To Leave a Voicemail or Not?

Doyle Slayton just did a quick post about leaving a voicemail. His post was just a question but the comments were great. Have a read and engage!

Here’s the comment thread.  Enjoy and learn!

3 x 48 Formula – Phone Call Technique

Telephone sales, like all sales, are down by about 25 to 30 percent. If you do telephone sales, you already know that. You can’t change the market, but you can combat the downtrend in your own company by making your calls more effective.

When going after new customers, most salespeople do the same thing. They call the prospect and leave a message. Then they call back a month later and leave the exact same message. And they keep repeating the process. Occasionally they get results, but it’s very expensive and time-consuming.

Nathan Jamail, writing in Newsletter on Newsletters, has a much better idea. He calls it the 3 X 48 formula. It goes like this:

Instead of making a dozen phone calls to a prospect, spread out over six months or a year, you make just three calls, 48 hours apart. If you haven’t gotten a response from him by the end of the week, you cross him off your list.

For example…

Call Number One: “Hi, Mr. Smith. My name is John Jones. I’m with ABC Company. The reason for my call is to introduce myself to you and to offer you a free analysis of your 2009 marketing plans. We have helped many clients increase their profits in difficult markets like this one. I would greatly appreciate it if you would call me back at….”

Call Number Two: “Hello Mr. Smith. This is John Jones with ABC Company. I left you a message a couple of days ago and wanted to follow up with you regarding your free marketing analysis. Again, my phone number is…. I look forward to hearing from you soon.”

Call Number Three: “Hello, Mr. Smith. This is John Jones with ABC Company. I left you a couple of messages this week – and I don’t mean to be overbearing, but I want to make sure I do a good job of following up by letting you know that I would love the opportunity to visit with you for a few minutes. I was hoping you would do me a favor and let me know if you would like to talk to me but have just been too busy… or if you don’t feel it would be good for us to meet and would prefer that I don’t call again. I know your time is valuable, and I would appreciate your direction as to how to proceed. Thanks again, and have a wonderful day.”

I like this system for several reasons:

* Your calls are assertive but not pushy.

* They are made 48 hours apart, o  your prospects will know you by the third call.

* Since you are calling frequently, they’ll begin to wonder if you will ever stop calling.

* When, on the third call, you give them permission to reject you, they feel relieved and even grateful. This increases the chances that they will call you back.

By the way, I think this approach, with some clever modifications, could work successfully with direct e-mail marketing too.

I’m ripping this post off from Michael Masterson’s Ready, Fire, Aim e-newsletter today.  He didn’t have a web-version so I can’t link but I do recommend getting his stuff for his valuable insight and experience.  The technique he teaches fits hand-in-hand with Milestone Maps and is an excellent way to save time and be more effective with your pipeline.  Vision Pipeline Assistant can help you with it!

——

Telephone sales, like all sales, are down by about 25 to 30 percent. If you do telephone sales, you already know that. You can’t change the market, but you can combat the downtrend in your own company by making your calls more effective.

When going after new customers, most salespeople do the same thing. They call the prospect and leave a message. Then they call back a month later and leave the exact same message. And they keep repeating the process. Occasionally they get results, but it’s very expensive and time-consuming.

Nathan Jamail, writing in Newsletter on Newsletters, has a much better idea. He calls it the 3 X 48 formula. It goes like this:

Instead of making a dozen phone calls to a prospect, spread out over six months or a year, you make just three calls, 48 hours apart. If you haven’t gotten a response from him by the end of the week, you cross him off your list.

For example…

Call Number One: “Hi, Mr. Smith. My name is John Jones. I’m with ABC Company. The reason for my call is to introduce myself to you and to offer you a free analysis of your 2009 marketing plans. We have helped many clients increase their profits in difficult markets like this one. I would greatly appreciate it if you would call me back at….”

Call Number Two: “Hello Mr. Smith. This is John Jones with ABC Company. I left you a message a couple of days ago and wanted to follow up with you regarding your free marketing analysis. Again, my phone number is…. I look forward to hearing from you soon.”

Call Number Three: “Hello, Mr. Smith. This is John Jones with ABC Company. I left you a couple of messages this week – and I don’t mean to be overbearing, but I want to make sure I do a good job of following up by letting you know that I would love the opportunity to visit with you for a few minutes. I was hoping you would do me a favor and let me know if you would like to talk to me but have just been too busy… or if you don’t feel it would be good for us to meet and would prefer that I don’t call again. I know your time is valuable, and I would appreciate your direction as to how to proceed. Thanks again, and have a wonderful day.”

I like this system for several reasons:

* Your calls are assertive but not pushy.

* They are made 48 hours apart, o  your prospects will know you by the third call.

* Since you are calling frequently, they’ll begin to wonder if you will ever stop calling.

* When, on the third call, you give them permission to reject you, they feel relieved and even grateful. This increases the chances that they will call you back.

By the way, I think this approach, with some clever modifications, could work successfully with direct e-mail marketing too.

I woke up today a little blah

I had about 14 follow up calls and a few emails scheduled and didn’t really want to make them. I also had a big list of other tasks completely unrelated to selling that were important.

But selling is my livelihood. I don’t sell I don’t eat. The problem with my calls today was that I was pretty confident none of them would result in a sale. Why make them? Well, my sales cycle is 2-3 months. Most of the prospects have to wait for specific timing in their production schedules. And no matter how hard I try to close, they only buy when they are ready to buy.

It’s tempting to bump out contact for weeks or months until I think they are ready. Sometimes I do. But it’s really stupid because “touching” them regularly, even when they aren’t ready to buy makes them remember me. Otherwise, the other guy will win.

My job is less about closing and more about being available. I need to show them that I am a partner in their business and they can count on me. Even though it may seem annoying and fruitless, these regular follow ups add up to create profitable long-term client relationships.

So today I won. I worked my pipeline. Didn’t make any sales. But I had a few good laughs, discovered some personal details, and made a few friends. Hopefully, this helps the sale when they are ready.