“If I leave a voicemail message on my first call in the morning, and I get voicemail again on my second attempt (either later that day or the next time I try and reach them) what do I say when that happens?”
Answer:
OK the answer will be different depending on what type of call we are making… Is this a “prospecting” call or a true “follow-up” call? (Follow-up call = you’ve spoken before, made some progress through the sales process and a follow-up call was required)
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 a 2nd attempt. Hopefully you’re using a voicemail strategy that includes sending the proper email to the prospect after the first attempt.
Now before we jump into one possible solution, let’s cover two additional steps you may want to add to your repertoire…
Since leaving your first voicemail message that was followed by a proper corresponding email, did you also look them up on LinkedIn and send a connection request?
While you were on their LinkedIn profile page, did they have their Twitter URL displayed and if so, did you start to follow them?
These are all the steps I quickly go through when trying to connect with a new prospect.
There’s a potential of up to 4 quick touches right off the bat to help you get on your prospects radar:
Voicemail
Email
LinkedIn request &
Twitter follow notification
How many of your competitors are doing the same? Not many, I’m willing to bet (but more are starting to!)
Ok so now that we covered what one possible voicemail process can look like, let’s get back to the original question…
“What Should I Say On My Second Voicemail Message?”
I believe honesty and creativity is the key. Understand that in order to increase your callbacks, you need to pique the prospects interest without raising doubts or fear.
If you’re too mysterious with information, suspicions will be raised. If you leave a mini-sales pitch that’s all about you, the prospect will most likely make the decision not to return your call.
So with that being said, a simple message such as this may be just what you’re looking for:
“(Intro) I’m calling regarding the voicemail I left you (earlier today) 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 _________.”
OPTIONAL: … And if for some reason the timing isn’t right, let me know that as well and I’ll remove you from my call list. Thanks (prospects name)”
Word of Caution!
Its imperative that you, your company or both are doing something on a regular basis that labels you as a value added industry resource to your targeted audience. This way you have a clear advantage over all the other sales calls he/she is receiving.
Oh, BTW… The Hang-Up…
Ok so let’s say you’ve made a few calls and have left several messages and you don’t want to leave another one… if that’s the case, at least hang-up before the end of their “leave a message after the tone” instructions so that they don’t get notified of a voicemail just to hear you hanging up on them.
Hope this helps.
By: Michael Pedone
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