More Secrets to Leaving the Perfect Sales Voicemail

Last July, we revealed some secrets that can help inside sales reps leave killer voicemail messages. But I want to revisit that topic because since then, we’ve  had the opportunity to speak with some top sales trainers about their voicemail optimization secrets. Like many sales reps, I once believed that the perfect voicemail was the one that got the most calls back. But since then, my definition of a perfect voicemail has shifted.

What is the Perfect Sales Voicemail?

A lot of sales reps think that the goal of leaving voicemails should be to simply get as many callbacks as possible. But is the voicemail that gets the most calls back really the best? Not always. I imagine if I left a series of voicemails stating, “There’s been an emergency, call me back immediately,” my phone would likely
ring off the hook.

The point of voicemails are to establish relationships and drive engagement in a variety of ways. A great voicemail needs to not only inspire prospects to respond. It has to forge an emotional connection (however small) between your brand and your prospects. If you’re able to create that connection through voicemail, it can then drive engagement in ways you might not imagine. The perfect voicemail could inspire your prospects might be to check out your website or send you an email. So the goal of a voicemail, rather than just to elicit callbacks, should be to maximize overall engagement with qualified prospects.

Here are a few more tips that can help you maximize the impact of your voicemail messages. 

Sell the Dream (Not the Features)

Far too many sales reps spend time pitching product features during voicemail messages. Big mistake! Save your sales pitch for an actual conversation. Instead, use a voicemail to merely hint at what can be achieved with your offerings. This is what I like to call selling the dream.

Craig Elias author of SHiFT

For our latest eBook Maximizing Response Rates from Sales Voicemails,  we spoke with all-star sales trainer Craig Elias (author of SHiFT). Craig has a theory that you should describe the outcome of being your customer instead of describing your product and its features. One example that Craig cited was asking a new VP of Sales if they would “like preferred vendor status in a highly competitive market.” The goal, according to Craig, is to get prospects to ask, “How?”

Be Warm and Likable

Depending on your own personality, what you’re selling and your customer base, humor can be a great way to set your voicemails apart from the herd and drive engagement. But in most cases, you shouldn’t try to rattle off a series of jokes on a sales voicemail. Jimmy Fallon never had the best jokes, but he’s achieved massive success by coming off as fun and likable. The same goes for your sales voicemails. If you sound fun to talk to, a prospect will probably be more likely to want to call you back.

Voicemail Automation Leaves Nothing to Chance

Imagine you’re calling a really important prospect. You have a clear idea in your mind of everything you’re going to say when she picks up the phone. But instead, the call goes to voicemail. You find yourself flustered, not knowing what to say. It’s happened to me before, and it’s happened to lots of sales reps I know. When calling really important prospects, you shouldn’t leave anything to chance.

One way to ensure that you leave perfect voicemails is by using voicemail automation software. Revenue.io’s Vociemail Drop tool enables you to record voicemails in advance so that, in the event that a call goes to voicemail, you can leave a prerecorded message with a single click. Using automated voicemail messages can not only save reps a lot of time, recording voicemail greetings in advance can also help ensure that crucial sales voicemails are perfectly recorded.