Why You Get Voicemail

For 25 years, I have asked my live audience a question: "Owners and managers in the room, what percentage of the time when the sales rep is making a call on you do they leave one voicemail message and never call again?"

For 25 years, that answer has come back consistently in the 90th percentile. That is, 90% of the time, or higher, a sales rep leaves one voicemail message and never calls again. As a busy executive, what does this experience/fact encourage you to do with this call? Probably the same thing that buyers do and probably for the same reason: Let it go to voicemail.

If nine out of 10 times someone was going to call you and leave one voicemail message and then never call back, why waste your time? Why not let that caller/salesperson weed themselves out?

The No. 1 reason why your phone attempts are going to voicemail, statistically, is that you are making one call and one call only to any given prospect. Each subsequent follow-up call increases the odds that the prospect will either pick up or return the call simply because you are differentiating yourself from your competition.

Do you want to improve on those odds? Try this …

After, say, your third voicemail to any given prospect, send a handwritten postcard that reads, "Hi Allison! I've left a few messages for you and I understand that you are probably as busy as the rest of us. But the next time you see this telephone number on your caller ID — 781-934-7036 — know that it's me trying one more time. Hopefully, you will pick up! Bill"

Or, if you want to be a little more assertive, leave the voicemail message, "Hi Allison! It's Bill Farquharson leaving a third voicemail message for you. Let me ask you something, how many people call you three times? I'll bet most people quit after one call. Knowing how hard I'm working to meet with you, can you imagine how hard I will work for you as a customer?"

Remember, voicemail is every bit as much of an opportunity as it is a sales challenge.

Bill Farquharson is the president of Aspire For. Contact Bill: 781-934-7036 or bill@aspirefor.com. Bill’s book, Who’s Making Money at Digital/Inkjet Printing…and How? will teach you how to be profitable, rebuild a loyal customer base, and get your sales reps selling. More information on that and his other book, The 25 Best Print Sales Tips Ever!, can be found on his website, AspireFor.com