Leave your message after the tone. After weeks of intensive contact via LinkedIn, you have finally obtained your prospect's telephone number. As a sales professional, you are ready to sell your product or service with full conviction. You dial the telephone number, but unfortunately... no answer. To avoid seeming pushy, you don't want to call again, but you still want to let someone hear from you with a voicemail. But what exactly are you going to say? How do you ensure that your story is so strong that you get a call back from this important prospect? This is Kenneth Smit's voicemail, leave your message after the tone and we will call you back as soon as possible about 5 tips for the perfect sales voicemail.
Perfect and 1. Research
A missed call from an unknown number and a voicemail. For the prospect, this combination sets off alarm bells, literally and figuratively: someone is trying to sell me something . As a sales professional, you are essentially already at a disadvantage, especially if the prospect also hears a strange voice while listening to the voicemail. The challenge for you is to turn this strange voice into a familiar one; the only question is how? The answer is research. For example, check if your prospect is on social media and look for mutual interests. Perhaps you are a huge golf enthusiast and so is your prospect: connection made. Or research colleagues on LinkedIn, particularly those in higher positions. Mentioning a manager's name creates recognition and adds urgency. Finally, research the company's products and/or services and look for pain points. The prospect will notice that you have done your homework, which will increase the likelihood of a response.
2. Never start with your own company name
Every voicemail starts the same: “Hello, this is Kenneth Smit from company X..”. Nine out of ten voicemails that start this way are deleted because the prospect knows exactly which company you work for and what you want to sell. If the prospect does not know your company, he or she will soon be uninterested. Therefore, start your voicemail with “Hello, this is Kenneth and the reason I am calling is..” and then explain what the added value is for your prospect. The goal is to quickly identify the benefits for the prospect and not to brag about what your company does. Not mentioning your company name will take some getting used to and the voicemail will become a little bolder, but you have to stand out from the list of voicemails.
3. Testing
Just like all your other sales techniques, it is advisable to test which voicemail works best. For example, do you get called back more often when you leave a voicemail in the morning or afternoon? Or when you end with your name and company? Create variations of your voicemail and track the results. You will notice that you get called back more often, and additionally, recording a voicemail becomes much more challenging as you improve your sales techniques .
4. Never mention previous contact attempts
Nothing is more annoying than someone who tells you that he can't get through to you and has already called you many times. There's a reason why the prospect isn't answering, and mentioning your contact attempts only encourages the prospect to delete your voicemail.
5. Send an email
Always mention your name and telephone number again during your closing, but do not ask to call back. Instead, refer to the email you have sent or are about to send.
Looking for even more tips for the perfect sales voicemail? Then check out these tips from sales strategist Marc Wayshak.
