- 1. Voicemail Techniques 11 rules to help get your calls
returned Hosted by Ian Seniff Senior Account Manager
DiscoverOrg
2. Our advice: Never do this: Why? Because its terrible, didnt
you hear it?! What to do: Concise Clear Personable Quick 3. Rule
One You goal is to get your call returned, not sell your product
Keep it short If you cant say it briefly, dont say it at all.
Voicemail is not story time. Leaving a long message is an
invitation to have the entire message skipped. The optimal
voicemail message is between 8 and 14 seconds. Dont leave
information that would allow the person to make up their mind. Keep
it short and simple. You want to open a dialogue not close a door.
Motivate them to take notes. Add a call-to-action to your message
by providing a key date or something of interest. In our initial
campaign, our messages were about 60 seconds in length and our
call-backs were less than 10%. Businessknowhow.com 4. Rule Two
Repeat your number! Repetition, Repetition, Repetition! The key to
memorization is repetition. Not only that, but if they didnt catch
your number the first time, you have given them a reason not to
call you back. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition! The key to
memorization is repetition. Not only that, but if they didnt catch
your number the first time, you have given them a reason not to
call you back. 5. Rule Three Never say I will call you back This
just gives the person you are calling another excuse not to call
you back. Their ears will instantly close upon hearing this. How
many times have you heard someone say they will call you back and
returned their call? Other phrases to avoid: Youre a hard person to
reach Never, ever say this. Hey there Mr. ____, your secretary said
you werent available so I knew youd be the right person to talk to.
Id like you to call me back so we can discuss Its not about YOU or
your PRODUCT its about THEM their problems, their pain points. 6.
Rule Four Use body Language I know this may sound strange but if
you can physiologically emote your message it will come through on
their end. Project you message, deliver it standing, talk with you
hands, it will come through on the voice mail. 7% of the message is
transferred and understood by the actual words used, 38% is
transferred as a result of the way the words are spoken and a
massive 55% by body language. callcentrehelper.com 7. Rule Five
Write a script You are making a call with the intent to talk with a
person. Then you realize that they are not there. That give you
about 3 seconds to come up with a message. Are you ready? Come up
with a few options of what to say before hand and save yourself the
panic. ( 8. Rule Six Call at the right time The best hours to leave
voicemail messages are from 6:45 AM to 8:00 AM and from 4:30 PM to
6:30 PM. Aggressive people are usually working during these time
periods, and the person receiving your message could potentially
view you as one. Wisely use time zone changes to make as many calls
as possible during the optimal voicemail periods. Messages left on
a Friday afternoon are the least likely to be returned. For most
people, Monday mornings are very busy and, as a result, only high
priority activities will get their immediate attention. 9. Rule
Seven Be personal yet professional Starting off with Hi, Mr. Smith.
I hear youre in charge of buying software. is a sure-fire way to
get you message deleted. Mention the persons first name at least
twice in the message, but dont use their last name. Doing so comes
across as very impersonal. 10. Rule Eight Choose your words wisely
The way you speak is a good way of conveying your background, age,
professionalism and education. Are you saying um or any other
non-words? Are you using over used words? Are you using a word
incorrectly? Are you using generic techno babble? Consult a
dictionary or a thesaurus and change that good to acceptable,
pleasing, reputable, superior, valuable, etc. 11. What if its
transcribed by a device? IF YOU HAVE CLARITY, THIS WORKS GREAT: Hi
, it's Dave Jones. I just got your email when you get a chance if
you could give me a call back. I had quick question for you. Wanted
to see if you guys could help me out with a couple different
accounts. I'll be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much. bye bye IF
YOU DONT: My team is trying to screw all the 3000+ employee plus
enterprises We are a Discover Pork Customer Well go setting the
parade. I love you son. Im drunk Sherman Kids show holding with
ultra things Im calling for my sock and I know youve done with
Mandy 12. Rule Nine Pace yourself If you are trying to keep you
message short and sweet, do not just speak faster. Shorten your
message instead. Talking too fast will make prospects think you are
not worthy of their time. On the other hand, if you talk too slow,
they may lose interest. Maintain a strong and steady pace that will
capture attention and earn you more time. 13. Rule Ten Do your
homework! "I would like to introduce myself" is not a reason for
prospects to talk to you. Why should they care? Tell them what it
is you think you can do for them in their own unique situation.
(see next slide) DiscoverOrg provides you with the ability to
target individuals based on their function, rank, location and many
other criteria. DiscoverOrg also links you to individuals LinkedIn
profiles and provides descriptions of many contacts. Use it.
Numbers are great but use the additional contact information to add
key details to your message. Use the Sphere of Influence You can
also use the org charts provided by DiscoverOrg to throw in names
of individuals in the contacts department. If you say something
like I just reached out to John (his VP) and wanted to include you
in on the conversation as well This will grab the listeners
attention. - Follow-up with an email to your prospect and cc John
the VP. 14. Rule Ten (Continued) Another great tool to use from
DiscoverOrg to help with compiling background information are the
Real Time Triggers. Real time triggers will keep you up to date
with projects. Mentioning a specific project will again draw the
listener's attention. Example: Hi John, this is John Smith at
Company and I see you are implementing Windows 7. If you are like
Chevron or Shell youre probably dealing with backwards
compatibility issues with your legacy applications. We offer a
server virtualization software that will allow you to continue
using legacy applications within Windows 7 even if the application
is not itself compatible there. Would Thursday at 2 or Friday at 1
work on your calendar for a quick call to discuss? 15. Rule Eleven
Use voicemail with Email And do these within minutes of each other.
Do not leave a voice mail and follow-up that afternoon with an
email. Response will drop when the two are not synchronized. Adding
an email companion to your voicemail will give the contact an
additional way to get in touch with you and, as was mentioned in
Rule Two, provide additional repetition. Sending both will show
that you are very enthusiastic about getting in contact with them.
16. You Blew It!? You tried really hard but you blew it on the
message now what?! Dont be this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZChD_Gni8U Hit # - many times it
will allow you to re-record your message or delete it.
