Few topics in the sales world generate more opinions than telephone prospecting in general and voicemails in particular. Sales reps typically don’t enjoy telephone prospecting, and many get tired of seldom reaching a real, living decision maker.

Make no mistake; those of us who sell for a living spend a lot of time leaving voicemails.

According to Ringlead.com, the typical sales rep leaves an average of 70 voicemails per day. If you assume 60 seconds per voicemail (30 seconds to listen to the recipient’s greeting and 30 seconds for the caller to speak), that means sales reps spend 25 hours per month just leaving voicemails. That’s 300 hours per year, and it equates to about 15 percent of their total work time.

So, sales professionals leave a lot of voicemails. Is it a good use of their time?

Yes.

When calling new prospects, should sales professionals feel frustrated or disappointed when they get voicemail instead of the actual person?

No.

Instead of feeling frustrated with voicemail, be happy. Voicemails are not bad things; they are opportunities, little advertisements that can be customized exactly to each prospect’s unique situation. Because you are most likely going to get voicemail whenever you call, it makes sense that you put a lot of thought and effort into each voicemail.

The key is to leave a voice mail that captures a prospect’s attention by relating to what truly matters to him or her. If you leave voicemails about your company or your product’s features and benefits you are almost guaranteed not to get a call back.

Be compelling. Think of a strong idea you want to convey in your voicemail message and say it. Surprising or insightful messages have a much higher likelihood of being returned. Boring, rambling messages as well as messages that are too focused on the caller’s (salesperson’s) interests are easily deleted and not returned.

Don’t Give Up too easily. You’re being naïve if you think one message – no matter how brilliant it may be – will do the trick. Your prospects are so busy that they just assume callers like you will eventually call them back.

I’m not saying you should carpet-bomb people with daily messages, but it is now taking 8 to 12 attempts to get a cold decision maker to return your call. This is especially true with high-ranking, senior decision makers. The average sales rep gives up after only 2.5 attempts.

The two most important components of successful voicemail prospecting are 1. Persistence and 2. Messaging.

“Persistence” means you realize that voicemail prospecting is a campaign that might require multiple messages over several months in order to get an appointment with a decision maker.

“Messaging” means you have a series of voicemails that have been planned in advance that you can leave for a prospect in order to catch his or her attention with compelling or surprising information related to what you’re selling.

Jeff Beals helps companies find better prospects, close more deals and capture greater market share. Beals is an international award-winning author, sought-after keynote speaker, and accomplished sales consultant. When he's not speaking, teaching or consulting, Beals works as executive vice president at NAI NP Dodge Commercial Real Estate in Omaha, Nebraska, and he owns a local media company, which covers business news on both radio and digital platforms. A frequent media guest, Beals has been featured in Investor's Business Daily, USA Today, Men's Health, Chicago Tribune and The New York Times.