Sales: Leave the Right Voice Mail Message

If you’re tired of calling companies and having nobody call you back, let me tell you what you need to do. You need to change your messaging because here’s what corporate decision makers hear time and time again. They hear somebody call them up and say, ‘Hi, this is Bob. I’m with XYZ Print Company. We offer full range of print services,” and they press the delete button. Delete, delete, delete. You have five seconds to capture these people’s attention and yet you’re using the same message that everybody else has been using 50 times already that day. So you have to change it and you have to focus on something that’s important. We already talked about value propositions so I want you to think about how to pull your value proposition into your voice mail messaging. One of my print clients was able to call up their clients’ prospects and say, “Hi Eric, this is Jill Konrath calling. With the changes in economy, a lot of people are looking for ways that they can cut cost. We have some ideas on how you can reduce your total prints spent. One of our recent clients, a distributor just like yours was able to knock 37% off their printing spending in just two months. Let’s set up a time to talk and see if we might do the same for you.” If you use a voice mail message that sounds like this, people will be interested. You have to lead off with something that establishes your credibility that shows you understand what’s happening in their marketplace. You have to pique their curiosity by stressing your value proposition or by mentioning when something is happening with your other clients, and finally, you have to close confidently, not like a self-serving sales person. You have to say it, “Let’s set up a time to talk. This is important. I’ll get back to you.” And you need to sound equal to that person. That’s what makes a strong voice mail message. Those are the kind of voice mail messages that get returned or if they don’t get returned, when you call back again and speak to the decision maker, they’ll say, “Oh! I’ve been meaning to call you.”