Sales Chump

At first glance this question seems kind of silly.  But really think about this.  How many times do you get a return call from a voice mail you leave?  What percentage are you getting?  Do you find most times you have to call and catch the prospect next time on the phone?

Chances are if you’re being honest, your % of returned calls from voice mails are low.  If they’re not, then this isn’t necessarily for you and you should share your tips.  When I first started in sales, my ratio of returned calls from voice mails or messages left with the gatekeeper or assistant was probably 1 out of 25.  I thought it should be higher so I listened to old calls (luckily my company records calls).

I listened to them as if I was the prospect.  Few things I found:

1. My messages were rather long and I found myself fast forwarding (which means they were probably deleted)
2. My messages were vague or gave too much info
3. My messages weren’t personal enough

I saw most of my messages were around 45 to 90 seconds which is long for a voice mail.  When talking live with a prospect you don’t have that long to talk to gain interest.  A message is even harder because they can delete it without feeling like they’re being rude.  If I wouldn’t even listen to the full messages, why should I expect someone else too?  Most of you are saying “duh” right now but this was when I was brand new.  I found 30 seconds is the max time you want to have.

I also saw I was inconsistent with my message.  I was either very vague and didn’t give enough info to get the person interested enough to call me back or I gave too much info where they didn’t need to call me back.  You want to find a balance that gives them just enough info to get them interested but not your whole pitch to where they feel calling would serve no benefit.  Also giving too much info without knowing your prospects needs can be harmful.

My early messages were also very impersonal.  It sounded like I left the same message 100’s times before and that I didn’t expect a response.  This seems crazy but if your message portrays that people would be missing out if they didn’t call you and that you have gotten responses before, they are more likely to call you back.  There’s a subconcious tone that you give that people pick up on.  If you walked around with a dollar bill in your hand with your head down mumbling asking if someone wanted a dollar you would be surprised at how many people wouldn’t accept it.

You want to make sure you mention your name, company, what it is you want to speak about and a number.  Make sure you describe a little about your services or products and give a benefit that speaking with you would give their company.  Otherwise if they don’t see why talking with you would help them, they won’t call you.  Using that format has moved my return calls into a 1 out of 4 or 5 range.  If you have their email, it’s always nice to mention you’ll follow up with an email as well.  Decision makers a lot of times find responding via email is easier as it doesn’t make them threatened or in a defensive mode as they can reply when they have time and they feel they can share true feelings rather than give false positives.

What if I’ve left several messages already?  This can be tricky but I’ve found showing a little frustration in your tone on your next voice mail while still being professional and respectful gets results.  You don’t want to do this on the first few because it will come off rude.  But if you’ve left 4 or 5 messages over a few months with no response it can be very effective if done right.  I like to use something like this:

Hi Mr Smith.  This is John Williams with ABC.  I’ve left you a few messages in the past and wanted to speak with you briefly.  I realize you’re busy and that this might not be a priority or it doesn’t make sense to talk right now but if you could find a minute to give me a call to tell me when it would make sense to speak about this, we can discuss further at that time.

What that message does is it shows that you care about their schedule and acknowledge you might not be calling at the right time.  But it also shows you are busy as well and that your time is valuable too.  This message has had over a 50% return for me when it gets to this point.

Hope those tips help you improve your return call rate.  Please feel free to chime in if you have a method that works well.

At some point in your sales call you will have to deal with a gatekeeper.  Unless you have a contact for this particular company, you will come into contact with someone other than the decision maker will be dealing with in your sales process.  Whether you stop into the business or are cold calling, you’ll most likely run into the receptionist.  Hitting it off with the gatekeeper is very important.  If you piss off the gatekeeper, your message may not make it to the decision maker.

Let’s think about this for a moment.  You’re an outsider, they know the decision maker and work with them every day… who is the decision maker going to believe?  Take some time to build rapport with the gatekeeper. I don’t know how many times having a strong relationship with the gatekeeper has paid off.  There are even a few customers where the gatekeeper and I talk more than the decision maker.

I know, you’re asking how do I do this?  Well there’s no one way to do it and it’s more of a combination of things in order to accomplish this.

1. Make them feel important! - There job isn’t always just answering the phone and blowing off everyone who calls for the decision maker.  Even when their only job is to answer the phone, make their job important.  Treat them with respect as if they were the person making the decision.  Get to know them if you will be calling to talk with the decision maker a lot.
2. Gatekeeper to Hero - They hear the decision maker talking all day about complaints. One day a complaint about something you can provide a solution for may come up.  If you haven’t spent time with the gatekeeper explaining what you can do, they wouldn’t be able to bring your service up.  The gatekeeper may be able to present your service better than you can as they know what is top priority for the company better than you do.
3. Distinguish yourself - Don’t be like every other sales person that calls asking for the decision maker.  Make yourself stand out.  When you state your name and company, you want them to respond like you’re a friend who they haven’t talked to in a while.  Use humor and creativity to accomplish this.  I have a co-worker who does this very well by talking about things non-related to our business or theirs.
4. Turn them into your assistant - No, don’t have them do your job for you.  Use the gatekeeper to get information about the company, decision maker, how things work around there.  The better you understand the company, the easier to realize what is important to the.  The gatekeeper can assist you with this greatly.

Now there are a lot of other ways to turn the gatekeeper into an ally rather than an adversary. With the gatekeeper on your side, you are a lot better off than the other way around.  Feel free to share a technique that has worked for you in the past by posting a comment.