Linda Kester

Imagine having a great new list of qualified vendors and lessees to call! You are pumped up and ready to start prospecting. Then the inevitable happens, sixty-five percent of the time you don’t get through to the decision maker, you get voice mail. What do you say? Most sales people leave a message about the services their company offers and advantages of doing business with them. And most of the time the prospect never returns the call. Now what does the sales rep do? Should they call back until he picks up the phone? Do they try to go through the secretary? Usually a phone call is not returned because:

• The prospect sees nothing in it for himself.
• He is too busy to be bothered.
• He doesn’t want to tell you NO.

So… what kind of message do you leave? Good question. There are several answers:

However, we have to cover some basic steps first:

Listen to their entire outgoing message. One day I was monitoring a sales rep’s prospect calls. The sales rep’s name was Debbie. Debbie called a vendor, got his voice mail & hung up. She figured that it was worthless to leave a message, so she didn’t listen to the prospect’s outgoing message. I had Debbie call the prospect again, this time she listened to the entire message and the prospect said "You have reached the desk of Jack Wolff, today is November 19th, I’ll be at our new location in Mayfair, the number is (215) 673-2822."

Debbie called the prospect at his new location. She got through to him. She didn’t get an application that day, but she did establish rapport with him, and it was the start of a profitable relationship.

Leave a message. I used to say: don’t leave a message on a prospect call. The thinking behind this was that the prospect most likely won’t call you back. And in the unlikely event they do call you back---you may not remember who they were, and then you have a completely awkward conversation.

Now I’ve changed my philosophy. Leave a message on every call that you make. The lessee or vendor may not return your call but at least they know who you are and that you have been trying to get a hold of them.

For example, my old employer Advanta Leasing went out of business. Other leasing sales reps, from competitors, had been calling on the vendors that were loyal to Advanta. When Advanta shut their doors, the sales reps who had been leaving messages, were the first ones to get calls from these vendors. The sales reps who didn’t leave a message had not developed the good will---the prospect never knew they called and didn’t think of them when they needed a leasing company.

What kind of message do you leave?

Leave a message that differentiates yourself. What do I mean by that? Well, if you just do what everybody else does like "Hi, this is Linda Kester from ABC Leasing Company, I was calling to introduce my company to you and find out what it would take to earn your business." Then you sound just like everybody else. The prospect is not going to waste his valuable time to return the call of someone who just wants to introduce them self to him! He’s going to hit * D as quickly as he can!

Think of voice mail as an opportunity. Here is a chance for you to give a clear, concise sales message. You have to leave a message that makes you stand out. Something that has excitement to it, that’s different. When the prospect hears your message he is asking himself this question: "What’s in it for me?" Everyone listens to the same radio station in their head it’s -WII-FM, What’s in it for me? Your message has to tell them quickly what the benefits are to them as a vendor or a lessee to return your call. Here are some examples.

Leave a message regarding their business:

• "…there are three ways to increase sales with leasing."
• "…there are five Websites you should check to build your business – I’ll e-mail them to you."

Leave a message that is about them:

• "Ted, I was thinking about you and I have a couple new ideas that may help you. This is Bob Bell from Independent Leasing. I can be reached at (800) 685- 7571."

I love that last message because you use their name before you say who you are. It captures their interest immediately.

Another example is "Mark, are you getting the type of sales, high dollar amount sales that could really help your business? This is….."

Use your prospect’s name at the beginning of the message, it will catch their attention, and get them to listen closely.

When you test a new voicemail message, rehearse it out loud many, many times, working on your delivery. Vary your tone. Sound natural. Then, call your own voice mail and leave the message. Wait a while. Then listen to it over the phone. Take notes on the content and delivery. Make changes where necessary. Remember you are a leasing sales professional, and preparation plus practice is what makes a professional.

Other voice mail examples are: "Brad, most sales reps are not nearly as successful as they could be because they fail to address financing and maximize their use of leasing. My name is Linda and I’m with ABC Leasing, I have some ideas that might help you close more sales. Could you please give me a call at …" (Remember to be prepared with ideas when they return your call.)

Or "Kristi, I have a great web site that will help your business…"

One of my customers uses this message when they haven’t heard from a vendor for a while "This is Tom, from PH Financial, I think we have an invoice of yours that we have to pay."

On a lessee call the message could go "John, Brunswick Surgical is raving about the financing we put together for them for their new computer system. This is Linda Kester from ABC Leasing. John, if you would like flexible, quick financing give me a call at (888) 255-2255.

Another idea is to begin your message with a question, then follow it with a potential benefit or result they might be able to get. For example: "Mr. Prospect, this is Linda Kester with Pawnee Leasing. My reason for calling is to ask you a question; What audience are you primarily targeting with your equipment? Depending on your answer, we might have a few ideas that would be of some value to you in reaching your targeted markets.

Make sure that you give your telephone number clearly and slowly. Now this seems like common sense, but how many times have you had to re-play a voice mail message listening for the phone number because the caller said their phone number so quickly. How annoying is that? Nobody likes replaying voice mail.

One last tip is to sound enthusiastic with out going over the top. I know a sales rep who holds the telephone like an old fashioned microphone when he gets voice mail. He says it makes him feel more confident, and it helps him believe in himself.

Voice mail is here to stay. Prospects will use it to avoid your call. Your sales success will come with a message strategy that has ideas and value for your prospects.