"Smile when you are talking and put energy behind your words," says Charlene DeCesare, a veteran sales advisor and founder of Firewalk Sales School. "Even though they can’t see you, your emotion will come through. If you let it, the power of your voice will be far more effective than any written communication."
State upfront how you can help the prospect. Are you saving them time or money, or helping them get promoted?
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6. "Hi, this is [your name]. I'm either on a call or away from my desk. Please leave your name, number, and a brief message and I'll get back to you. Thank you.
“(Intro) I’m calling regarding the voicemail I left you (earlier today/yesterday) about (example: how we recently helped competitor 1, 2, and 3 avoid ______ while ______) and wanted to see if it would make sense for us to have a conversation to determine if what we do would be of some help to you as well. If you’d like to discuss this further you can reach me at __________. I’ll send a follow up email to this message so if it’s easier to reply that way you can or if you’d rather talk via the phone, again, my number is _________.”
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Hi. I am probably home, I’m just avoiding someone I don’t like. Leave me a message, and if I don’t call back, it’s you.
3. Business Voicemail Greetings. Hello, you've reached the Sales Department at [X company]. We can't take your call right now, but please leave your name, contact information, and the reason for reaching out, and one of our team members will be in touch within 24 hours.
As Dan tells us, "This is the only strategy I’ve ever seen consistently work—but when they call back you'd better have a question ready!"
I take it this is a first-time prospecting scenario where you’ve tried to reach them, had to leave a voicemail and now you are trying the 2nd attempt. Hopefully, you’re using a voicemail strategy that includes sending the proper email to the prospect after the first attempt.
First, I got the information about the meeting. I will meet you in the building lobby at 2:30. See you then. You might want to repeat your number at the end of your message. That would sound like, "Again, my number is xxx-xxxx should you need it." Then just hang up. There is nothing rude about that; you don't need to say good-bye, since there was no conversation.
Even if you have this feature, it can only be used to send messages to contacts with the same carrier as you. So Verizon customers can send voice messages only to other Verizon customers, for example.
Most cell phones show the number and voicemail duration when a call is missed. So if the recipient sees the message is from an unknown number and only a few seconds long, they'll assume it's not important and hit delete. Since the message doesn't appear to be substantive, they're not prompted to listen.
Background noises can be picked up in voicemail recordings, and even though we may not want them to, they do subversively impact how our messages are received. Noisy backgrounds tend to trigger thoughts of a chaotic atmosphere --implying that you are disorganized or do not consider the content of your message to be important enough to be heard clearly. And if you don’t care about what you’re trying to say, why should the person on the other end of the phone?
3. "Hey, this is [your name]. If you're calling for [X reason], please [contact so-and-so] or [go to our website, send me an email]. For all other inquiries, leave your name and a brief message and I'll call you back within [one, two, three] business day[s]."
Here's an advanced technique for all you overachievers. It's "advanced" because it's rarely used, not because it's difficult. The trick? Leave two sales voicemails instead of one. Let us explain:
You can allow callers to press 0 and be transferred to another phone number, of your choosing, when they reach your voicemail greeting.
If your voicemails and emails are exactly the same, you lessen your chances of getting a response to either. So make them different by reserving certain questions for voicemail instead of email.