Despite what you may have heard, cold calling is still a widely used prospecting tool and sales strategy. Whether it's an initial cold call, a subsequent follow-up call or a "keep-in-touch" call, salespeople still rely on the telephone to connect with busy prospects. Making that call and getting a return phone call, however, are two entirely different things.
Here are seven reasons your prospects won't return your calls:
1. Your voicemail message is too long. The majority of voicemail messages decision-makers receive are far too long. Decision-makers are too busy to listen to a long, rambling, disjointed message. That means you need to get your point across in 30 seconds or less. In fact, I suggest you try limiting your message to a maximum of 20 seconds.
2. Your voicemail message is too cryptic. On the reverse side, a short, terse voicemail with no details is unlikely to motivate someone to call you back. You must give a prospect enough information to capture her attention so that she will think "I need to talk to this person."
3. You leave the same voicemail message. Because it is important to keep trying to connect with your prospect, you may find yourself leaving multiple messages. However, if you want your prospect to call you back, you need to leave a different message each time. Plus, your message must be compelling (see #4).
4. Your voicemail message is not compelling. Most voicemail messages do little to motivate a prospect to pick up the telephone. A compelling message must demonstrate that you understand your prospect's business and circumstances and may have a solution.
