Cold calling prospects is easily among the hardest aspects of selling.
Pros like to say that it's a numbers game. The more calls you put out there, the more people you'll have a chance to speak with about your offer. That may be fine for those who thrive on dialing for dollars, but most of us don't. In fact, there's an increasing avoidance of the telephone for sales these days.
Tons of businesses are now employing outbound email campaigns to reach their prospects. But email can be ignored… or deleted. And, frankly, it's so easy to hide behind emails when having an honest-to-goodness conversation will be more effective.
Thankfully, there's a solution that can split the difference…
Leveraging Technology To Reach More Prospects By Phone
Using email is appealing, because it allows you to reach a massive number of prospects with the touch of a button. And while I'm a huge proponent of email marketing, jumping from one communication channel (email) to another (phone) involves some psychological barriers.
But there is a phone-based technology that can allow you to reach hundreds or even thousands of prospects with a similar simplicity that email allows.
It's called ringless voicemail.
And it gives you the ability to distribute your marketing message to a large number of business or consumer voicemail platforms instantly.
Then, true to the nature of “direct response” marketing, those who want to speak with you will return your call.
Prospects Hear Your Marketing Message
Ringless voicemail is a somewhat new technology that's less intrusive than traditional telemarketing or text marketing. And because everyone wants to know who called them, the listen rate is uncommonly high… hovering around 96%.
Compare that to 25% for director mail or less than 10% for email.
Of course, not every one of those 96% will reply to your message, but, depending on the content of your message and the relevance it has to the recipient, it's safe to assume a callback rate between 5% and 10%.
And when using the technology to reconnect with existing clients, rates can easily be 2 to 3 times as much.
Starting A Conversation The Right Way
Ringless voicemail (which is use for mobile phones) and voicemail drops (used with landlines and VOIP phone systems) are great ways to get conversations started with your prospects. What they don't do, of course, is make the sales for you.
But if you're interested in speaking with a targeted prospect, this technology can work wonders at starting off the conversation on the right foot.
Here are some examples of how it might work:
REAL ESTATE
Realtors can contact renters to tell them about an open house in their neighborhood. They can also contact home owners to offer a free home value assessment.
INSURANCE
Insurance agents can contact individuals about healthcare insurance during open enrollment periods or reach out to individuals who have recently experienced certain life events like a new child or a notable birthday.
MOVING
Moving companies can contact home sellers or potential referral partners like realtors.
AUTOMOTIVE DEALERS
Car dealers can reach out to past customers with service offers or trade-in deals.
…and, of course, these are just a handful of examples.
Remember: This Is Marketing
There used to be a joke that went something like “50% of my marketing works. I'm just not sure which 50% it is.”
There's no reason any business should be using that line these days… because the technologies we can use to market allow us to access data and analytics like we never could before.
But no marketing program (ringless voicemail or otherwise) will be effective unless you use that data to test and improve along the way.
Unfortunately, most won't take the time to embrace a strategic approach. Instead, they'll find a software online they can use to drop a few thousand messages, ignore the opportunity to split-test, and proclaim it was a waste of time and money when it doesn't return the results they want.
…but a few savvy and entrepreneurial folks will recognize the value in taking a strategic approach. These professionals will go a different route, engaging a professional service (like the one my team and I offer) to design and test a voicemail campaign for them.
This second group no only wants to generate revenue and increase productivity by eliminating the time-wasting process of cold calling to generate new leads… They are willing to invest in a comprehensive digital strategy that includes:
• Custom list generation (we cultivate a list specific to the geographical and socioeconomic criteria you choose)
• Unlimited targeted contact lists creation per month
• Optional delivery of the full list to you for alternative marketing use
• Ringless Voice Mail (RVM) and Landline Direct contact method that delivers a message directly to your customer's phone.
• Call tracking – see who called you back and when. Listen to your conversations!
• Custom Marketing script preparation
• Optional Script Split testing to find your perfect script
• Call tracking and reporting to track response rate per script
• Professional Voice Artist to record your scripts
• Dedicated US-based account manager to assist you via the phone with any questions
Get More Information
If you like the idea of leveraging voicemail marketing to grow your business, we'd love to chat about how our team might be able to help you.
To request a call with us, simply fill out the following form: