Thanks to everyone who commented on the voice mail recording from last week. As expected, you, my astute audience of sales pros had no problem picking out the flaws that doom such messages to rapid voice mail deletion.
I replied to the comments there at the blog (you can still go there, listen, and leave your comments) and I was all prepared to share the approach that caller, or any caller should take for voice mail (it’s not new… I’ve shared it before) and then… Rose Molz, President of EZ Office Products, who had submitted the message last week that she had received… sent me a another one!
Her subject line to me was, “In Fairness To The Worst VM Ever – Here’s One That Might Get A Call Back.” I listened to it, and before I give my comments, I’d like to open it up to you all for your analysis and suggestion.
I did joke with Rose that we could make this a regular feature or reality show: “Calls Rose Receives.” She decided to focus on her day job.
Ok, take a listen, put your coach’s cap on as you break down the tape and give your analysis.
Next Tuesday, I will give my complete analysis of both calls, AND a simple formula for a successful message.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
This call is not bad. It’s concise and to the point but the caller sounds friendly and unassuming. Would I call him back? If I happened to be in need of IT staffing I would; staffing has such a bad rep for too many cold calls. At least this guy sounds decent.
What this caller is really saying is this, “I can solve ANY of your problems, and sell you ANYTHING you need. Just call me back real quick. Thanks!”
Way too long…. this is the 1st problem. 2nd he should always follow up with an email and mention that. He is also giving her an out by saying “if I don’t hear from you I will assume you are not ready and I will follow up a few months from now” If he wants this account he needs to be persistent and get her on the phone to at least find out what is going on or some interaction needs to happen and not just assume. He in my opinion is giving up way to quickly and easily. Calling her once a month is not very persistent.
One thing he did do right is mention he talked to one of her colleagues who referred him over to her.
Not bad. Temp staffing calls have to be done for the same reason plumbers & HVAC have to advertise all the time. You probably don’t need them right now, but when the need arises they want to be remembered to get the first call. His tone is very good with friendliness and understanding without pressure. This will help him to be remembered as a trusted advisor when that need does come up. One idea would be to drop a VERY brief tidbit of current information on tech staffing that adds some value to the call – beyond asking for business. Prospects are then getting trained to really listen to his call because they might pick up some useful info for their hiring or project planning. And he builds more bank as a trusted advisor.
Not great, but not terrible either. I sometimes do this when I don’t prepare properly. I’d recommend a more brief message and a more compelling reason to get a call back. I don’t work in IT so, I’m not sure what that is. That’s where I think you have to prepare for that specific call.
Long, rambling, unfocused feel to the call…we can do anything and we do everything. He could have said that in fewer words. He may be reading from a script, but he needs to shorten that script.
Great that he was able to share who gave him the contact and that he wasn’t pressuring for an immediate call back/meeting. But with this call I would know that it will take a ton of my time to talk to him as he wants to share everything that has with me to see if any of it sticks.
Yep, I agree with most of the comments about this message being way too long. Apply the old KISS rule. “We specialise in all IT related matters… From the (smallest)… To the (biggest) “