How Often Should You Leave Voicemails for Prospects?
How Often Should You Leave Voicemails for Prospects? Once a week, every 3 days, etc?
This is a popular question I know I’ve answered before but in case you missed it, I have a simple rule to follow with respect to the number of voicemail messages I leave and that is:
I don’t chase prospects that don’t want to be caught.
Therefore, I have a three-strikes you’re out rule to where after the third message with no call back they are removed from my active list of calls to make.
BEFORE YOU FREAK OUT…
Couple things to keep in mind:
I know all three of my voicemail messages (I have a first, second and third predefined voicemail message) are spot on to pique interest and get a call back from my targeted audience, therefore I know that if after 3 attempts, if they haven’t called back, it will be because one of three things:
- Timing isn’t right for them;
- They aren’t qualified or
- They aren’t interested in solving the problems I solve.
No matter which one they are, makes no sense for me to waste time and bog down my pipeline with very low % prospects. Time to move on.
Next, I have a drip marketing campaign (a weekly sales advice newsletter that solves problems my targeted audience has) that takes over so even though I’m not calling them, they are still being “touched” with information that will allow them to determine if I am a trusted advisor or not for specific problems they face.
So when a trigger event happens on their side (like their sales team misses quota again or their turnover costs are skyrocketing and they want a better solution to get new inside sales reps to produce better, faster) they remember and reach out to me, creating a warm lead (a hand raiser)
Not “WHEN” But “WHAT”
With that said, the original question was “How often are you leaving voicemails for prospects? Once a week, every 3 days, etc?” and the one thing to keep in mind is this… It won’t matter “when” or “how often” if the message you are leaving isn’t piquing their interest.
It needs to have a clear WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM picture in order for them to want to stop what they are doing and call you back.
So it might not be the “timing” or “frequency” of your calls that is the problem, it’s most likely the message that needs to be fixed.
– Michael Pedone
Michael Pedone teaches outbound sales teams exactly what to say to get sales conversations started with hard to reach decision makers. He is the CEO/FOUNDER of SalesBuzz.com – An online sales training company.
