Leaving Voicemails That Get Return Calls

Here’s a question for you: Reaching someone’s voicemail is common nowadays, isn’t it? Well, if you agree, then even though that’s the case, there are some salespeople who don’t believe in leaving voicemail messages when making prospecting calls because feel as though it’s a waste of time. And as a result of this, these salespeople are excluding all of these people as potential contacts.

The problem with this, though, is that a large number of busy decision makers use voicemail to screen all of their calls. So, why would any sane person want to hand this group of potential customers over to the competition?

On the other hand, salespeople who are productive actually prefer delivering a solid, professional message to a voicemail system, and then working with the return call that results from it.

“Why?” you ask?

Well, there are three reasons:

1. When the person calls back, you’re less likely to be interrupted, because he or she is more likely to actually listen to what you have to say.
2. You can easily leave messages for people who are difficult to reach directly on the phone.
3. You can make prospecting calls to voicemail systems at any time of the day or night, including evenings and weekends, which adds greater flexibility to your work schedule.

So, with that said, in order to be a successful salesperson in the age of voicemail, you need to know how to leave a message that piques curiosity and increases the chances of the person getting back to you. Fortunately, here are two different ways to do that.

Calling with a Company Name

The first way involves calling with the name of a company. Now, if you recall, one of the main reasons for calling on a prospect to begin with is the success you’ve had working with another company.

And for that reason, your reference point should be that same company. So, when you reach the prospect’s voicemail system, your message will simply sound like this:

“Hi, this is Daniel Richards from ABC Company. My number is 617-401-3189. It’s regarding the XYZ Company.”

Now, when the prospect calls you back, you can say, “Oh, yes. I’m glad you called me back. The reason I called you is that we recently completed a training program with the XYZ Company. We were effective in helping them increase their sales by showing them multiple ways to get more appointments. And what I’d like to do is stop by and tell you about the success that we helped them achieve. How’s this Thursday at 2 pm?”

Now, the beautiful thing about this approach is that it doesn’t matter whether or not the person is even familiar with the company that you’ve mentioned. For instance, suppose the prospect says, “But I don’t even know anything about that company.” You can respond by saying, “Oh, well, they’re a large appliance company in the area, and they do A, B, and C. Anyway, the reason I was calling you . . .” and then you continue by restating your opening about being successful with the XYZ Company and setting the appointment.

On top of that, it also doesn’t matter if the prospect says, “I don’t care about that company.” Because if that’s the case, you can respond by saying, “That’s okay. I’m just curious, though. What is it that you do?”

Then you use their answer as the precise reason why you should get together, because you can enhance what they’re already doing.

So, the bottom line is that it makes no difference whatsoever how people respond to the message you leave, whether that response is positive or negative. In other words, as long as they call you back, you have an approach that’ll help you turn their response around and get the appointment.

Calling with a Person’s Name

Okay. The second way to leave a message that’ll increase the chances of the person getting back to you is for two different salespeople to trade their names with each other. For instance, let’s say that Lawrence makes the initial call to a potential customer. But for whatever reason, he doesn’t get through, and the person he’s trying to reach doesn’t call him back.

Now, Ellen calls, using Lawrence’s name as the reference. Her message will be, “Hello, this is Ellen Richards from ABC Company. My number is 213-541-6317. It’s in reference to Lawrence Patterson.”

And when the prospect calls back, Ellen says, “Oh, yes. I’m glad you returned my call. Lawrence Patterson from our office had reached out to you. And the reason I’m calling you today specifically is that we recently completed a training program with the 123 Company. We were effective in helping them increase their sales by showing them multiple ways to get more appointments. And what I’d like to do is stop by and tell you about the success that we helped them achieve. Would this Friday at 10 am be okay?”

Now, the beautiful thing about this method is that you can use it with your colleagues, or managers can even use it to work with their direct reports. And either way, you can call all of the prospects that other representatives in your company have previously called and have not yet been successful with.

Remember, you can’t earn a sale unless you first get a face-to-face appointment with a prospect. And you can’t set up that appointment unless you first speak with the prospect. So, if you’re not able to get through to the prospect the first time you call, leaving an effective voicemail message is a good way to do that.