I get asked frequently how to deal with voice mail. Interestingly, in today’s world, it seems that some aren’t prepared to NOT get voice mail.
In my Sales Training programs, I get asked frequently how to deal with voice mail. Interestingly, in today’s world, it seems that some aren’t prepared to NOT get voice mail. I had just such an incident on Friday after hours. I was recruiting, and I had called a woman about a position that she had applied for, and left a voice mail. About 6:30, my cell phone rang, and I recognized her number. So, I answered the phone. And she hung up. Then she called back about two minutes later, and again, I answered – and again, she hung up. Clearly, she was hoping to get voice mail and leave a message rather than talk to the live human being that she’d called. If she calls back today (I think she will), I’ll still give her an interview – but I’ll definitely ask her why she didn’t talk to me on Friday.
The sales parable here is this: A lot of salespeople fail not because they don’t prepare for the WORST, but because they don’t prepare for the BEST. They assume that they won’t get the sale, so they don’t take order forms into the call; they assume that they’ll get dumped to a subordinate so they’re unprepared to talk to the owner; they assume that the owner won’t talk to them so they settle for middle management that has to ask their boss in order to buy; or they assume that they’ll get voice mail so they are unprepared to talk to the live person.
Do any of these sound familiar? If so, your biggest competitor isn’t other service providers or even the status quo – it’s YOURSELF. Don’t ever compete with yourself.
