To Voicemail or not to Voicemail...

I read conflicting advice around leaving a voicemail message when cold calling.

Some say it is a perfect opportunity to promote your offering to the prospect. A kind of commercial if you will.

Others say you should never leave a voicemail message for someone you havent spoken to before.

What do you guys think?

Leave a message or call back later?

Why not to leave a VM when cold calling.

http://www.highprobsell.com/html/voi...l_selling.html

The challenge I see with leaving a message when cold calling besides that you can't verify if the prospect heard the message is the lack of interaction which I believe is important.

I have tried to leave voice mail and to be honest I have yet to receive a call back.

I now dont send a voicemail but rather send an email then followup with a phone call. I get a better response that way.

While I can see both sides to this. I always like to ask. If you were to be selling face to face, would you walk up to the house and not knock on the door? Why would you not let people know you were there?

Personally I do not believe in leaving a voice mail each and every time. But if you can perfect a very compelling snipit to intrigue the customer - leave the message -

In my business (mortgage broker calling internet leads) it's usually the customers who cannot get a loan who call you back. ;(

Messages can't rebuttal.

I once had a telemarketer leave messages on over 100 machines in one day just to prove me wrong. He actually had 3 people call him back...all 3 wanted to be added to the company's Do Not Call list.

To Voice Message or not to Voice Message.... that is the question.

I think the data speaks for itself.

Industry averages show that twenty dials result in one connect with the targeted person. That means that there are nineteen non-events if one does not leave Voice Messages.

Two points for consideration:

Voice Messages must be well crafted and be in groups of three or five depending on the complexity of the solution being sold.
The return call rate will not increase much over the 0% (not at all) but the purposeful Voice Messages will allow for a significant increased response rate if accompanied by...
An E-mail Message that Recaps the Voice Message word for word.

ShadeTree's clients are realizing four plus conversations from the same twenty dials due to the ease of the targeted prospect to respond to the email.

Try it yourself with a small sample set of your Cold Calls.
Make the Dial, leave a Voice Message, send an Recap of Voice Message.

You will get a significant increase in response.

The trick is to be able to manage the process with Voice Message and E-mail Message Templates that are integrated into you CRM solution.

Please let me know if you enjoy success with this.

jim.banks@shadetreetechnology.com

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadeTree

Voice Messages must be well crafted and be in groups of three or five depending on the complexity of the solution being sold.

What do you mean "in groups of three to five"?

What is meant by a group is a set of related messages that build on each other. It is expected that some number of the nineteen will not respond to the first touch. When the Sales Professional phones a second time, he/she will leave the second in the set along with the Recap of Voice Message Email.

The purpose of the Voice Message and Related Email is to provide Sales will have higher quality prepackaged messages that frees up their time and attention so that there is more time for selling.

	#1
Julian	To Voicemail or not to Voicemail... I read conflicting advice around leaving a voicemail message when cold calling. Some say it is a perfect opportunity to promote your offering to the prospect. A kind of commercial if you will. Others say you should never leave a voicemail message for someone you havent spoken to before. What do you guys think? Leave a message or call back later?

	#2
bluenote	Why not to leave a VM when cold calling. http://www.highprobsell.com/html/voi...l_selling.html

	#3
Mikey	The challenge I see with leaving a message when cold calling besides that you can't verify if the prospect heard the message is the lack of interaction which I believe is important. __________________ "You're only as good as what you did yesterday, not a month ago, not a year ago."

	#4
I make appointments	Email perhaps I have tried to leave voice mail and to be honest I have yet to receive a call back. I now dont send a voicemail but rather send an email then followup with a phone call. I get a better response that way.

	#5
C R Heller	While I can see both sides to this. I always like to ask. If you were to be selling face to face, would you walk up to the house and not knock on the door? Why would you not let people know you were there? Personally I do not believe in leaving a voice mail each and every time. But if you can perfect a very compelling snipit to intrigue the customer - leave the message -

	#6
zachtannehill.com	In my business (mortgage broker calling internet leads) it's usually the customers who cannot get a loan who call you back. ;(

	#7
tinman	Messages can't rebuttal. I once had a telemarketer leave messages on over 100 machines in one day just to prove me wrong. He actually had 3 people call him back...all 3 wanted to be added to the company's Do Not Call list.

	#8
shadeTree	Voice Mail Rocks! To Voice Message or not to Voice Message.... that is the question. I think the data speaks for itself. Industry averages show that twenty dials result in one connect with the targeted person. That means that there are nineteen non-events if one does not leave Voice Messages. Two points for consideration: Voice Messages must be well crafted and be in groups of three or five depending on the complexity of the solution being sold. The return call rate will not increase much over the 0% (not at all) but the purposeful Voice Messages will allow for a significant increased response rate if accompanied by... An E-mail Message that Recaps the Voice Message word for word. ShadeTree's clients are realizing four plus conversations from the same twenty dials due to the ease of the targeted prospect to respond to the email. Try it yourself with a small sample set of your Cold Calls. Make the Dial, leave a Voice Message, send an Recap of Voice Message. You will get a significant increase in response. The trick is to be able to manage the process with Voice Message and E-mail Message Templates that are integrated into you CRM solution. Please let me know if you enjoy success with this. jim.banks@shadetreetechnology.com

To Voicemail or not to Voicemail...

Cold Calling