Cold Calling - "I'm taking a big risk here" voicemail message

As a cold caller...that would get you (or any cold caller) no where. Most of the people that did listen would decide that you were annoying and not call you back, so if you just want to waste time when you already know the answer, then this is a great option. Why would you waste any time leaving a VM when you have tons of other prospects in the world to call?

It makes you look like you have nothing better to do than leave people messages and hope they have the time or decency to call you back. If you want to get somewhere, then save your time for people that answer their phone and show an interest. Don't look desperate by leaving unprofessional messages.

Now, if you MUST leave a VM, this is my suggestion and what I do:

http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-...ml#post7825903

Never, EVER, leave your name and company in a VM if you have NEVER spoken to the person before or don't have a relationship (meaning on an initial call or contact), any seasoned caller will tell you that it just allows them to know who to look out for and who to warn the gatekeeper NOT to let through.

Joe, your giving them to many reasons to say no by leaving voice messages like that. In essence your chopping off your own foot!

If you are set on leaving VM as a form of prospecting think of the message as a post card.

You have a few seconds to peak interest, create curiosity and make the call to action which is to call you back.

I'm personally not a fan of cold calling and I hate it when people call me without me giving them my info. It's the same way of spamming people's email when they never opted-in for info. I agree with mwind076. How about switching up your game plan and try a different recruiting technique? Like attraction marketing? Just a thought

I'm not a big voice mail guy myself although some people here use it a lot. Here's a couple more interesting ones from that same web page the first post came from:

• "If you have left multiple voicemails for your sales prospect with no response then you could leave the following voicemail message: "(First name of prospect), I've called you so many times that I'm not sure what else I can do? The reason why I'm trying to contact you is (State the exact reason for your call) and I was hoping that you could call me back and let me know what I would have to say to inspire you to call me back? Any suggestions? I've run out of ideas, but I still haven't given up yet. I hope that you admire my persistence and call me back at (Your number), once again, my number is (Your number). I look forward to your return call and I'm eager to hear your suggestions. Take care..."

• "(First name of prospect), this is (Your full name), I'm a (List what you do or your profession) calling from (Your company) and I've been researching many of your competitors and wanted to speak with you about my findings, please call me back at (Your number here), speak with you soon!"

I hear ya. I love selling and marketing and like reading different approaches.

Now, my own voice mail style works gangbusters for me but probably wouldn't for normal people, haha.

If you want to get people to call you back, don't leave any information. Don't ask any questions for them to answer. Cute or clever works iffy at best. Giving them content or the gist of what your call's about gives them all the information they need to know why you're calling and satiates any curiosity they may have about the purpose of your call. Without that curiosity factor chances of a call back dwindle to nothing.

That's why this works:

"It's urgent we speak today. It'll only take a few minutes of your time but we MUST talk today."