Cold Calling: Should You Leave a Voice Mail?

Sandy O’Dell gets it right, I think, on four out of five points in an article on cold calling by phone (requires free registration). I won’t steal her content by listing the top five, but I will mention the subtle one I disagree with: Don’t Leave Voicemail Messages…Unless You Absolutely Have To.

It has worked enough for me and my sales professionals in my business-to-business selling career that it’s an automatic in my routine. A compelling message left with a true decision-maker gets a return call, in my experience, approximately 10% of the time.

That’s a bad average if you’re a major league baseball player needing hits. But if you’re making 200 dials every week to set appointments, and you’re leaving 40-50 messages, that’s four to five return calls.

That’s four to five people taking time out of their schedules to call you back, knowing you’re a sales rep.

The key is in whom you call, and what you say.

For more on this, check out free booklet called “6 Ways to Get More Sales Appointments” by Tibor Shanto. It’s a free download and a great read for everyone involved in setting sales appointments by phone.