If you cant get hold of business do you leave voice message?

11 replies
What do you do if you ring businesses and keep getting the answer phone? Do you:

Leave a message
Send an email
Send a SMS
#business #hold #leave #message #voice
  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    It's really up to you.

    The more detail you leave in a voicemail, the better chance they will screen you out ("I don't really need this right now") and not call you back.

    But you want the conversation.

    Why would you send an email or SMS? That will not lead you to a conversation.
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    • Profile picture of the author serryjw
      Jason, This one we disagree on...I hate wasting time with difficult prospects. Mobile is so new that there is so much low hanging fruit, I want to talk to them first.
      WHAT I say, HOW MUCH I say, will determine whether I get a return call. IMHO, That is WHAT you need to test!
      Small business owners are sooooo busy. In the restaurant industry you may NEVER get to them.
      I have always found that asking WHOEVER answers the phone lots of questions can be so valuable....MAYBE the GM is not the decision maker BUT the owner shows up on Friday to give out paychecks.
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  • Profile picture of the author mjbmedia
    I'd change the times I was ringing!
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    Mike

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  • Profile picture of the author x0r
    works 50/50 , ME personally i do leave VM-s all time.
    I do get callbacks, but it is very important how you leave a Vm? Based in Urgency or Courtesy Call?
    I always i make it "IMPORTANT" to return my call at early convenience.
    IT WILL WORK for most people that are not aware that needs some money to be deposited, for those that are aware it requires money, mostly they will try to ignore it.

    BUT I DO RECOMMEND LEAVE YOUR VM-S AS IMPORTANT TO RETURN YOUR CALL. HOPEFULLY WORKS FOR YOUR TYPE OF BUSINESS GOOD LUCK
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  • Profile picture of the author StuartMcMinigal
    Most always leave a message, if they don't reply to the message within 2 days then try phoning again. After another few days I would send an e-mail.

    But I would not send a Text Message unless they offered that facility.
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    • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
      Unless I have a very good reason not to I love leaving
      a message because then you're getting your prospect
      to call you back (changing the dynamics).

      In fact I know of people intentionally calling certain
      kinds of businesses after hours where they know the
      phone will go to voice mail or an answering machine
      so they can leave a message that drives the business
      owner crazy with curiosity.

      That gets them to call wanting some answers.

      Much easier than cold calling because if you're just
      repeating the same message over and over to an
      answering machine there's no pressure when you're
      getting the ball rolling.

      I've also heard of people doing this with auto dialers
      although I'm not certain of the legality of this any
      more in various states and countries.

      Kindest regards,
      Andrew Cavanagh
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      • Profile picture of the author wellcool
        Originally Posted by AndrewCavanagh View Post

        In fact I know of people intentionally calling certain
        kinds of businesses after hours where they know the
        phone will go to voice mail or an answering machine
        so they can leave a message that drives the business
        owner crazy with curiosity.

        That gets them to call wanting some answers.
        I've also heard of this - any references for such messages?
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  • Profile picture of the author misterme
    Try leaving this message. It's worked many times for me.

    "Hi [Name], it's [You]. It's really URGENT I speak to you today. It'll only take two minutes but I MUST talk with you."
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  • Profile picture of the author mert
    To increase the odds of responds it would be better to do all there. in this way you can show to the client that your very much intersted to have a conversation with him/her. might as well do all the 3 options than regrettin one.
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  • Profile picture of the author Aaron Doud
    I just want to point out another factor.

    It doesn't matter how many people call you back it matter how many people you close.

    If you leave a vague message and get 100 people to call you back that is great. But if you only close 1 that was 99 waste call backs.

    If you get 10 call backs and close 1 that is 9 wasted call backs.

    Now which would you choose? Clearly getting 10 call backs would be better since you avoided 90 wasted call backs.

    I'd be more than happy to get less people to call me back if it freed up time so I could sell more. So test your messages and track what works not just for call backs but for the more important number which is sales.

    And if you end up finding that you get no sales from leaving messages you will know to stop. If you find you get too many wasted call backs from vague messages you will know to stop. In time you will find what works for you. But the only way to do that is to test.
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