Voicemail messages are a powerful tool if done right!

There are 6 things you should definitely not do when leaving a voicemail message, regardless of whether it is a prospecting voicemail or a message for your best customer.

Definitely DON’T:

1.  Speak with a bland voice.

It’s amazing the number of voicemail messages I hear where the person leaving the message has zero energy and a totally bland voice.

2.  Drone on without any real purpose to the message.

If in doubt as to what you’re going to say, then write it out ahead of time.

3.  State your phone number so fast the other person has to listen to the message twice.

When giving your phone number, do it slowly and distinctly, regardless of whether you expect the person to return the call or not.

4.  Make the call while you’re standing in the middle of a wind tunnel or highway.

If the person you’re calling is important, then doesn’t it make sense to make sure they can hear your message? Remember, audio quality is going to be lost anyway just by the mere fact the other person is listening to a recording of it.

Don’t make the quality any worse by being in a location where there is background noise.

5.  State how you will call them back in a couple of minutes.

If that’s the case, then why are you leaving them a message to begin with?  Saying you will call them back means the message you’re leaving them now is a waste of your time and theirs.

6.  Not leave your name and who you are.

Surprising the number of messages that get left where the person leaving it doesn’t leave both their first and last name.   Just because you know who you’re calling doesn’t mean they know who you are.

Voicemail messages are an effective tool if used properly and it starts by not doing the stupid stuff.

Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.