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I know we are ramping up for AEP, I thought I would share my latest blog on leaving voicemails since I am sure we will be leaving some this AEP.
This is posted on SIMA, which you do have to join to see it, but membership is FREE! But, to keep this from being a SIMA plug, I posted the entire blog.
Enjoy!
Leaving a voicemail has always been split in the agent community. Some agents are against it. Others are all for it.
Regardless of what position you take, voicemails have changed with the smartphone.
In the past, you would have to listen to your voicemail, or at least begin to play it before you could skip over, delete or save the message. If your message was the third one in their voicemail box, then they would have to scroll through the first two messages one by one to get to yours. Sure, you could skip over the message, but at least the beginning of the message to play before you could skip.
However, now many people use "visual voicemail" which lays out the voicemails like email. No longer do you have to listen to previous messages to get to a certain message, and no longer is it a guess who the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. message is from. Deleting a message without listening to it has also become as easy as deleting an email. With a simple touch of the screen, your well-crafted message is gone.
Now, I understand that not everyone uses a smart phone, but their popularity has been on the rise, and seniors are adopting technology with less resistance.
So, back to the original idea of leaving a voicemail; with the ease of use on the user end of deleting or listening, I am all for leaving a voicemail.
I have always left simple messages. My sample voicemail goes like:
Mr. Smith, this is Mike. I am just following up on the information you sent in. Please give me a call @ xxx-xxxx. If I do not hear from you by X (date), I will call again. Thanks.
Or if I have already met with the prospect (in this case, the factitious Mr. Smith), I just change a couple words:
Mr. Smith, this is Mike. I am just following up to make sure all your questions are answered. You can reach me @ xxx-xxxx. I will follow up with you next week as well. Thanks.
The important thing in both messages is that I give a time I will be calling back, so Mr. Smith knows he can delete my calls, but I am going to follow through until I hear back from him in either him calling me back, or answering the phone when I call. I do not leave specific times, but I let the prospect know I will be calling back. The newer the lead, the more specific I will be. I try and call 2-3 times per week the first two weeks, then drop it down to once per week after.
Usually, the first two weeks of following up by voicemail, I will leave a date and AM or PM of when I will be calling, example Thursday afternoon. After two weeks, I will usually just let them know I will be calling back the following week.
If I have no success after 4 weeks, then I leave a departing message such as:
Mr Smith, this is Mike. I hope this message finds you well. I know we are having a hard time connecting, so here is my number if you have questions in the future, xxx-xxxx. I will follow up in a few months just to check in. Thanks.
Then just follow up in about 3-4 months. Make sure you actually follow up!
Is this too pushy? I would say this is persistent. Persistence is one of the traits of a great sales person. Not, pushy, but persistence. The fact that you are informing your client or prospect of when you will be calling again takes the "pushiness" out of the equation. I have been actually thanked by clients for continuing to call, and I have had prospects that have asked me not to call back, but very rarely did I upset anyone by calling in this manor.
Leave a voicemail. Just make sure you are laying out your plan with the prospect so they can either jump on board with you, or jump off. If your prospect knows what to expect, they are more likely to be polite and remember that you were professional, not pesky.
This is posted on SIMA, which you do have to join to see it, but membership is FREE! But, to keep this from being a SIMA plug, I posted the entire blog.
Enjoy!
Leaving a voicemail has always been split in the agent community. Some agents are against it. Others are all for it.
Regardless of what position you take, voicemails have changed with the smartphone.
In the past, you would have to listen to your voicemail, or at least begin to play it before you could skip over, delete or save the message. If your message was the third one in their voicemail box, then they would have to scroll through the first two messages one by one to get to yours. Sure, you could skip over the message, but at least the beginning of the message to play before you could skip.
However, now many people use "visual voicemail" which lays out the voicemails like email. No longer do you have to listen to previous messages to get to a certain message, and no longer is it a guess who the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. message is from. Deleting a message without listening to it has also become as easy as deleting an email. With a simple touch of the screen, your well-crafted message is gone.
Now, I understand that not everyone uses a smart phone, but their popularity has been on the rise, and seniors are adopting technology with less resistance.
So, back to the original idea of leaving a voicemail; with the ease of use on the user end of deleting or listening, I am all for leaving a voicemail.
I have always left simple messages. My sample voicemail goes like:
Mr. Smith, this is Mike. I am just following up on the information you sent in. Please give me a call @ xxx-xxxx. If I do not hear from you by X (date), I will call again. Thanks.
Or if I have already met with the prospect (in this case, the factitious Mr. Smith), I just change a couple words:
Mr. Smith, this is Mike. I am just following up to make sure all your questions are answered. You can reach me @ xxx-xxxx. I will follow up with you next week as well. Thanks.
The important thing in both messages is that I give a time I will be calling back, so Mr. Smith knows he can delete my calls, but I am going to follow through until I hear back from him in either him calling me back, or answering the phone when I call. I do not leave specific times, but I let the prospect know I will be calling back. The newer the lead, the more specific I will be. I try and call 2-3 times per week the first two weeks, then drop it down to once per week after.
Usually, the first two weeks of following up by voicemail, I will leave a date and AM or PM of when I will be calling, example Thursday afternoon. After two weeks, I will usually just let them know I will be calling back the following week.
If I have no success after 4 weeks, then I leave a departing message such as:
Mr Smith, this is Mike. I hope this message finds you well. I know we are having a hard time connecting, so here is my number if you have questions in the future, xxx-xxxx. I will follow up in a few months just to check in. Thanks.
Then just follow up in about 3-4 months. Make sure you actually follow up!
Is this too pushy? I would say this is persistent. Persistence is one of the traits of a great sales person. Not, pushy, but persistence. The fact that you are informing your client or prospect of when you will be calling again takes the "pushiness" out of the equation. I have been actually thanked by clients for continuing to call, and I have had prospects that have asked me not to call back, but very rarely did I upset anyone by calling in this manor.
Leave a voicemail. Just make sure you are laying out your plan with the prospect so they can either jump on board with you, or jump off. If your prospect knows what to expect, they are more likely to be polite and remember that you were professional, not pesky.
