“Hello, You’ve Reached John Doe…”
Ahh, the voice mail. There are so many people in sales, yet there are so many that absolutely hate talking on the phone. I truly believe that the reason for this is lack of confidence within themselves, lack of confidence for their product or service, or a combination of both. However, that topic is for another time. Back to this topic; assuming you do have confidence and you do call prospects or leads – what do you say when you leave a voice mail? It matters – it actually matters a lot!
Calling A Lead
Suppose you had a lead come in through your website. They wanted to know more about an opportunity that you are offering. They left a phone number, which wasn’t required – but they did anyway. This automatically means that they want you to call them. So you should. Assuming you pick up the phone, it starts to ring, and then goes to voice mail – what do you say?
If you are an inexperienced salesman and aren’t quite sure how to close a deal, you may say something like “Hey ____, this is (your name). I just wanted to call you and tell you a bit about the opportunity. It has been around for ____ years. The pay plan is awesome – it is set up in this way ____. This opportunity is the best in the whole wide world and I want you to be a part of this team…blah blah blah.”
If you know what you are doing, your conversation will go something like this; “Hey ____, this is (your name). I just wanted to call and touch base with you. It’s important that you call me back when you get this message. I’ll talk to you then. Have a great day!”
So what’s the difference between the two scenarios?
To be honest, I could probably write a whole novel about the the differences. Seriously. For the sake of this article, I will keep it short and sweet.
Never forget; the goal is to get the lead to call you back. Period. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Too much talk and explaining results in confusion. Confusion leads to hesitation. Hesitation results in no sale or sign-up. Yep, it’s that simple. So call your leads and get them to call you back. Once they call you back, simply ask them questions.
- Why are they interested in what you have to offer?
- What type of situation are they currently in?
- Are they serious about building a profitable business?
- Are they willing to learn new material?
Once you know them a bit more, you are able to (and should) base the conversation on their wants and needs. See how that works?
You Are The Leader
In the eyes of your prospects, you are the leader, so lead the conversation. They are looking to you for answers. It is important not to bombard them with new and confusing material. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Nor will the business of your new prospect. These things take time. It also takes time to learn all of the new material. Be sure not to throw it all at them on the first day – especially over voice mail 🙂