Should you leave a voicemail when using the telephone to prospect?  The answer to that question has been debated by sales people since voicemail was invented.

Some believe that leaving a voicemail is a complete waste of time.  Since prospects will never return your call, it is more productive just to hang up and dial another number.

Top producing sales professionals, on the other hand, have a different view.  They always leave a voicemail, no matter what.  Granted, the chances may be low that you will receive a return phone call, but those chances are higher than if you just hang up the phone and never leave a message in the first place. You are there anyway.  Why not leave a voicemail?

How to Leave an Effective Voicemail Message

Voicemail is a fact of life in the sales profession!  Most sales people, however, still don’t know how to properly leave a message.  You must entice the prospect to call back. “Hi Mr. Prospect, this is Sam Salesperson.  Please call me back.” is just not good enough!

When you leave a voicemail, make sure you do everything you can to increase your chances of having your call returned.    One tip is to always leave a different message for the same prospect. Script a series of voicemail messages, each with a different benefit statement. With persistence, sooner or later one benefit message will induce the prospect to return your call.

The Way You Speak in Your Voicemail Message is Important!

The way you speak when leaving a voicemail is just as important as what you say.  Don’t rhyme off your name and phone number so fast that the recipient must listen to the message more than once to get it.  They will delete it before they will listen to it again.  Slow down and always speak clearly.

Always Leave Your Callback Number

To help you with this, when you are leaving your phone number, write it down at the same time.  This will ensure you are speaking slowly enough so that your voicemail recipient will be able to write it down too.

In fact, you should always leave your phone number twice to ensure the prospect writes down the right phone number.  This is especially important if you leave messages with your cell phone as it is common for these devices to cut out.  Sometimes all your recipient can hear is, “613-???-?295″ so they have no way of calling you back if they wanted to.

For more techniques to get more prospects to return your calls, check out these 5 tips to improve both your outgoing and incoming voicemail messages.

The Bottom Line on Whether Your Should Leave a Voicemail

Should you leave a voicemail?  Absolutely!  The next time you question whether it is worth it to leave a message when prospecting, remember the rule of 3 in 18.  It states that a prospect has to hear of your company name at least 3 times in 18 months before they will even remember your name.  A voice mail, even though they don’t return you call, counts as one of the three.

Still not convinced leaving a voice mail is worth while? Check out the story of the $3 million voice mail message!

For more quick sales tips on how to leave better voice mails and improve your lead generation techniques, check out our book, Quick Sales Tips.  As one reader said, “… if sales folks would follow your “sales tip of the month” every day…their life would change”

Aim Higher!

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Coach and Author
Schedule a free sales coaching strategy session with Susan here.

Do you have a question about sales? You’re not alone.  Most salespeople have questions like this on how they can sell more. For the right answers, check out my book, Ask the Sales Coach-Practical Answers to the Questions Sales People Ask Most.