Sales Prospecting Perspectives

If you’re in sales, a lot of your time is spent on the phone -- outbound prospecting, inbound qualifying, cold calling, you name it. You may have a list of questions you want to ask your prospect, and you may have a roadmap for the direction you want your conversation to go. However, what happens when your prospect doesn’t answer the phone?

You’ll need to leave a voicemail that doesn’t get ignored or deleted immediately. If the average voicemail response rate is 4.8% according to InsideSales, how can you generate enough interest in prospects that they call you back?

Personalized inside sales messaging is the key to effective voicemails. Don’t write a static voicemail script and leave it to every single one of your prospects. Have a few templates for different stages in the buying cycle, and show you care by doing research about each specific contact on social and company channels.

Here are a few sales voicemail templates you can use today to pique your prospects’ interests:

The Social Selling Template

Hi <Prospect>, this is <Your Name> from <Your Company>. I’m calling regarding <sales objectives>, but I first want to say that I saw your <blog post on LinkedIn / social post / company blog> about <topic>. It was so interesting, I shared it with my team! I’d love to talk to share some of my ideas with you if you’re free some time next week, perhaps on Tuesday. I’ll send you an email and we can iron out the specifics. Or, if it would be more convenient for you, just give me a ring at <Your Number>. Have a great day!

First, leave specific information about the purpose of the call, including name, company, and objective. Then, mention a social or blog post, showing that you’ve done some extra research on the contact. It’s flattering to know that your posts are being read, even if they were ghostwritten by someone else and this extra research shows the prospect that you have initiative, which could serve you later in the buying process. Then, frame your questions as ideas that you wants to share instead of products that you want to sell; you’re not a survey  taker trying to gather general business intelligence. This genial voicemail will put your contact at ease with informal wording such as “give me a ring” and “iron out the specifics,” and should boost your response rate.

The Congratulations Template

Hi <Prospect, this is <Your Name> with <You Company>. Hope you’re having a great week. I have two reasons for calling. The first is to congratulate you on <new round of funding, new acquisition, new position at the company>. The second is to introduce myself. I’m a business professional whose focus is on helping others succeed. I’d like to share some ideas with you about <sales objective> next quarter. After speaking with a number of people in your position, I understand that the challenges associated with <industry> are continuing to evolve and require more flexibility. I’ll be following up with a brief email with a few suggested times to speak. Feel free to suggest a better time or you can call me back at <Your Number>. Again, this is <Your Name> with <Your Company>.

This template focuses on initiatives within the prospect’s company, framing the call in the context of the contact. By starting the voicemail on a congratulatory note, you will keep the prospect interested within the first 10 seconds. You’ll be breaking the common script of introducing your product or service first, which many prospects will delete upon hearing. When you do finally introduce yourself, do so as a business professional, again sharing ideas instead of selling services. Then show that you’ve talked to others in the industry, and that you understand the prospect’s position. End by mentioning that you’ll send an email and a time to connect, and leave you name and company one last time to keep the information fresh in your prospect’s mind.

These sales voicemail templates blur the lines between cold calling and warm calling. Try them out with new prospects, and let us know in the comments how much your response rate increases!