The three best ways for sales people to use voicemail

The only thing certain about any technology is that it will change. It will get invented, get introduced, get better, get easy, get stupid-simple and, finally, get obsolete. I guess it’s just the product life cycle except that with technology sometimes that time between easy and obsolete happens in a blink.

This applies to voicemail, which was the subject of a question during a workshop I gave recently. The question was, “If we get the executive’s voicemail should we state our value proposition?” I answered with a question. “How many of you keep up on your voicemails?” Nobody raised their hand.

We had just spent the morning learning the basics about The Five Abilities® which includes a section on building a 30-second value proposition. The reason for the 30-seconds comes from my observations that if you can’t get your customer at least suspicious that you have value, within a half-a-minute, then you likely don’t have a clear value proposition. Without creating a suspicion of value, you can’t have a curious and engaged customer. No engaged customer means no sale.

Related to voicemail, say you have a very compelling value proposition that is relaxingly, stated in 30-seconds. Should you leave it on voicemail? No. Voicemail is today’s snail-mail. A 30-second voicemail is an audio blog that most executives can read in 3 seconds. Don’t do it. 

This being the case, is voice mail still a viable tool for sales people today? Should we use it at all? My answer to these questions is yes, if your message is less than 10 seconds. The three best ways to use voicemail today:

• VISABILITY – The first of The Five Abilities® is about being seen in the right way, by the right people, at the right time. If you’ve sent an email or marketing materials to an executive, its good visibility to let them know your communication has arrived. 

‘Hello Ms. Navarro, This is Rick Wong. I sent an email on The Five Abilities today. I look forward to answering your questions soon. My number is 555-5555.’ – 10 seconds

• CREDABILITY – The second of The Five Abilities® is about having superior knowledge and success that is relevant to your customer. It’s often valuable for customers to know that others in their industry are using your products successfully.

‘Hello Mr. Liu, This is Rick Wong of The Five Abilities. I wanted you to know that ABC Company is using our services to close more sales. Call me at 555-5555 to discuss further.’ – 10 seconds

• RELIABILITY – The last of The Five Abilities® is about being accountable when the unexpected happens. When something has gone wrong, the personal touch of a voicemail makes people confident that you personally, are on top of things.

‘Hello Ms. Kelly, This is Rick Wong of The Five Abilities. I’m aware of the outage and our team is working with your people now. Call if you’d like to talk.’ – 10 seconds

The last voice mail was one I left for a customer in San Diego, California, while I was traveling in New Delhi, India. I left the voicemail at midnight Delhi time which was 11:30am in San Diego. She texted me two hours later, saying that she really appreciated my personal attention especially since she knew I was out of the country.

These are three best ways for sales people to use voicemail. Three best next actions that address The Five Abilities® using finely aged technology.

©2014 Rick Wong – The Five Abilities, LLC