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When someone calls your office do they reach a real person or an automated voice mail system? Do they have to click through a menu in order to real a live person? If that’s the case, you may find that you’re turning some of your prospects off.

What can you do to encourage prospects to call you back? Here are some of my tried and true methods:

  • Answer your phone during working hours. Yes, you may take off for the lunch hour, but for the most part if you’re sitting at your desk you should answer you phone.
  • If someone is calling you, answer the phone with a smile in your voice.
  • If you’re calling on a prospect, make certain you speak clearly and also make certain you leave your phone number more than once so they don’t have any wonder at what your number was.
  • If you leave a message, don’t ramble. Get to the point. Write down your points if necessary. Don’t waste a prospect’s time by making him or her listen to a long message before you get to the point.
  • While you may bring with you an impressive resume, you don’t need to drop every name of every client into your voice mail. There will be time to share that information when you connect.
  • End the call with a “call to action.” Whether that call to action is, “I will call you back at 2 pm,” or “I’d love to hear from you and I will be in the office until 5 pm to discuss your XYZ need,” you should leave them wanting to call you back with a plan of action in mind.

Before you make your next call to a prospect, listen to your own voice mail to see if it is inviting when a prospect calls you and whether it shares pertinent information.