it’s easier to respond to the email.
That’s it – do this and you’ll more than double your response rate. With that said, your response rate is probably pretty low, so don’t expect miracles. You might move from a 3% to a 7% rate – which is awesome. However, you’ll still have a 93% failure rate. Stick with using this idea and watch your ratio keep getting higher and higher.
What do you think? Is this an annoying tactic? Have you tried it before? How did it work?
