The Case for Leaving Voice Mails

A lot of salespeople tell me that they don’t leave voicemail messages when they call their dream clients. I understand completely if you don’t want to leave a message because you are going to try to call back later that same day, or maybe that same week.

But I don’t understand not leaving a voicemail message at all. It’s a mistake, and here’s why.

Is This Your First Call?

A lot of salespeople have called your dream client in the past only to disappear. Many have called and continue to call every quarter like clockwork, usually just to check in and see if anything has changed. Your dream client might even know some of these salespeople by name.

If you never leave a message, you are ensuring that you are unknown.

You aren’t a secret agent. You need to be known, and you need to be known as a value creator. You aren’t accomplishing either of those things by not leaving a message.

Instead, when you finally do reach your dream client contact on the phone, it is the very first time they have heard your voice. They have no idea of the effort you have made to contact them, how much you want to work with them, or that you can be valuable to them. You have no record of making an effort to reach your dream client.

Be Known, and Double Down

If you are serious about pursuing your dream client, you’ll leave a detailed message describing who you are, how you believe you can make a difference, and your contact information. Then you double down and follow up your voicemail message with an email reiterating the message you left and telling them when you are going to try to reach them again.

Your commitment to call back establishes a couple things. First, it says that you are not going to go away, that you intend to keep calling. Second, it acknowledges that you believe it is your responsibility to call them again.

I know a few salespeople that are so good on voicemail that they can get a call back by the sheer force of their personality alone. Your dream client contact is under no obligation to call you back simply because you left a message, and that’s not why you are leaving the message in the first place. You are leaving it because you want to be known, and you want to start establishing yourself as someone seriously interested in making a difference.

Leave a powerful voice mail message. Make yourself known. Make it known that you are in hot pursuit of your dream client’s business, that you can and will make a difference, and that you aren’t going to easily go away.