Perhaps the most frustrating part of sales is waiting for a prospect to call you back after you have left that prospect a voicemail. After all, you can’t very well build relationships with clients and prospects if you can’t get them on the phone.
If you are making calls and leaving messages to no avail, it’s important to reevaluate your strategy to ensure that you are doing everything you can to make the people you are calling want to call you back. Think that’s not possible? Employ some of the following tips and you may change your mind.
1. Call consistently but not constantly. Anywhere between four and eight calls seems to be the right number of times to attempt reaching a client or prospect. When leaving a message, give them a heads up on when you plan to call them back so that they can expect you.
2. Document your calls. Make sure you know when you last connected with, or left a message for, a client or prospect so that you can reference that contact when you leave another message.
3. Know when to call. Many decision makers are in the office early in the morning or late at night. By calling at these times they are more likely to answer the phone because gatekeepers are not in the office to intercept calls.
4. Consider ringless voicemail. Many clients or prospects loathe being interrupted so a ringless voicemail may be the best way to go in such instances. This allows you to leave a compelling message without interrupting.
5. Mix it up. If you have a called a few times, consider sending an email follow up and vice versa. Many individuals respond better to one method of communication over others. This strategy will help you to find out which method they prefer.
6. Let them know its ok to say no. Let a client or prospect know that if they have gone another direction, there are no hard feelings. This usually helps to create a win-win situation. If they call back and say they have gone with a competitor, you can stop wasting your time. If they haven’t, chances are they will call you back to say they have been busy but want to talk.
It can be frustrating when people don’t return your phone calls. However, don’t give up without trying a few new approaches. Chances are you will be pleasantly surprised at the results.