There are really two schools of thought on leaving voicemail. Some think it is a complete waste of time. Meanwhile others believe it is a means to increase your brand and name awareness for your next call. Depending on your product, brand recognition and, most importantly, skill in delivering a meaning full message there can be a benefit in taking the time to leave a message as part of your sales process. While there are others still that consider returning a voicemail to be basic sales etiquette.
For many of you reading this, the other nuisance is in just getting all those messages. As a salesman myself and having been on the leaving end of that message more times than I care to remember I always take the time to return another person’s message. Well, I am here to say that sometime leaving voicemails does work, as I for one will always return a message left in my phone’s inbox.
DON’T MISS THE CHANCE
You may think that this is a huge waste of time since I often just call back to say “I am not interested” and “good luck” but you never know. I am a firm believer that you need to make the most out of every single opportunity. In some cases, I have found new products or resources that I may not have been aware of that can move our business forward. In other cases, I have discovered someone who was a really poor salespeople and not a good prospect for our service.
These days there is an art in leaving that voicemail message. You are competing with a lot of forces for attention, your prospect’s life, email inbox, meeting calendar, deadlines, responsibilities and yes, many other messages. In order to stand apart, make your message memorable and poignant. Do you have timely information or industry knowledge I need to know about? Have you looked at my website at least and know what type of business we are and can your product help us? Often these important steps are missed and my return call is just to say “good luck”.
KEEPING GOOD KARMA
In the end, leaving a voicemail may not be worth your time. But for me, I accept the fact that we would not be in business nor would we have many of the tools that have helped us grow if there was not a need for sales and, sometimes when called upon, the infamous voicemail. So if you are on the delivery side of the message, take the time to leave a good one. If you are going to spend the time, make it worthwhile. For those of you on the receiving end, don’t dread that blinking red light. You never know what may lie on the other side of a well-placed voicemail that you may need or not know about. Sometimes karma can be a good force to have on your side, so give us sales folks a break and just call us back!
