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One of the biggest hurdles that B2B call centers and salespeople have to overcome every day is the ubiquitous presence of voicemail. Add caller ID into the mix and your challenges are compounded; but you can win the voicemail game.
Should you leave a voicemail message?
It depends.
I know...you wanted a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer—but it’s just not that simple. That’s because it depends on your objectives and timeframe to complete them.
Let’s say you have a list of 4,000 names to call to promote an event that’s taking place in two weeks at the industry’s national trade show. You only have two or three phone agents you can devote to the job.
Time is of the essence.
You likely cannot afford the time it takes to listen to voicemail messages and leave your own message. In this situation, you want to make as many calls as possible in a short period and pick the low hanging fruit. Don’t waste time listening to and recording messages.
In B2B sales, however, that’s often not the way it works.
You may have a short list of, perhaps, 25-50 laser-targeted accounts. Rather than picking the low-hanging fruit, you’re willing to shimmy your way to the top of the tree to reach the sun-drenched, juiciest fruit. After all, just adding one or two of these targets to your client roster could have substantial impact on sales.
In this case, it only makes sense to leave a message.
Some would argue that leaving a message robs you of the element of surprise if you were ever to reach your targeted contact live. But that’s not as important as getting some value out of your call.
To understand this you have to change your thinking about voicemail. Voicemail is not simply a barrier. It’s another communication medium, just like email and direct mail. Let’s say you were conducting a direct mail campaign. You’d likely be OK with a 1 percent response rate. After all, that’s typical. Just because 99 percent of the people divert your glossy mail piece directly into the trash, it doesn’t mean you start addressing it directly to the trash can.
And that’s exactly what you’re doing when you call someone and don’t leave a voicemail message. If you don’t leave a message, you guarantee that you won’t receive a returned call (the trash can strategy). If you do leave a message, someone might call you back (the playing the odds strategy).
That’s, of course, if you do it right.
Tongue tied? Surprisingly, this can sometimes be a problem for normally vociferous salespeople when they are confronted with voicemail. Either that, or they fill the air with babble.
Neither works.
So, this is the most important part. Go back to basics. Think through the old "what’s in it for me?" (WIFM) question. Make the contact want to call you back.
That means you need to understand the pain your prospects are suffering that your product, service or solution can help to resolve. Here’s an example voicemail that a telesales company could leave for a marketing leader:
“We’re a global teleservices company and we’ve helped organizations like yours increase qualified sales appointments by 25 percent. Please call me to learn how we can help you.”
That’s a tempting offer for a marketing director who is working day and night to support his or her company’s sales team. Returning that call could be well worth their time.
Don’t leave it at one message.
Follow up with a combination of emails and voicemail messages. The person you’re trying to reach may be more comfortable responding to one medium or the other. Plus, it’s easy to add your web address to the email so they can check out your company at their own pace.
Make sure each voicemail message offers new, intriguing information, perhaps addressing different pain points. After all, you never know what the hot button is that will trigger a call back. Also, you don’t want your contact to perceive you as a pest who leaves the same message again and again.
As you conduct your voicemail and email campaign, your contact becomes more familiar with your company. Familiarity breeds comfort. It may be just what’s needed to push him or her over the edge of complacency and motivate them to pick up the phone and contact you.
Bob Davies is Director, Business Development & Sales, The Americas for 3D2B, a global business-to-business telemarketing company that bridges the divide between marketing and sales. With over three decades as a B2B sales professional, Bob has expertise in strategic planning and re-engineering systems to streamline the sales process, as well as in expanding business opportunities using outbound and inbound lead generation techniques.
To learn more about turning cold calls into hot leads, visit salesforce.com, or download the free e-book.
