Before you pick up the phone, consider why the person you are calling should listen to you. Put yourself in their shoes and imagine their pain points.
2. Set up your voicemail. Press and hold the 1 key or dial 123 on your device dial pad to call and connect to your voicemail. During the first time setup, you may be asked for your password.
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The Serial Position Effect states that the human brain is most adept at recalling the first and last items in a series. For sales reps, this psychological phenomenon means that your voicemails are much more likely to be remembered if they're listened to at the beginning or the end of the day.
Salespeople who call and hang up screen themselves out of the process. No matter if you're prepared to leave the perfect voicemail or not, you need to leave one every time. However, if you do record a few messages with the same ultra-specific question, the prospect feels a twinge of guilt each time you call back because they feel they owe you an answer.
1. Set up voicemail. To set your voicemail box using the phone connected to your AT&T Voicemail (such as your home number), follow these steps: Dial *98 or dial your Access Number.
A relatively unprofessional one — like mine, for instance — does the opposite: It encourages prospects, recruiters, and potential connections to run in the other direction.
Start your voicemail with a regular cadence, but get slower and slower the longer you speak. By the time you get to your phone number, you should practically be crawling. It sounds counterintuitive -- but this tactic actually makes prospects likelier to finish listening.
Many loan officers hand out their cell phone number. This is a way of selling themselves to potential clients and beginning a professional relationship.
Voicemail may not be as popular today as it once was, but it’s still a useful feature; it lets you receive voice messages when you’re unable to answer the phone.
If you don't create call answering rules, incoming callers will be sent directly to your voice mail when you’re not available.
16. "Hmm. Gryffindor … No, Ravenclaw. Yes, you definitely belong in Ravenclaw. *Pause.* Okay, you haven't reached the Sorting Hat — it's the voicemail of [your name]. Please leave your name and number (and just for fun, the Harry Potter house you think you belong in) and I'll return your call as soon as possible."
4. Humorous Voicemail Greetings. While straightforward is always the safe bet, certain entities can go to the humorous side of voicemail greetings. Before taking this route, consider the type of callers and the persona the recipient is trying to convey.
21. “Happy holidays. Thanks for calling OpenPhone. Our hours are a little different during the holiday season. Please listen carefully to the following changes. Customer Support is available December 23, 27, and 30th as well as January 2nd, 3rd from 11 AM – 5 PM EST. On December 24th, 31st, and the holiday weekends from the 21st to the 5th we are open from 12 PM – 3 PM EST. We are closed on December 25th, 26th as well as January 1st. In the case of an emergency, please leave a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. You can also reach out via email to [email protected]. Thanks for using OpenPhone and enjoy your holiday season!” Since our holiday hours are shorter, it’s a little harder to get in contact with us immediately. That means we need to be as detailed as possible for our callers’ convenience. Yet, we still kept it brief and friendly.
What should I say on my voicemail? Your voicemail should state the purpose of your call, and should include a value statement as well as your contact information.
Only leave this voicemail for interested prospects. If you're talking with someone who isn't really invested in fixing a problem or implementing your product/service, they probably won't want to read an article you sent on the subject either.
Note: There is never a reason to give your sales pitch on voice mail. No one is there to say yes. Your objective is to make contact. Your objective is to provide enough information to create positive response.
Never use voicemail as a way to avoid speaking with someone. It doesn't help, and a person would have to be terminally dense not to figure out your game. If you must call when you know the other person isn't available, say, "I know you won't be able to take the call now, but I wanted to let you know that..."