Following Up: Use Voicemail To Your Advantage
By:TJ Tedesco, President, Grow Sales, Inc.
For: High Volume Printing
Published: February, 2005

A prospect pledges to get in touch with you within a week after a promising sales call. After the week has come and gone, you take the initiative and give them a call, only to be forced to leave a dreaded voicemail. Subsequent calls are met with a now-familiar introduction: “This is Joe Smith. I’m not in my office right now…” After a great sales meeting, you’re left to wonder, “Where did I go wrong?”

If you’re like most salespeople, you regard voicemail as your biggest enemy, the toughest of all barriers to making a sale. That doesn’t have to be the case! Rather than viewing voicemail as a quick trip to a dead end, use it as an opportunity to create a new path to a successful partnership.

Use Your Information
One of the key elements of a successful voicemail message is probably sitting right in front of you every time you make a sales call. If you’ve had prior discussions with your prospect, you should have a bevy of notes detailing them. Use this information as the focus of your message: “Hi Joe, this is Bob from ABC Printing. I’m interested to see how that Anderson project turned out. As I said when we met last week, I have a few ideas on how we can help you with similar opportunities…”

Using this information in your message indicates to your prospect that you’re interested in their business and their success, and that you have ideas that may help them. It also does wonders to differentiate you and your company from the litany of canned messages your prospect receives.

Your information may go beyond what you and the prospect discussed. Did you spot a lure collection in your prospect’s office? If you share their interest in fishing, work it into your message: “I noticed you’re interested in fishing. I know a great spot on the bay…” Keep in mind that a mutual interest should be genuine. If you know nothing about fishing, don’t fabricate a connection. Simply expressing interest in your prospect’s hobby may be sufficient to differentiate yourself and earn a return phone call.

Strategic Messages
Encountering voicemail is inevitable for everyone who spends a great deal of time on the phone contacting prospects and customers. Making it work for you relies on not only what you say, but how you say it and how you follow it up afterwards. Here are a few additional tips:

Don’t ask for callbacks – Unsolicited calls are seldom returned, and follow-up calls are often tabled while prospects address other issues. So why bother asking them to do so? Instead of concluding a voicemail message with some variant of “Please call me back,” schedule yourself action steps such as “There’s a way we can help your company. I’ll call you Tuesday afternoon to discuss the possibilities.” Then, and most importantly, keep the appointment. Before long, you will differentiate yourself as a sales rep that makes and keeps promises.

Keep messages short – The only thing worse than ten voicemails to wade through is ten voicemails that ramble and don’t seem to end. Keeping messages brief and to the point is key—twenty seconds is a good rule-of-thumb. It may sound silly, but drafting a message beforehand and rehearsing it a few times can prepare you for either a strong conversation or voicemail.

Use negative check-offs - When you’ve been held at bay by a gatekeeper, consider setting an appointment via voice mail “negative checkoff.” Here’s how: “Hi, Ms. Prospect, this is Bob at XYZ Printer calling. Hopefully, you’ve received my previous messages as well as the materials I’ve sent you. I think we have a great solution for your specific printing needs. Unless I hear from you, I’ll stop by on Tuesday morning to talk further. If this time doesn’t work, please call me at 555-1212.”

If the prospect doesn’t call back, on Tuesday, you can credibly tell the gatekeeper that you said you’d drop by increasing the likelihood of a face-to-face meeting. On the other hand, if you get a call to cancel, at least the decision-maker is on the phone. What you do with the opportunity is up to you!

Though it can often seem like the road to nowhere, voicemail is an empty stage where you’re able to perform as best you can. Using it properly can help differentiate you and your company and reinforce to your prospect that you have ideas that can help them solve a problem. Prospects may only get to know you by your messages. It’s your job to use that opportunity to build the partnership path directly to their door.

T.J. Tedesco is with Grow Sales, Inc, a company specializing in outsourced marketing leadership for the graphic arts industry. He is the author of Binding, Finishing & Mailing: The Final Word, Win Top of Mind Positioning, and Direct Mail Pal. All three are published by GATFPress and are available at Amazon.com. T.J. can be reached at (301) 294-9900 or tj@growsales.com. Grow Sales, Inc.’s website is www.growsales.com.