By: Kate Tunison, President - www.presentingplus.com
Have you ever been frustrated by trying to get someone to call you back? As a sales person, you can spend a lot of time finding the right person and then spin your wheels continuing to call them. Not making a connection is downright de-motivating, wouldn’t you agree?
Voicemail may sound prehistoric in the era of texting, Tweeting, blogging and all the other great social media communication tools, but it's often the primary gizmo you have to persuade someone to talk to you. Come on, admit it, you still use it.
1. Explain the benefit - Don't try to sell your service in a voicemail message, just sell having a conversation. Tell them what will they get by calling you back i.e. sharing results achieved with others in a similar industry, advice, peace of mind, an assessment...Don’t wing it, do a little research on them and their business before calling. It will make you sound professional and your approach could be the differentiator that makes you stand out.
2. Stand Up! – Not only do you want to stand out – stand up! Your voice projects better when you are standing. After you leave your message, hit the # key and most of the time you can use the playback feature on their voicemail system to hear how your message sounds. If you talked too much or too fast, you mumbled or your message doesn’t sound like someone you would want to talk to, delete and rerecord. First impressions can either open the door or close it.
3. Get rid of the script that screams "Telemarketer!" - What happens when you realize it’s a telemarketer calling you? Not so good, huh? Instead of starting out sounding stilted and like you are reading try using a friendly but respectful, "Hi (their name) it's (your name.)" This is the language a friend or acquaintance might use, and usually triggers a more positive response. Scripts are fine - just practice until you have internalized the script and you sound fluid and…like you.
4. Curiosity brings them back - If all the information you have to tell them is already in the voicemail, why would they call you back? Create curiosity. Without sounding like Cheese Whiz tell them you have information that is really valuable and they need to call you back to discuss it. If you explain the benefit you have provided others like them (see Tip #1,) chances are they will be curious enough to return your call.
5. Use good Voicemail etiquette - No one likes a really long VM, in fact no one listens to it so keep it as short as possible. Say your phone number and name (first and last name) in the beginning of the message and at the end. If the person misses your number and name the first time they hear the message, and they have to playback the entire message to retrieve it, it's less likely they'll call you back. Common sense.
6. Make it compelling - Just like the headlines in a newspaper, realize that if the first part of your message is boring, they will most likely hit "delete" right way. Make your first few seconds compelling so they'll listen to the second few and make those few seconds make them want to listen to the next few seconds and so on. Pay attention to your voice intonations and your message.
PresentingPlus! is a training, presentations and consulting company: www.presentingplus.com
