Nobody returns voicemails anymore; or do they?
Our customers report that, in the B2B market space, the percentage of returned voicemails and emails has dropped over the past ten years with the advent of voicemail. Our experience mirrors that. So, the operative question is, “Should we stop leaving voicemails?” Our answer is an emphatic, “No”, as our techniques have the percentage of returns on the rise again. By the way, if you’d like to read about the six ways to get more voicemails and emails returned, click here.
There are six reasons to leave voicemails and send emails:
- We’ve already invested 80% of the time it takes to place a call when we get to voicemail, so why not leave a 20 to 30 second, well thought out, well delivered voicemail? Our marketing departments would kill for the ability to deliver a well-aimed message to the targets they have identified use what we sell and have the ability to buy. (Those are the ones I hope you’re calling.) So, if we’ve gotten to their voicemail, let’s leave that well thought out, well delivered message.
- When they do return a voicemail or email, assuming that we delivered a well thought out message that gives the target a good reason to return the call, they will have at least semi-qualified themselves when they do return the call. The call will also be warmer and the discussion more meaningful.
- Even though surveys show that less than 5% of our universe of potential targets believes they are in the market for what we’re selling when we call, there are some out there that are in the market when we call. So, why would we want to waste the investment of that dial to the target that believes they are in the market by not leaving a message.
- With Caller ID on most people’s phones these days, many targets will not pick up the phone if they don’t recognize the number. So, if we don’t leave a message, they’ll never take our call. Talk about wasting time…
- Our methodology calls for the final attempt to contact a target in our planned pursuit (we call it a Cycle), to tell the target we’ll not be calling them back for a while, so if they are interested, we suggest they please call back now. We get more returned calls from this message than any other. It will not work, however, if we’ve not left earlier messages.
- Advertising experts will tell you that it takes 7 to 9 touch points for a target to even remember our name let alone what we’re selling. By leaving different voicemails and sending emails, we are warming up our market for the time we do get them on the phone.
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.
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