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Tips on Leaving Smart Voice Mails

Article: Tips on Leaving Smart Voice Mails
By Pat Schuler, Business Development Coach

How frequently are you leaving voice mails and how frequently are you getting to talk to a live person? If you're like many professionals, you're speaking directly less than 30 to 40 percent of the time. If voice mail is one of your primary tools, are you using it effectively? Are you sounding professional?

Is your speaking voice clear?
Leave a message on your own voice mail to practice. Leave a message with a professional associate who will give you brutally candid feedback. Practice until your voice sounds professional.

Do you sound confident?
As a hiring manager, do I want to spend time with someone who sounds tentative or uncertain when leaving a voice mail? If you can't be strong and confident on a voice mail, how do I think you're going to handle face-to-face meetings, much less conflict? Practice.

Are your messages clear & easy to understand?
Are you identifying yourself and leaving a phone number that is easy to hear? If I have to replay the message to get your phone number, you may not be worth a return call. You'd do the same thing. Say your number slowly, and if your name is unusual, spell it. I'll feel much more comfortable returning the call.

Do you leave concise voice mails with specific information?
Give the listener enough information to take action -- besides your contact information. What do they need to know about you and the reason for your call? If they only have time to return one call, what do they need to hear so that call is yours? "I'm Dave, please call me today at 555-5555," will likely get sent to the bottom of the return call stack, if you're lucky. Or deleted, if you're not.

Are your messages crisp or do you stammer & wander?
You've gotten the long, rambling voice mails yourself. If you roll your eyes and want to pound through the message, what is a harried professional or recruiter going to do? If you need to, write down your message and practice it, so it's complete and you sound competent.

Does the listener know what you expect of them?
If you need the listener to take a specific action or act within a certain time frame, ask them specifically and politely to do so. Explain why. If doing so is to their benefit, so much the better. You'll be surprised how frequently this is effective.

Leaving strong voice mails is a learnable skill. Put yourself in the shoes of the busy professional or harried assistant who is listening to your voice mail. If I only have a 20-minute window between appointments to return calls, who am I going to call? The people who made it easy or the people who made it hard?

P.S. These suggestions work equally well for email.

Pat Schuler is a business development coach and founder of The Gemini Resources Group. She takes her dynamic experience in sales and applies it to the job search for maximum results.


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posted by Victor Lloyd Smith @ 11:26 AM