One of the best ways to gain organic customers, or more specifically, loyal customers, is through lead generation—the process of nurturing relationships with prospects until they decide to buy your products. The problem is that this process can be time-consuming.
After all, developing your relationship with one person is difficult enough already. Who knows how long it would take if you do the same with multiple people at once, but that’s why there are several lead generation strategies, one of which is voicemail.
Although some may think that voicemails are now a thing in the past, you can still use voicemails to gain leads, and you’ll learn more about this topic as you delve deeper into this article.
What Are Voicemails?
You can think of voicemails as emails, but instead of consisting of texts and images, voicemails contain audio, or more specifically, your voice, hence the name.
Like emails, you can store voicemails on different devices such as desktops, phones, tablets, etc. Now the question is—why use voicemails to generate leads instead of emails?
For starters, voicemails have been around longer than emails, and that’s why its development is much more advanced than emails. In fact, there are several voicemail automation tools on the market, and one great example is Drop Cowboy.
How To Generate Leads With Voicemails
Now that you more or less have an understanding of what voicemails are, this should be an excellent time to explain how you can use voicemails to generate leads.
- Do Your Research
Preparation has always been and will always be one of the key ingredients to success. With a plan, you can feel confident, and at the same time, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of what lies ahead. The same goes for lead generation.
If you want to succeed, you need to prepare, and one way to do that is by researching your sales prospects. Businesses call this ‘prospect research.’ Research can be time-consuming, but thanks to innovations, getting to know your prospects is entirely possible. So, how should you approach prospect research? Below are some useful tips to go about this:
- Check Social Media Accounts
You can use several platforms for prospect research, but social media platforms are perhaps your best option. They store large amounts of data regarding potential leads in just one place, most of which can come quite handy in the future.
You can look into the groups they join, the music they like, the companies they follow, and so much more. With this much information, it would be more surprising if you didn’t get anything out of it. Examples of social media platforms that you can use include LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
- Look Back Into The Past
There are cases where you find out that your current prospects actually have a history with your business. Perhaps they bought a product in the past. Maybe they received an email from your company already a few months back. Either way, you can use this information to further improve the voicemail you’ll send to them.
- Consider Industry Research
Industry research is when you look into the latest trends in the industry. You should consider industry research because they tend to contain information on the consumers’ current needs, and perhaps you might encounter bits and pieces of information here and there. Remember, every little thing counts.
Once you’ve done your research, the voicemails you send should be more likely to get your prospects to take an interest in your business. With the voicemails ready, you can use tools like 1800 numbers to send the voicemails automatically. However, it’s essential to take note of the length of the voicemail.
- Keep It Short And Simple
When it comes to voicemails, the length is a crucial factor. Keeping it too short might result in prospects completely forgetting about the voicemail, while sending a long message may end up annoying the prospect. The ideal length of the voicemail should be around 20 seconds.
Within these 20 seconds, you should provide the necessary information and spark curiosity at the same time. However, since 20 seconds is still relatively short, you might find it challenging to include all the necessary information.
Still, you should avoid speaking faster since this won’t do you any good—the prospect will only think that you’re in a hurry because you have hundreds of prospects to get to after you’re done with them. If you want to make it easier for them and you, there are five things you must include in your voicemails:
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- Name: It’s essential to include your name in the voicemail. It should consist of your first and last name. Also, if your name is a bit uncommon, you might want to spell it out. They’ll need the spelling in case they want to look into your name on social media.
- Business Name: If your goal for the voicemail is to introduce your business, then you should include the name of your business.
- Number: Since your goal is for them to contact you back, you’ll need to mention your number. Make sure to slowly say the digits since they might not hear it the first time.
- Reason: You should also include the reason why you’re calling them. This part will come right after the introduction. You can say that you’re returning a call or that you’re calling them because someone referred them to you. Either way, this will make it look like you’re not using a script.
- Call-to-Action: Lastly, talk about how you want them to respond after hearing your call. Messages like “I would love it if you return my call” or “Try looking into the ABC Company” can make your prospects feel as if you already trust them.
Even after making the voicemails with these information, it’s a good idea to revise your voicemails multiple times before sending them. It’s similar to how you write your essay and check if there is any unnecessary information. After all, voicemails are supposed to be short, but that doesn’t mean your patience should be the same.
- Don’t Give Up With Just One Or Two Attempts
Some businesses remove a prospect from the active list if they don’t get a call after the second attempt, but that’s not the way to go. You shouldn’t give up too quickly, but you should also avoid wasting a lot of time on a single prospect.
