Messaging: You can leave it, if it is the right one. Part 1 – No flashing lights!

Karl, I think for every sales trainer there is an opinion about how to leave messages. Just today I read a post where the author assured me that I should say my name and my company and my phone number at the very beginning of the message. I’m not sure who is right about that but I am convinced you are 100% correct about saying something compelling and not expecting a call back. Being remembered when one finally gets through should be good enough!

Hi, Karl. There are many opinions out there, but I really like what you’re saying. I agree with you. Companies receive hundreds of sales calls and you need to differentiate yourself from the rest! They don’t care about who you are or your company name. Agree again! They simply want to know why they should listen to you, and how you can bring value to their business! I’m going to try this approach starting today! Thanks for another great post, Karl!

Some excellent points Karl. I’m not sure about one though – using their name often.

Maybe it’s a UK cultural thing, or maybe it’s just personal – but if someone uses my name more than once in a conversation it makes me feel uncomfortable and manipulated. I’ve even written to email marketers before and told them that if they want to have any chance of selling to me they need to stop repeating my name every third sentence in their emails. I know it’s computer generated via a variable and not some hand tailored thing made just for me. So it just feels false & manipulative.

Similarly in a conversation, I’ll feel most at ease if you speak to me the way my friends do. My friends never repeat my name in a call after saying Hi Ian. Why would they? We both know who I am!

Maybe it’s just a personal thing, or perhaps we brits are just more reserved and don’t like the personal touch (so lord knows how even more formal cultures like Germany would react!)

Ian

Tim,

Thank you and yes there are many opinions, even one book I read recommends, RECOMMENDS, the HAYT (How Are You Today) crime.

My thought is if you are interesting people will ask who you are….this is a winning conversation and now they are the one who is spending time to investigate.

Renee,

I would love to hear back on how it went!

Ian,

I admit, I have little to no experience calling into the UK. What I can tell you is if you notice, then the person is not using your name properly. I too get uncomfortable when someone starts every or every third question with, “Now Karl…”

Think about this, how many times has someone said your name along with other things and you have not been irked. Perhaps there mere trigger will set you into a mode of noticing when it does not bother you….just a thought Ian, just a thought.

Karl,

This is a interesting post, and you outline almost the opposite of what I say except that you have to be calm and interesting.

I teach my team to use a hook and bait technique and to change them on every message so you would say one of the great things about XYZ is…. What that means to you is…

Leaving voice mail is like trolling for fish… Every time I leave a message I leave a different hook and bait hoping to educate my client and hopefully hit a hot button over time.

Even if they don’t call back at least they will know a bit about your product.

Thoughts???

-Brad

Karl, that is excellent advice. Your advice to not sound too excited when leaving a message really goes to the importance of being genuine when selling. Whenever a salesperson tries to be something they’re not, it usually falls flat (pumping up your energy is one thing, but being fake is quite another). I’m also on a mission to encourage salespeople to repeat their phone numbers on voicemail messages (and say those numbers s-l-o-w-l-y. I don’t know how many times I have to repeat a voicemail message someone left for me, just so I can get the phone number (the person leaving the message said it only once, and often says it very quickly).

Karl,

You’ve said something that I’d like to point out: “my style did not translate well to messages” and I think this is the key for anyone to succeed in sales.

I struggle a lot with cold calling. I don’t like it and don’t care much about being successful at it. So, it could be a skill to learn and excel at (or stress about) or I can focus on my strengths. My strength is in networking and making key partnership with people who already have the contacts.

Like you say: you are passionate and full of life and energy. That’s your style and that’s how you excel. Some other people’s style might be more mellow and could have great success with leaving message.

I think the key to success is to focus on your strength and use them to your benefit.

Alan

Brad,

If you went on to the next post, you see that it is a happy medium we are looking for. As Skip puts it, genuine and sincere. The trolling as you call it is what I call a multi touch campaign. You leave 3-4 VM’s and send 3-4 E-mails over the course of 3-4 weeks. Each has a different message and points to a different greatness of your abilities.

Alan,

Work to improve your strengths and always continue to find ways to make that which is not comfortable easier to manage. That is the way to become a sales champion.