Why Voicemail Can Be Better Than a Cold Call

So, it seems that just about everyone hates cold calls.

Business people hate getting them and sales reps sure hate making them and it sounds like everyone is on the same page and yet…..they still go on and on.

Before I go any further, for the purpose of this post I’m going to define a cold call as a telephone call made to a contact with whom the sales rep has no previous contact and who has (sadly) not asked the rep or their company to get in touch with them.  But, I’m going to qualify it to the extent that based on the company/contact profile,  information available on the company website and the fact that it is a good match for the sales rep’s ideal target audience, there is at least a reasonable expectation that this company and this person will be interested in the solution on offer.  Is that fair? I hope you agree.

There is a difference between barging onto the crammed schedule of a business person and making a phone call.  On those rare occasions when you actually connect live, you might get enough of their attention to determine if there is value in a follow up call, and that is a very good outcome.  But the overwhelming odds are that you’ll end up on voicemail.  Now, that is also a splendid opportunity if you use it intelligently.

One of the biggest mistakes that sales people make when they call,  is that they’re so hyped up at the chance to “pitch” their contact that they either leave a poorly thought through message – nothing more than a call back request that will never be granted – or even worse- they leave no message at all.

Leaving a short (please don’t ramble) message on voicemail is an excellent opportunity to share some information that could reasonably be of value to your contact and while every contact is different, groups will share similar interests.  While it’s always best to leave a message that’s totally customized to your contact, you can work around that.

Voicemail is usually your first opportunity to communicate something of your personality to the people you want to reach.  You – the sales professional – are still the number one representative of what your company stands for. You can sound intelligent, helpful, interested and on a really good day, like the kind of person who your contacts might actually want to talk to.

It’s not the same as a live conversation, but since voicemail can communicate some valuable information without the irritating intrusiveness of a connected cold call,  it’s  a very valuable tool when you use it properly.  For the sales person who wants to stay in touch with a changing selling environment, take advantage of the opportunity to use voicemail as the opening point of a dialogue.

So cheer up. You might not have the appointment yet but if you’re willing to change the way you use it an old tool like voicemail can be a valuable addition to your updated sales 2.0 selling arsenal.