There's no doubt about it -- leaving a good sales voicemail is hard. And even if you do record a well-crafted message, do prospects actually listen to them, or take the time to call you back? Not usually.
So what's the point? Should salespeople even bother with voicemails? Absolutely, and here's why.
Although a seller might get a higher response rate from an email or another type of message, responses to voicemails are generally richer and demonstrate a greater level of interest. So what a salesperson loses in quantity, they gain in quality.
Of course, you won't get any responses at all -- high quality or otherwise -- if you don't leave a carefully planned and thoughtful voicemail. Here are the nine elements of a perfect sales voicemail.
How to Leave a Voicemail
Leave a voicemail by using your normal tone of voice and keeping your message short, between 20-30 seconds. Start the voicemail with information that's relevant to the contact and ask questions that are tailored to them.
1. Keep the length between 20-30 seconds.
A perfect sales voicemail should be in the neighborhood of 20 to 30 seconds -- not much longer, and not much shorter. I realize this is a very specific window of time, so let me explain the reasoning.
Obviously, prospects aren't going to listen to an overly long voicemail from a caller whose number they don't recognize, so pushing past 30 seconds ensures the message will get deleted almost immediately. On the other hand, buyers are also unlikely to listen to an overly short message.
Most cell phones show the number and voicemail duration when a call is missed. So if the recipient sees the message is from an unknown number and only a few seconds long, they'll assume it's not important and hit delete. Since the message doesn't appear to be substantive, they're not prompted to listen.
20-30 seconds is the sweet spot. A voicemail in this timeframe sparks curiosity without demanding too much time.
25 Voicemail Script Templates
25 voicemail script templates for any occasion.
- Referrals
- Partner Acquisition
- Cold Outreach
- Voicemail Greeting Templates
Download Free
All fields are required.
2. Lead with information relevant to the prospect.
Sales reps tend to be very declarative in their messaging. Their starting phrase in both voicemails and emails usually sounds something like, "My name is John Doe, and I work for Gadgets Inc."
It might be a straightforward approach, but it's not effective in the slightest. As soon as the prospect realizes this voicemail is a sales pitch from a salesperson, it's getting deleted. And if you lead with your name and company, the prospect's finger hits the delete key almost immediately.
This is why it's important to lead with something relevant to the prospect, such as a thought-provoking question.
3. Ask a question you wouldn't pose in an email.
If your voicemails and emails are exactly the same, you lessen your chances of getting a response to either. So make them different by reserving certain questions for voicemail instead of email.
While both types of messages should be customized to a given buyer, voicemails should be ultra-specific. In an email, I might ask for a referral, an appointment, or feedback on a content asset they downloaded. These sorts of classic questions -- while still tailored to the buyer -- can be customized for reuse with another prospect, or another 100 prospects.
But the questions you ask in a voicemail should be so specific that they could never be intended for another listener. For example, if I was selling financial management technology, I might ask the voicemail recipient which financial software they use today, or if all of the company's financial analysts work out of the central office.
The more personal and specific the question, the more likely it'll get a response. Think about it this way. If you start to have chest pains on a busy city street, and you cry out, "Somebody call 911!" you might get help … but you might not. However, if you were to point at one specific person and shout, "Would you please call 911 for me?" it's almost a certainty that the stranger you selected would grab their phone and dial.
Why the difference in response? When you made the request specific to one person in the second circumstance, you placed a burden of responsibility on that person. So it is with sales voicemails: The more specific the question, the more responsibility the person feels to answer you.
4. Don't use a traditional close.
Here I'm referring to lines such as "Please call me back" or "I'll check in again on X date." Because they're generic, these asks don't increase the buyer's feeling of responsibility. Instead, I suggest posing your specific question and ending the call there.
5. Don't hang up without leaving a voicemail.
If you're going to call a prospect, you have to leave a message. Regardless of whether the prospect was actively screening calls or simply away from their desk when the phone rang, your number will pop up as a missed call. And if there's no accompanying voicemail? Well, it must not have been terribly important.
If you do this two or three times in a row, you further degrade your chances of ever connecting with this prospect. Since they've now seen your number come up multiple times without once receiving a voicemail, they're aware this call is definitely not one they need to take. You can bet the next time you call, they're not picking up.
Salespeople who call and hang up screen themselves out of the process. No matter if you're prepared to leave the perfect voicemail or not, you need to leave one every time. However, if you do record a few messages with the same ultra-specific question, the prospect feels a twinge of guilt each time you call back because they feel they owe you an answer.
6. Use your normal tone of voice.
Salespeople are often coached to sound enthusiastic and excited on the phone, thus raising their natural voice pitch to a high, unnatural tone. In my opinion, this tone of voice makes it clear to the listener that not only is this an uncomfortable call, but a generic one.
