How to Use a Voicemail Script to Get Callbacks?

The main task of every sales rep is to connect with as many potential customers as possible and continue making as many touches as needed to close deals. And sellers use all kinds of channels to achieve their goals. For example, if customers don’t read and answer cold emails, sales reps try to make a sales call or write in other apps.

It is normal if some people don’t answer immediately. We are all swamped, but technologies help us to stay in contact against all odds.

Voicemail drops are one of the instruments for this purpose. Some people think wrongly that the sales voicemail is outdated. But the research shows that it’s the other way around. Don’t believe us? Then, the first part of this article is for you. But if you want to know just how to make a perfect sales voicemail script, you can start reading from Part 2.

Why do voicemails work?

Before talking about facts and numbers, let’s think logically.

Here is a situation. A prospect didn’t answer your sales call, and you need to think about leaving a sales voicemail. In the first variant, you will spend 20-30 seconds saying a few words about yourself and the goal of your call. In the second version, you’ll hang up.

Yes, you will save your time and can call another customer. But you’ll also lose any chance that the prospect will call you back. And when somebody calls you back, doesn’t the cold call become a warm one? Yes, it does.

How many opportunities like that do you waste every day? Of course, you will not receive any callbacks if you don’t leave voicemails. And if you do, even one callback will give you a 100% result. Sounds great, right?

But here are also some actual statistics to start leaving voice messages:

• According to a Pew Research Center, 67% of adults from the U.S. don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. So, if you’re planning to make a cold call, you need to be ready so that your call will be ignored. But another fact gives hope instead. 70% check their voicemail, meaning they can receive the info even from unknown numbers.
• And InsideSales gave another exciting number. Only 4.8% of those reps who leave messages are getting callbacks. So it seems to be not a considerable number, yeah? But don’t forget that it is better than 0% when you don’t leave a voicemail message.
• In the same research, InsideSales has also explored how a sales voicemail script affected the number of callbacks. And it did positively! In some cases, a well-prepared script increased response rates to 22%.

These facts should be enough to make the right decision. But for prominent naysayers, we have some more arguments:

• A voicemail message is a full touchpoint. According to TrueList, you must make eight touches on average before the sale. Of course, every situation is unique so this number can vary. But the fact is: that a sales voicemail will bring you closer to closing the deal.
• Good voicemail messages show you care about staying in touch with a prospect.
• And the final reason – it’s your job. Spending all day calling without any results is not OK. But when you leave voicemails, your cold calls make sense, even if they are unanswered here and now.

To summarize, should your sales team leave voicemails when cold calling? Absolutely yes.

Now, let’s move from the question “Why?” to the question “How?”.

Ten tips for leaving effective voicemails

There are thousands of voicemail messages which were left but had no success. And a lot of analysis was done to understand why it is like that and how to improve the sales process.

Based on it, you don’t need to make millions of attempts to find what is working for your business. We have some basic rules that will help you succeed in leaving sales voicemails.

Don’t sell in a voicemail

It sounds awkward, but you shouldn’t sell in your sales voicemails.

Why is it so?

A good voicemail has to motivate a potential customer to call you back. There will be no need to do so if you say everything in your voicemail, right? And if the prospect has a dozen voicemails, he will not listen to a five or 10-minute record.

Be brief

Let’s go back to the results of the InsideSales research. According to them, the optimal length of a message is between 18 and 30 seconds. When sales reps left long voicemails, they failed in most cases. The leading cause is in the prospect’s attention which is hard to hold. So, leave as short a message as you can.

Put the most important info

And the main parts of it were also determined:

• Your name – it’s better to say it twice
• The name of your company
• The reason you are calling – put it in one sentence
• The contact information if you need a callback – say your phone number twice and slowly
• The time you are available to answer

Add a CTA

A call to action increases the effectiveness of every step in sales and marketing. So, don’t forget to say what the prospect needs precisely to do after listening to your message.

For example, to call you back or to read the email you sent yesterday. Make it clear to understand and easy to do.

Create an urgency effect

Urgency is the second important aspect after CTA; to be more precise, urgency makes your CTA even more effective.

To compare, which one will engage prospects more? “Call me back when you have time” or “Call me back until Friday if you want to take advantage of our special offer”?

Talk about the client, not about yourself

It’s the universal recommendation for any communication. If you want to sell, you should discuss the client’s pain points, needs, and benefits. Then, you can arouse the prospect’s interest.

So, it would be better to say, “You can be the first who will try our new feature” instead of “Our company has a new feature.”

Sound professional and energetic

Your mood is also essential. Make sure your voice is uplifting and energizing.

Of course, making 10-15 sales calls makes it hard not to sound monotonous and boring. If you notice this, you’d better take a break than continue to call because your voicemails will not have as good results as they could.

Leave up to 10 messages

Don’t be afraid to be pushy. Of course, it’s not a good idea to leave voicemails all one by one, but you can remind about yourself repeatedly. Today, next day, next week… If your sales voicemails are polite and respectful, they will not harm your reputation.

Use sales voicemail scripts

It’s hard to say spontaneously without any “uh” or “em” and simultaneously follow all recommendations mentioned before. So, make a voicemail template that you can use to leave a powerful sales voicemail message. As has been noted, they will bring you more callbacks.

