Leave a voicemail? Don’t leave a voicemail? This is a question that sellers are passionate about. Many suggest not, but isn’t that a missed opportunity?
I alwaystry to leave a message because how else will someone know that you want to speak with them? In today’s world where it’s acceptable to screen calls, you may never reach your prospect if you don’t. Add to it that a message allows a prospect to hear your interest in talking with them and your professionalism.
So why not do it? Take advantage of the 40 seconds or so to grab attention, leave a positive impression, and start relationship building.
Here are a few ideas to increase your success.
Have an idea to go with the triggering event. The core of your message should be about a triggering event or business issue they’re most likely grappling with. Don’t talk about your offerings or the latest special deal. Focus on their issue and mention that you have some thoughts or an idea about how to address it based on work you’ve done with similar companies. It’s the opportunity to get a new idea that’ll make them want to speak with you.
Request a specific time. Don’t stop with a request to call you. You’ll end up playing phone tag, and they probably won’t take the time to type in your email address even if you leave it. Instead, make it easy to connect by requesting a specific date and time to talk.
Do it again via email. Clearly you aren’t expecting a response. Picking up the phone during a busy day is hard. If you have your prospect’s email address, promise to send an email “in case that’s an easier way for you to respond.” Then send an email that say the same thing as your voicemail, including the time to talk.
If you don’t get a response, call Thursday at 2:30, further demonstrating your professionalism and interest in talking with the prospect. Leave a voicemail that you’d promised to call and reiterating what you wanted to talk about. Suggest a new time to talk and do it all again.
In today’s environment it can take 5 or 6 times to get a return call so don’t get discouraged.
The secret to success with this approach is to have real ideas to share about how to help your prospect address the business issue you mentioned. When you do that, your prospect is glad he took your call. He appreciates the value you provided. If all you do is spew on about your offerings, you didn’t meet your commitment from your voicemail and you’ll never get a second chance.
