Proven Technique Number One:

Don't even leave a voice message! Sounds strange, doesn't it? The truth is that the best technique to follow when trying to reach a prospect for the first time is to persevere and call five or seven times first before leaving a message. Your goal is to catch your prospect picking up the phone and then have a conversation with him or her rather than leaving multiple unreturned voice mails.

Try calling at different times of the day, and even several times on Friday. Fridays are the most relaxed days, and most people are getting ready for the weekend instead of gearing up for the week. The worst day to leave a voice mail? Monday.

One caveat: for those of you who are worried that when you do finally catch someone who picks up the phone and is upset that you didn't leave a message (yet they saw that you called several times), be prepared with a good script. Something like: “I didn't want to bother you with several voice mail messages, so I decided to just try to catch you live instead. I hope that didn't inconvenience you. Anyway, I am glad we are finally speaking”

Persevering in this way is the best way to actually get someone on the phone, and because most sales reps won't do it, you are going to be way ahead if you do.

Proven Technique Number Two:

You must script out an effective voice mail message in advance. Nothing will get your message deleted faster than the sound of an unprepared and unprofessional message filled with um's and ah's.

As soon as a busy prospect hears that kind of message, especially from someone they do not know (and from a salesperson on top of that!), they automatically reach for the delete button. Don't you?

You should also make sure your scripted voice mail has these three elements:

1. Put the focus on your prospect—not on your product or service.
2. Don't ever say, “I'd like to take some time to learn more about you”
3. Make sure to leave your number slowly, and two times.

As you will see in the following examples, most sales reps leave a message that is all about them—and this never works. Second, sometimes they think that by wanting to “learn more about how you handle” they think that they are putting the prospect first. Wrong. All the prospect is thinking is that they don't want to take their valuable time to educate you so you can sell them something.

And three, the worst technique of all is leaving your phone number so quickly that you force your prospect to replay your message over and over again just to get your phone number. (Like anybody is going to do that.)

Proven Technique Number Three:

Turn a bad VM message into an effective one.

The wrong way to leave a VM (and unfortunately, how most people do it):

This message checks all the “do not do” boxes I have listed in Technique Number Two. It is all about the caller. It wants to take time from the prospect so they can pitch more, and the number was only left once (and usually too fast for the prospect to copy it down).

Here Is the Right VM to Leave

This VM is effective because it is focused on the prospect and what is in it for them (10 to 15 percent savings). The phone number was left two times slowly, but the magic technique was that you gave your prospect a way out! You let them know that they can simply call you back, leave you a message (so they won't have to speak with you or be pitched when they call), and they can remove themselves from being called by you again if they aren't interested. This is good for you, too, as you won't waste your time with uninterested prospects.

One note: if you find the preceding message too long, edit it. Script your VM the way you like it, and then use it consistently. In fact, spend some time now reworking your existing voice mail message so that it conforms to the rules just described.

Proven Technique Number Four:

Combine your voice mails with an email campaign for maximum effectiveness. The number one law in all marketing is repetition. That's why Coca‐Cola still buys millions of dollars of ads every year.

It's the same with getting your prospects to notice you. The most effective way is by using a two‐month‐long campaign that goes like this:

First: Try to reach someone for a couple of days without leaving a VM.

Week One: Leave one VM and follow it up with an email that same day. Then leave a second VM that same week.

Week Two: Send email number 2, then leave a VM at the beginning of the week and on that Friday.

Week Three: Send an email at the beginning of the week and at the end. Leave a VM in between.

Week Four: Send another email on Tuesday, and leave a VM on that Thursday.

Month Two: Send either one email or leave one VM per week for four weeks. (Also: Call in between and don't leave a message.)

Any time between weeks three and four, one of your emails needs to be the “Should I Stay or Should I Go” email. If you have not heard of this email, then your return contact rate is about to go up by 60 percent! It goes like this:

Subject line: [prospect's first name] Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Body of Email:

If you are smiling while reading this, so will your prospect. Again, this is a high percentage email that gets a response about 60 percent of the time. Compare that to your current results.

Proven Technique Number Five: If your VM and email campaigns don't work, then consider going that extra mile. (As a top producer once said, “The extra mile is never crowded.”) Even though a prospect may not be in the market now, we all know that things change. When they do, you want to be top of mind so they are thinking about you when they finally are ready to make a purchase.

The most effective way to do this is by sending actual greeting cards. The easiest way to do that is by using a company I use called Send Out Cards. (You can learn more about them here: www.sendoutcards.com/mrinsidesales).

I have been using SOC for years and they have made me a lot of money (hundreds of thousands of dollars, in fact) in sales to prospects I would not have gotten if I hadn't been drip marketing to them regularly. I use SOC for many reasons, including:

• It's extremely affordable to send a high‐quality card with a real stamp.
• It's easy and fast—you create the cards in advance and they send them automatically without you having to do anything more!
• You can build “campaigns” so you can send cards at any interval you choose (and you can build lots of campaigns).
• Every card is completely customizable—you can choose from 15,000‐plus of their beautiful cards (and include your own message) or you can completely create your own with your own images.

It is highly effective. In fact, did you know that the number one salesperson in the world—according to the Guinness Book of World Records—is a guy named Joe Girard? He was a car salesman, and he sold an average of six new cars every day! How did he do it? He sent a card to every customer and every prospect every month (and one for Christmas)—13 cards in all. Joe was so successful that people had to make appointments with him to buy a car!

The good news is that sending physical greeting cards will work in your business as well.

And www.sendoutcards.com/mrinsidesales can make it easy and effective for you.

So there you have it: the five proven voice mail techniques to get your calls returned.

Follow them and you will be much more successful than you are now. Don't follow them and, well, you already know how that goes.

Voice Mail 1

Email 1 (to Be Sent Right after You Leave Your First Voice Mail)

Voice Mail 2: (Three to Four Days Later)

Email 2: (Send This Email One to Two Days after Your Second Voice Mail)

(Include an online brochure of your company and services)

Voice Mail 3: (Final VM—Leave Three to Four Days after the Second Email)

Once you have customized and tested the voice mails and emails in this touch‐point plan, you will know whether you need to add another one or two messages. Just test a variation of plans and see what the best results are for you. Don't forget to add in calls the week before and after the plan as well!

The most important part of a successful touch‐point plan is to consistently use one. Most sales reps fail to reach back out to prospects (both inbound and outbound leads), and many just make one attempt and then move on. The way to double or even triple your sales and income is to be detail‐oriented and to persevere until you reach your prospects.

Adopting the approach described here will separate you from 90 percent of the other sales reps in your industry and this will increase your effectiveness exponentially.