Your best bet is to send at least five voicemails and if you still haven’t received a callback, remove them from your list. Remember that your prospects have their own circumstances. They may not be answering you at the moment because of the following scenarios:
- They’re currently busy with something
- They’re having problems with their devices
- They think that they can’t afford your products and services
With that said, you’ll also have to schedule your voicemails. Sending one for each day can make you seem too persistent, but you don’t want them to forget about your last voicemail by the time you send the next. On that note, it shouldn’t be too far apart, but also not too close. The ideal frequency of sending voicemails would be one every three days.
However, if your voicemails aren’t the type that can pique someone’s interest, then there’s no use in sending multiple voicemails. For that, you’ll need to know how to construct an appealing voicemail.
- Don’t Sell Immediately
Ask any businessperson how they do their voicemails, and you’ll almost always get the same answer—don’t sell your products and services right away. But how will you get sales if you don’t do that, you may ask.
For starters, the goal of voicemails is to get prospects interested in your business. Once your prospects are ready to buy, that’s when you need to sell your business, but how do you pique the interest of a stranger? That’s entirely up to you, but here are a few pointers to help you out:
- Ask Intriguing Questions
You’ll want your prospects to call back when you send voicemails, but even if they want to call back, they might have difficulty finding out what to say. That’s why asking a question such as “Did you know that …?” or “Have you considered getting …?” will help them construct the first sentences of their response, and once they start it, they’re bound to finish it.
- End The Voicemail On A Cliffhanger
Yes, nobody likes cliffhangers, but it’s a different story if your goal is to pique the interest of your prospects. So, how exactly do you end a voicemail on a cliffhanger? Here’s a look at a sample voicemail cliffhanger:
“We’re planning a large-scale project in Miami that might result in lower accommodation costs of lodges. Expect some significant changes in the coming months.”
These tips can get your customers on the edge of their seats, and they’ll eventually call you back once their curiosity gets the best of them.
- Try To Use A Script
If you’ve been in this line of business for a long time, you should’ve already heard of voicemail scripts. These are just like the scripts that actors memorize when playing their roles. In your case, you’ll read this script while recording the voicemail. There are voicemails for business, real estate, recruiters, and even medical practices, but they all have something in common.
The main reason why voicemail scripts are often necessary to businesses is that they’re tried-and-true methods of piquing a prospect’s interest. There are many formats of voicemail scripts, but if you want to generate leads, you’ll want to use these types:
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- Mysterious: This is quite similar to when you use a cliffhanger. You’re calling in a way that the receiver of the call becomes more curious about your business.
- Referral: This is when you say that the prospect was referred to you by their friend. In this way, the prospect will feel more inclined to call back after knowing that their friend also likes your business.
- Professional: Prospects tend to find professional formats appealing since it shows that you’re really just doing it for business and not to suck up to them. There are, however, times that this won’t work, and in such a case, a friendly tone might be more appropriate.
- Friendly: Sending a voicemail with a friendly tone seems like you’re very approachable, and people like that tend to have more charisma than others. As such, there’s no surprise if the prospect called you back.
- Urgent: Saying things like there’s a special discount for the next few hours can force the prospects to look into your business, even if they don’t want to. However, if you were to use this format, make sure you actually have a special discount, and it’s not just a farce.
Although these kinds of voicemail scripts have proven their effectiveness time and time again, that doesn’t mean you should solely rely on them. Your best bet is to edit some parts here and there to make it more suitable for your business. But remember that your responsibility doesn’t end once you send the voicemail.
- Follow Up After The Call Through Other Mediums
Follow-ups have always been handy when persuading someone. It’s quite similar to how you send numerous voicemails in hopes of convincing them after your previous attempts, but this time, you should use other mediums such as emails, SMS, and the likes. There are a few things to keep in mind when following up on a prospect:
- Provide Value: For each follow-up message you send, there must be value. Once the prospect notices how keen you are at providing value, they’re bound to be grateful, and as a way to express this, they’ll look into your business.
- Keep It Short: Just like how the voicemails should be short, your follow-up messages should also be brief, and for the same reason—to avoid annoying the prospects.
- Stop When Necessary: Although follow-ups are helpful with persuading prospects, it’s not a guaranteed success. If they still don’t budge, you should know when to give up. You can do it after around five follow-ups with no response.
Besides reminding prospects, follow-ups also show your prospects that you greatly value them that you’re not willing to give up on them. This will also play a huge part in convincing the prospects to buy from your business.
Wrapping Up
Even with the best voicemails, you can’t guarantee that you’ll gain more leads. Remember, even industry giants fail at converting their prospects into buyers. It’s only natural, but that doesn’t mean you should give up. Consequently, if you’re converting more than expected, don’t let it get into your head and keep improving.