It's easy to imagine the caller hanging up, dialing another prospect, and leaving an identical voicemail using the exact same high pitch, and then another … and another. If it sounds like a salesperson is just doing their 50 prospecting calls for the day, it absolves the listener of any responsibility to respond.
I recommend salespeople start voicemails at their normal tone of voice and then go gradually lower. This implies that you're at ease making the call, and also that the call is unusual.
Without the fake tone of excitement in your voice, the listener understands that the specific question you're posing is just as meaningful to you as it is to them. And the more the listener feels the message is meant for them and only them, the more likely it is they'll respond.
25 Voicemail Script Templates
25 voicemail script templates for any occasion.
- Referrals
- Partner Acquisition
- Cold Outreach
- Voicemail Greeting Templates
Download Free
All fields are required.
7. Leave voicemails at the end of the day.
Voicemail connect rates usually go up as the day advances, so you should schedule your phone activity toward the end of the day.
Wondering why this is? We can thank the serial position effect. This psychological phenomenon says when you show people a list, they'll remember the first and last items the best. That means when you're trying to grab a prospect's attention, you want to be one of the first or last things they hear.
But imagine if you received a sales voicemail at 9 a.m. It might be the most compelling, well-delivered voicemail you've ever heard, but you're probably dealing with several other tasks. You decide to respond to the rep when you have more time. By the time the end of the day rolls around, you've completely forgotten about her.
If you listened to the voicemail at 4:30 p.m., on the other hand, your day is likely wrapping up. You might email the salesperson that night or return their call first thing the next day.
8. Split up your voicemails.
You can also try leaving two voicemails. In other words, rather than leaving one 30-second message, record a 20-second voicemail -- then immediately call back and leave a 10-second one.
Your second voicemail should include information that was missing from your first. For instance, a rep using this technique might leave the following two messages:
Voicemail #1: "Hi Jerry, I recently attended one of TrustPilot's webinars. I didn't receive any follow-up emails, which made me wonder if you have a marketing strategy in place for nurturing webinar leads. Folks who attend a live event are 30% more likely to convert, according to my team's research. What strategy, if any, do you have in place today?"
Voicemail #2: "Jerry, I forgot to leave my name and number. This is Sarah Griffin from Acme Corp. You can reach me at 884-867-5309. Thanks."
Splitting your message into two parts has a couple of benefits. First, it makes you more memorable. Second, you seem less rehearsed. If you're reciting from a script, you're probably not going to forget a key component. Prospects will automatically trust you more.
9. Slow down as you speak.
Start your voicemail with a regular cadence, but get slower and slower the longer you speak. By the time you get to your phone number, you should practically be crawling. It sounds counterintuitive -- but this tactic actually makes prospects likelier to finish listening.
Not only do you sound more articulate and confident when you're not rushing to the finish line, but you also sound more authentic. Speaking in a rush suggests you've been dialing all day and need to be as efficient as possible. Yet if you're making three calls rather than 30, you're probably going to sound far more deliberate. A slow finish tells the buyer they're not just another name on a list.
How to End a Voicemail
Make the last thing you say be your phone number. This ensures it's clearly visible on voicemail dictation, and makes it easy for prospects to call back. Avoid phrases like "Call me back when you get this," which can sound pushy. And, finally, tell them you'll follow up with an email. This gives the prospect two ways to return your call, which certainly can't hurt.
10. End with your phone number
Your phone number is the last thing you should say on a voicemail. Say it once, slowly, and make sure to repeat it again. This has two benefits: First, it makes your phone number the last thing they hear, which encourages an immediate call back. And, second, in the age of voicemail dictation, it ensures your phone number appears clearly at the end of the message text. It will be hyperlinked and easy to push for a quick reply from your prospect.
11. Don't sound desperate
Phrases like, "Please call me back when you get this," "I'm really looking forward to hearing from you," and "Call me at your earliest convenience," are pushy, aggressive, and borderline desperate.
Avoid telling your prospect what to do. You'll make returning your call seem like a chore or, worse, a demand. This should feel like a mutually beneficial relationship -- one in which each party wants to call the other back -- unprompted.
So, leave "Call me back when you get this," at the door, and try, "Talk to you soon," "Thanks for your time," or a good old-fashioned, "Have a great day."
12. Say you'll follow up with an email
Keep the conversation going, and give prospects an easy way to return your call by shooting them a quick email once you hang up the phone. Salespeople are used to being on the phone all day -- but not all prospects are.
Hedge your bets by giving them two ways to respond. A simple, "I'll also follow up with an email," before you hang up, is short, concise, and shows thoroughness on your part.
If you're in need of some more tips, here are some additional soundbites you can use when ending a voicemail.
25 Voicemail Script Templates
25 voicemail script templates for any occasion.
- Referrals
- Partner Acquisition
- Cold Outreach
- Voicemail Greeting Templates
Download Free
All fields are required.
