Always Leave Voice Mail

"I've made the calls. But the prospects just don't call me back," the rep said.

"Well, what do you say when you leave a message?" I inquired.

"I say my name, my company and ask them to call me back."

"Anything else?" I asked.

"No way! I don't want them to know I'm a salesperson."

Unless you give people a reason to call you back, they won't. Think about your own buying habits. If someone from Publisher's Clearing House were calling to say you won a million dollars, but left a message, "This is SO AND SO. Please call me," would you? No way! But what if the message was, "This is John Smith. You won a million dollars. Please call me."

To be the best of the best in sales, you must never view yourself as just a "salesperson." Be proud! You are more than a salesperson. You are THE SALESPERSON. The prospect is not doing you a favor by returning your call. You are doing the prospect a favor by calling. Your service or product is so amazing, the prospect would be crazy to pass it up. But you must say more than what that service or product is. You must say why the prospect should care.

When you leave a message, state the initial benefit of what you do, otherwise known as your elevator speech. State it precisely as you would if you were speaking with the prospect live.

A few quick tips for leaving voice mail:

1. Speak slowly, but enthusiastic. If you aren't excited, the prospect won't be.

2. Say your name, company and phone number at the start and at the end. Nothing is worse than when someone is interested in your product and they have to play the message ten times to catch your name and number.

3. State your desire to "help." As we said last month, it's a powerful word.

For instance, when I get voice mail, I say:

"Hello, SO AND SO. This is Todd Natenberg, TBN Sales Solutions, (816) 876-9184. I'm sorry I missed you. I'm calling to introduce my company to see if we can HELP. TBN Sales Solutions increases commissions for salespeople and profits for businesses through customized training, coaching and consulting. We establish structures and procedures, through classroom workshops and individual sales coaching, to teach reps to control their own destiny, thereby impacting the bottom line. Please call me. Again, Todd Natenberg, TBN Sales Solutions, (816) 876-9184. Thank you."

A network marketing company, Tastefully Simple, with more than 1,000 sales reps, recently called me back. "I am calling you because of the voice mail you left on Theresa Moberg's voice mail. Please call me. We may be interested in exploring your services," their message to me said.

People can't be interested in what they don't know exists.