How to leave voicemails (and send emails) that get returned more often.
Now that I’ve got your attention, let me lead with a caveat. Most voicemails and emails do not get returned these days. Ten years ago, we averaged 22% of our voicemails returned. I refer to that as the pre-voicemail era. Two years ago it was closer to a disappointing 3%, and now it’s back up to a more reasonable 10% including emails returned.
The really good news is that when we do get them returned, we’ve pretty much got a pre-qualified target on the phone. That saves us the time to make additional calls if we’re lucky enough to be in when they call back. More importantly, (assuming I left a message that truly describes why I called), we will save the number of additional dials it normally takes us to find another qualified target. That number will be different for each of us, but trust me, it is many more than just one dial.
Also, because voicemail has become ubiquitous, there are a lot fewer gatekeepers to take messages and screen (a good thing), and it’s not likely to change any time soon.
So, here’s the most effective voicemail/email ever as it gets more returns than the other three combined. (BTW, our clients report exactly the same experience.) Bob Howard, founder of Contact Science, whose enabling technology product we recommend, coined this the ‘Move-on’ message.
“Good morning, Mark. My name is Barry Caponi, and from the Caponi Performance Group. As you know, I’ve left you several messages over the past few weeks regarding how we’ve been able to at least double the number of Initial Appointments our client’s sales teams are now setting, and although I’m persistent, I certainly don’t want to be a pest. If you’ve been busy as most of my clients are, but meaning to return my call, please do as I’m looking forward to talking with you. If you can’t, I won’t bother you again right now, but will call you back again in a few months if you don’t mind.
My number is 817 224-9900, that’s 817 224-9900. Thanks for listening and I look forward to hearing from you.”
By the way, you’ll notice that I mention the fact that I had been trying to reach the person over the past few weeks. That’s because this is the last message of a predetermined set of attempts. This obviously won’t work if we haven’t been doing that.
We encourage our students to develop a Best Practice that consists of usually four attempts to contact their target and leaving a different reason as to why others have benefited from their solution in each of those voicemails and complementary email. As there is generally more than one reason why people buy from us, we get a chance to hit on the top three reasons during the process.
If you’d like more information on voicemail and email strategies, or why no team of sales professionals has ever failed to at least double the number of Initial Appointments they were setting after going through one of our programs, give us a call or drop us a line. We love talking about the challenges of appointment making!
Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called Coldcalling101™. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations—the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 817 224-9900 or at bcaponi@caponipg.com. You can also find answers to many of your challenges in our books: Contrary to Popular Belief, Cold Calling DOES Work! Volume I: Effectiveness, The Art of Appointment Making and Volume II: Efficiency, the Science of Appointment Making.
Caponi Performance Group and Contact Science jointly market the telephone prospecting and cold calling solution called The Prospector’s Academy™ under the brand name Coldcalling101. It is the only comprehensive solution to solving the biggest barrier to success in most selling organizations – the inability to secure enough Initial Appointments to begin the selling process. We accomplish that through simultaneously addressing both the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. We can be reached at 214 483-5800 or at barry@coldcalling101.com.
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