Bernie left two messages today.
The first one came while I was on another call and the second one came after I left the office.
The first one was a cold call introduction to his company. His message was all over the place stating his name, company, a value proposition, the percent of commission I could earn if I partnered with them and more stumbling about what he wanted to talk to me about and to call him back.
As I listened to this one I wasn’t wowed or impressed or really knew what he was offering, even the 70% commission didn’t jazz me enough to run and instantly return his call.
Three hours later he left a second message. He was apologizing for leaving an unprofessional message. In his prospecting efforts later in the day, he had connected with a business associate of mine and apparently told her of his blunder to me. She informed him of our business friendship and suggested to call me back.
This second message did place a big smile on my face and I realized Bernie had been agonizing about his voice mail fail all day. Poor Bernie.
Could your reps be leaving poor voice mail messages? And what’s that costing in sales, confidence and productivity?
Bernie did the #1 sales fail on his first voice mail message.
He wasn’t prepared.
Without preparation the message becomes rambling, filled with nothing, includes poor benefits, and is certainly a very weak message leaving a bad impression.
Good opportunities are hard to come by, so blowing it because of a bad voice mail is a waste.
Here’s how to prepare for greater success with the GET Method (GET the prospect to take your call!)
PS.. This does not guarantee a return call, it does increase your odds for the prospect to take a return call.
The GET Method
Greet: State their name, your name and company
Explain: Why connecting that’s intriguing and all about them
Time: State when you will be calling back and leave your name and number in case they want to call you before the date/time you say you’ll be calling again.
Here’s my stab at a better 30 second GET VM message Bernie could have left…
- Hello Alice. This is Bernie with XYZ Company.
- Today other like-minded training solutions firms are receiving residual income anywhere from $500- $15,000 by reaching new customers through our exclusive online 500,000 person database with a click of a button.
- I’ll call back on Tuesday morning, as you may be interested in an entirely new revenue stream too.
- Again, I’m Bernie and can be reached at 123-456-7891 in case it’s easier for you to call me back before I my call on Tuesday.
- Thanks and have a great day.
See the difference? It takes a little time to get these voice mail messages to sound natural.
After you put it in writing, read it aloud and time it.
By reading it aloud you’ll discover if it’s too formal or stilted and where you need to adjust.
The bottom line is… if you don’t prepare your voice mail, you may end up as embarrassed as Bernie was and sabotage your confidence and sales success. GET the return call or even GET them to take the call when they answer!