Practice, practice, and practice

Practice makes perfect. Using these tips regularly will improve your voicemail skills. It will also be an advantage if you attend special sales training.

7 voicemail scripts with high-level callbacks

Firstly, we need to mention that every case is individual, and what you will say in the voicemail depends on:

• characteristics of your company;
• its tone of communication;
• your target audience;
• the specific case you are calling about.

So, you can use these sales voicemail scripts but only as samples to make your own ones. Test different types and analyze their effectiveness to find a good voicemail script for your business.

First-touch voicemail script

All sales reps know how important it is to make the right first touch. But, as we said before, most people don’t answer when unknown numbers call. Then, it would be best if you were ready to leave a sales voicemail that would introduce you and motivate them to call back. So, it is essential to make a professional voicemail script.

The short plan of the message is:

1. To say your name and the company name.
2. To explain briefly why you are calling.
3. Add a CTA (commonly – to call back) and tell your number twice.
4. To say when you can answer.
5. To repeat your name.

How could it be?

Hi (the prospect’s name). This is (your name) from (company name). I’m calling about (your intention in one or two sentences).

If you’re interested in this, please give me a call at (your number). I’m at work from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Again (your name) with (your company) at (your phone number). Look forward to speaking with you.

Follow-up voicemail script

This sort of script is for those prospects with whom you are already in contact. It means you know their needs and can talk more personalized. But you may also make a general script even for these cases. Like this one:

Hey (the prospect’s name). It’s (your name) at (your number). I saw you didn’t answer on my last email where I sent all the information you asked for. Is your interest still the same? If yes, then check out the email and give me a feedback. Thanks!

The Yes-or-No voicemail script

It is a follow-up voicemail, but when you give straightforward instructions on what the prospect needs to do if he has made the decision already. For example:

Hey (the prospect’s name). This is (your name) from (company name). I’m calling about the decision you had to make. Did you think about my proposal?

If you want to use this opportunity, write a message with a word ‘Yes’ on the number (your number). After receiving your message, I will add you to our loyalty program. Again, this is (your name) and my number is (your phone number). Waiting for your text message.

The following 4 sales voicemail scripts are based on different triggers: interest, urgency, value, and a common acquaintance.

Intriguing sales voicemail script

Human curiosity has no borders. We want to know everything, which is excellent, especially for sales reps who can use it to achieve their goals. And it is not a manipulation unless you don’t cheat or lie to your prospects.

So, how to intrigue and interest a person with a voicemail message, so he wants to call back?

The simplest way – is not to say anything about the purpose why you were calling.

Hey (the prospect’s name). It’s (your name) at (your number). Again, it’s (your number). Call me back.

Well, not everyone will do exactly what you asked. But this kind of message leaves a person with many questions. Who was that? Why did he call? Maybe, it’s something significant?

These thoughts will sit in his head and finally urge him to call back and find out what you wanted. That’s human nature, nothing more.

Value proposition voicemail script

Everyone likes to receive solutions to save money, time, or other resources. You can build effective voicemail scripts using value propositions.

Hello (the prospect’s name). (Your name) from (your company) is calling you. We’ve modernized our transportation department, and now our customers have the opportunity to transport 30% faster.

If you’d like to know how to use our offer, call me back at (your phone number). Again (your name) is waiting for your callback at (your number). Goodbye!

Voicemail script with urgency effect

This trick is trendy. Other sales, promotions, and special offers have one thing in common – they have a beginning and an end.

You can also use this effect in your voicemail to gently nudge prospects to call you back faster.

Hi (the prospect’s name). This is (your name) from (your company). I’m trying to get you before the expiry date of our biggest sale this year.

Give me a call before Thursday evening if you are interested in buying with 75% off. My number is (your number). Again, it’s (your name) at (your phone number).

You can also insert benefits that your prospect will get.

Referral voicemail script

When trying to reach out to a new prospect, the most reliable way is to mention someone who referred you to this person in your message. Of course, be honest in the voicemail message because it would be easy to check your words with only one call.

Hey (the prospect’s name). It’s (your name) from (your company). I was referred to you by (the name of the person who referred you). He said my proposal could be interesting for your business, and that’s why I’m calling you.

Call me back at (your number) if you want to know more details. Again, my name is (Your name) and my number is (your phone number). Have a great day.

The secret key to increasing your productivity

According to RingLead, average sales reps spend 1250 hours a year leaving voicemails. And they are very similar to each other in most cases. And we are sure you dream about shortening this time and making the process more enjoyable.

Well, automation is the answer. For example, you can use pre-recorded voicemails to implement your voicemail strategy.

How does it work?

Let’s imagine you have 50 contacts to those you want to make a special offer. And you need to call all of them today. It is a considerable number. And you spend all your day leaving voicemails.

But if you prepared a record of your message according to your voicemail scripts, the only thing you’ll need to do is to click one button and send this sales voicemail. And you will finish the task within one hour. Congrats!

Would you like to do it all in your favorite CRM system? And it would be easy to note your actions quickly in your prospect’s profile after leaving a voicemail to him, wouldn’t it?

It became possible with Ring.io. As you know, you can call prospects from your CRM thanks to our tool. But we’ve developed a feature called Voicemail Drop that will help you to create voicemails and send them straight from the CRM system.

Are you not sure whether this feature fits you? Then test it with a free trial.

Apply it to your sales strategy and make your sales team workflow more productive!