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Four Real
Life Examples of
Phone Messages That Get
Prospects to Take Action
by Adam Urbanski
If you ever felt lost
what to say in a message when calling a prospect or client these four
real calls will help you communicate more effectively.
First, listen to the
recording, then read my comments under each call. I hope you find
it valuable...
For more tips on leaving effective messages click here
LEAVE A MESSAGE TO KEEP
IN TOUCH
Listen to this sample
before you read.
Now, Carol gets a plus for
the effort, but unfortunately she butchered this message and probably
did not get as much mileage out of this as she could have. Here is why (feel
free to re-listen to the message to catch the elements I’ll point out)
1. She starts the message with “we”.
Who is “we”? As I’m listening to this message there are only two
people involved – that’s me and Carol. Where I bank is a small branch
and I’ve known Carol for almost 13 years!
It would’ve been more effective for her to say “I’m calling”
2. The message talks about “making our customer appreciation phone
calls”. Ouch! What a mistake. Instead of making me feel special she just
took away the magic of this call and made it sound like it's something
she had to do but wasn’t very excited about.
3. No specific offer or call to action. I’m a pretty busy guy, when I
actually go to the bank – which is very rare – I don’t have time to look
around at their special offers. I just want to take care of my
business and get out. Therefore I have no clue what special offers they
have. Asking me if I “have any questions about anything” is pretty much
like "asking me nothing about nothing!"
It would have been more effective if the message ended with an
introduction of a new service or explanation how by taking advantage
of
a specific program I could improve my business and invited me to request
more information on that specific topic.
OK, here what this message could have sounded like:
-
“Hi Adam, this is
Carol from Union Bank. I’m sorry I missed you. I wanted to take a minute
of your time and tell you how much I appreciate you continuing to do
business with us.
Also, you may not know it, but this month we
introduced a new program that might give you better online tracking of
your account activity while actually reducing your monthly fees.
I would
be happy to send you some information about it or tell you more over the
phone. Call me at 555-5555. Have a great day!”
Don’t you think that’s a
better message?
LEAVE A MESSAGE
TO
INTRODUCE A SPECIAL OFFER
Listen to this sample before you read:
Here is why this is a good message:
- In the first four seconds it lets me know who it is and why the are
calling (sales alert)
- It refers specifically to me as a “preferred customer” (yes, I know,
it’s an automated call going out to thousands of people. But as I listen
to it, once again, there is just me and Amy)
- It tells me specifically how I can save money on printing
- It makes me aware to look for more information in my mail or where to
go online if I want to get access to it now.
- It thanks me for doing
business with them
If nothing else, this message might just motivate me to get a set of new
postcards printed – just because it’s a good deal and I can always use
them.
(By the way, if you are wondering if this really works… VistaPrint.com
is a huge company and I get messages like this monthly. If it didn’t
work – they wouldn’t keep doing this!)
LEAVE A MESSAGE
TO
INTRODUCE A SPECIAL EVENT
Listen to this sample
before you read:
Here is why it’s a
good message:
- In the first ten seconds I know who it’s from and it gets my attention
by telling me it’s important
- It introduces scarcity (a great motivator) by communicating “this
doesn’t happen very often”
- Tells me how I can benefit
(attend a seminar and learn "how to double my business")
- Again, makes me aware that I should be looking for more information in
the mail (wow, what a way to drum up some anticipation for a sales
letter!)
- It tells me where I can get more information online immediately (by
the way, exposing me to information over the phone, online and than mail
dramatically increases the conversion ratios. After all, by the time I
see the sales letter will be the third time I’m now looking at this
event, each time convincing myself a little bit more that I should go!)
- It emphasizes what’s in it for me (“if you really want to make more
money” – duh! Who doesn’t?)
LEAVE A MESSAGE
TO REMIND ME
TO ATTEND A SPECIAL EVENT
Listen to this sample before you read:
Why this is a great
message:
-
Once again, it tells me in the first six seconds who it’s from and why
he’s calling me.
- It communicates what’s in it for me (“how to become HIGHLY PAID web
traffic conversion pro”)
- It specifically tells me what
to do (“grab a pen”, “listen to this message twice”. You may not like hearing
this, but the fact is most of us like being told what to do at times – it just makes things easier
for us to follow directions.)
- It provides me with all the important details I need
have to participate in
this teleclass.
- It builds value by telling me to call in early because “they are going
to be packed” – this taps into the “herd mentality” – lot’s of people
signed up, so it must be good.
(c) 2004 Adam M. Urbanski
Here Are
Two Broadcasting Companies:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam Urbanski, the Marketing Mentor, helps Independent Service
Professionals and Small Business Owners attract more clients. For more
promotional tips and a FREE 32-page marketing guide go to
http://www.themarketingmentors.com
NOTE:
Are you looking for fresh content for your ezine or web site? You’re
welcome to reprint this article as long as it's kept intact and unaltered
(including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a copy of your
reprint to
adam@themarketingmentors.com
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