13. "Next time we talk, you'll have to tell me more about X."
End your voicemail by asking your prospect to tell you more, whether about their recent vacation to Thailand or their unique business pain points. It's a simple request -- and easier than, say, "Give me a call back, I'd love to find out when we can write up our contract."
Generally, voicemail is not the medium to discuss deal logistics. Keep messages short and to the point, and steer clear of deal specifics. Ask relevant questions and you're likelier to get a response.
14. "Next time we talk, I'd love to tell you more about X."
This scenario piques your prospect's interest by teasing information. But it's only effective when your prospect actually cares about the info. If you say, "Next time we talk, I'd love to tell you more about our latest award for customer satisfaction," they probably (read: definitely) won't care.
First, they're not a client yet, so they won't find your ambiguous award that interesting. Second, news like this takes the focus off the prospect and onto you -- not where you want it to be.
Instead, lead with, "Next time we talk, I want to share two goals on our new product roadmap that speak directly to several pain points you've raised. I'll tell you more in our next meeting. How about next Tuesday?"
You prove you've been paying attention by referring to pain points they've previously mentioned and kept the conversation centered around benefiting the prospect. You've also slipped in a specific timeline for when you'd like to connect.
15. "What should we cover in our next conversation?"
You probably touched on this at the end of your last conversation, but if you haven't heard from your prospect in a while, this can be a useful strategy for getting back on their radar.
Say, "I know we identified implementation, onboarding, and QA as topics to cover in our next call, but I wondered if there were any other areas we missed -- specifically whether you could use Feature A, which was an area of concern for you."
Again, you've referred to a previous pain point, and reminded them of what you both agreed to discuss in your next meeting -- and you've done it all without the dreaded, "I haven't heard from you in a while, I really want to schedule this meeting we talked about."
16. "I know we ran out of time, but I'd love to continue this conversation [insert date]."
This is another helpful outreach strategy for prospects you haven't heard from in a while.
Remind them of your last conversation and give them a timeline for when you'd like to talk again, saying, "I know we ran out of time in our last meeting, but I'd love to continue our conversation about why other suppliers have disappointed you in the past. Do you have time to chat more on Thursday or Friday?"
This is a direct and persuasive way of asking for a follow-up meeting. Your prospect is more likely to agree to discuss their pain points further than if you were to say, "I'd love to talk more about how I can help. Let me know when we can get a call scheduled." The latter is vague and feels like more of a burden than the first request.
17. "You said something earlier that I'd love to ask you a question about."
If you wrapped up a meeting earlier in the day but weren't able to schedule a follow-up appointment, leave this voicemail a few hours later.
Refer to your previous conversation to jog their memory, saying, "In our meeting earlier, you said something about your shipping needs that really stuck out to me. I'd love to ask you a question about that."
In addition to showing active listening, you've also awoken their curiosity about what question you want to ask. Once they're back on the phone, you can confirm a date and time for your next meeting.
18. "I just sent you an article and I'd love to hear what you think about it."
Only leave this voicemail for interested prospects. If you're talking with someone who isn't really invested in fixing a problem or implementing your product/service, they probably won't want to read an article you sent on the subject either.
If you're working with an actively engaged prospect, however, this voicemail can be perfect for building rapport. Say, "I just sent you an article about the new trends in AI we were discussing on our last call. I can't wait to hear what you think."
If you already have a call scheduled, it will serve as an incentive for your prospect to show up. If you don't have a call on the books, use their response to this voicemail to ask for a follow-up meeting.
19. "My phone number is …"
I always end voicemails with my phone number. The reasoning? First, it's his cue to wrap up. It keeps him from rambling and gives the prospect a clear call to action: Call him back.
It also ensures that, in the age of voicemail transcripts, your number stands out at the end of your message. And because most phones link to numbers automatically, all your prospect has to do is press the number provided at the end of the transcript to easily call you back.
Voicemails don't have to be a last resort or a dead end. Use these tips for messages that actually move the conversation forward. You'll enjoy richer prospect relationships and fewer opportunities gone cold.
How to Leave a Voicemail Without Calling
Services like slydial allow you to bypass the dial and go straight to voicemail. Simply download the app for iPhone or Android, choose from a basic (free) or premium subscription, and start dialing. Your address book will populate automatically in the app. All you have to do is click on a contact to reach their voicemail.
This is something that can be done, yes. But I can't think of a time when a salesperson would want to do it. Best-case scenario, the timestamp will alert the prospect you left a voicemail at a late hour or on the weekend, and they'll wonder why. Worst-case scenario, they'll just think your desperate.
If you find yourself wishing for your prospect not to pick up -- you might need to consider a new profession.
A great follow-up voicemail is a thing of beauty. Incorporate a few of these tips into your daily phone calls, and see the benefits as your phone starts to ring back a little more often.
