Date archive for October, 2010
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Voice Mail Messages That Generate Callbacks: Tips from Business Development Expert Ron Karr
When you call customers or prospects do you leave a rambling, boring or informal message? Or even worse, do you simply hang up if they do not answer?
“Maybe that’s why these people (and maybe even some of your friends!) don’t call you back,” says Ron Karr, business development expert and author of Lead, Sell, or Get Out of the Way: The 7 Traits of Great Sellers.
“With Caller ID, regardless if you left a message or not, they know you’ve called. Plus, if you didn’t feel your call was worth a message, why would they want to waste any effort in calling you back?”
Ron advises sales executives, professional service providers and entrepreneurs:
- If you are going to call a business contact, be prepared to talk – don’t hang up.
- Know what you want to say and keep it brief.
- Leave a message that is customer-focused, not self-focused. Give them a reason to call you back.
- If you’ve called several times without getting a return call, change your message – it’s not working.
If calling your spouse, friend, relative or someone you know very well, the act of hanging up can merely act as a silent code between the two of you that says, “Hey, it’s me. Call me back.”
If calling a prospect, customer or someone you don’t know well at all, hanging up is simply too risky. For one thing, they have not established that silent code with you.
Secondly, people hang up thinking “if I don’t leave a message, they will never know I called.” Hello! Is anyone home in your mind? Of course they know you called!
In fact, because the relationship is not all that strong, you have now given that person carte blanche to come up with their own reason as to why you did not leave a message and create their own message. Messages that often lead to false assumptions, emotions and actions based on those false assumptions.
Here’s the problem with most voice mail messages and why they don’t generate callbacks. They are self-focused vs. customer-focused. Every time you hear a message, you make the mental decision as to whether or not that caller deserves more of an investment of your time. Leaving messages that record your name, company name and the request to call you back simply does not motivate many people to call you, especially if you are someone they don’t know. Leaving messages with the above and talking about a product or service will not get a callback either.
So how do you get callbacks? Simply change your message from being self-focused to being customer-focused by putting an outcome in the message. A result the person will get from calling you back that will benefit them.
“A client of mine was selling x-ray technology. Getting frustrated that the radiologists were not calling her back, she changed to message to: ‘Please call me if you want to put an end to the irate calls you are getting from the Docs because of lost films.’ She claims to have gotten 70% of her calls returned. Would you appreciate 70% of your voice mails being returned?” commented Karr.
“Bottom line, if you want your voice mail messages returned, then give the receiver a good enough reason to do so.
“Want to learn how to get your calls returned and get people to buy your ideas? Then make the investment and get the book Lead, Sell, or Get Out of the Way: The 7 Traits of Great Sellers,” added Karr.
Want to double, triple or quadruple your sales revenues, I highly recommend this program Lead, Sell, or Get Out of The Way Boot Camp. Sign up now as seats are limited.
About Ron Karr:
Ron Karr is the President of the business consulting firm Karr Associates, Inc. Ron specializes in helping organizations and professionals generate remarkable sales and operational results. Ron has been interviewed by Entrepreneur Magazine, Bottom Line Business, and Selling Power, as well as Bloomberg TV, CBS Morning Show in New Orleans, Joe Connolly’s Wall Street Journal Report and many other shows.View Ron’s recent interview on The Rhode Show on FOX TV in Providence, Rhode Island: http://www.ronkarr.com/media
Contact:
Ron Karr
Office (201) 666-7599
Cell 201-914-3895
ron@ronkarr.com
www.ronkarr.com -
Are you throwing small fish back?
The National Council on Alcoholism called us to have a gavel engraved. The president of our company told me to grab my attaché, jump in a cab, and help them out.
“Stu, we don’t engrave gavels,” I said.
“We will for them. Just go, I’m paying for it” he exhorted with his guruish smile.
It was 1975. I was 21 and in my 4th year of learning to sell in the NYC Sales School of Hard Knocks. Our company created sales incentive programs, unusual advertising support collateral, and unique specialty premiums. Spending my time and his money to take a cab cross-town Manhattan for a $5 engraving job seemed nonsensical. With trust in my mentor, l stopped for my ritual shoeshine and hopped into a cab.
Natalie, then Executive Director for NCA, was in her office chatting with their PR person. They were sharp, witty, and loaded with fun filled NY sarcasm. We got along famously. Natalie looked me up and down and shook her head with a wry grin. “You don’t engrave gavels, do you,” she asked rhetorically. “Please tell us what it is you really do.”
I pulled out my portfolio, described our agency, and showed off some of our projects. An hour or two later, I left with details for a few thousand-dollar project that we were later awarded. In addition to the stream of business and many referrals that followed, I learned three invaluable lessons that earned me tremendous amounts of business over the years.
How many invitations do you receive from potential clients? Certainly not enough, so never discount an opportunity because it appears to be too small. A warm welcome is better than any cold call.
Why is turning your nose up at small orders a mistake? After gently prodding our sales team one afternoon, they convinced me to show them how my revenue doubled theirs. The comparison of monthly sales showed everyone’s doubles, triples, and homeruns. The difference was the string of singles that I regularly hit. I showed them how strings of singles typically add up to more than one homerun. Their numbers increased.
How often do prospects offer you trial business? Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are trust and confidence, so seize opportunities to prove yourself. I had the gavel engraved at no charge. Our efforts won their confidence and trust with a small project that paved the way to earning larger projects. It’s much easier to work your way up from a small share of wallet than to win the whole enchilada in one fell swoop.
Small orders lead to more business, fill the gaps between juicy sales, and maintain your momentum and your enthusiasm, all of which keep your income up.
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