In the world of outbound sales, effectiveness and efficiency are the daily mantras you’re gonna have. Sales teams are always looking for different tools and techniques that will help them manage a streamlined workflow to maximize outreach and, consequently, conversion rates.
Among the creative tools finding their way to prominence is the voicemail drop. In this article, we scrutinize exactly what voicemail drops are, how they work, and the many benefits that they bring along to the table for outbound sales teams who would stop at nothing to ensure top-notch performance.
What Is a Voicemail Drop?
A voicemail drop, or “voicemail automation”, is a solution that transforms the way sales representatives handle prospects that do not answer their phones.
So, instead of ringing or having to record a voicemail manually, a voicemail drop will allow reps to automatically (you guessed it) drop a prerecorded message directly into a prospect's voicemail box.
All of this saves a bunch of time, yes, but it also makes each and every interaction consistent and professional (a win-win)
Key Features of Voicemail Drops
Pre-Recorded Messages:
Sales teams can create a library of pre-recorded voicemail messages tailored to different campaigns, different customer profiles, or even stages in the sales process.
This way, it makes it easy to have these messages selected and triggered by call type.
One-Click Deployment:
This allows reps to drop a voicemail in one click, instead of having to listen through the ring and voicemail menus. The integration allows high-speed call processing for quicker outreach.
CRM Integration:
A sophisticated voicemail drop solution would integrate right within the CRM application you’re using, so that each voicemail drop gets logged, tracked, and related to the right prospect record.
Analytics and Tracking:
The analytics tool that inherently comes with voicemail drop solutions, will provide you with an accurate look on the message delivery rate, callback rate, and overall campaign success to make decisions.
How Does Voicemail Drop Work?
Voicemail drop has a very simple and seamless workflow. Here is how it usually goes, step by step:
Pre-Record the Messages:
Before making outbound calls, sales teams would have to pre-record a series of voicemail messages.
Each is scripted to cover the different scenarios: follow-up from an initial call, announcement of a new product, or an upcoming webinar that one would not want the prospect to miss.
Choose and Drag:
In this case, the sales representative selects the most suitable pre-recorded message from his repertoire. This is normally based on the profile of the prospect, previous communication, or specific goals of the outreach campaign being executed.
Automated Delivery:
After selecting, it will automatically play and leave the message in the prospect's voicemail box. Then, the call is disconnected to let the representative proceed with the next one immediately without wasting any time (beautiful system right?)
Automated Logging: A voicemail drop is automatically logged in the CRM, recording key information such as the date and time of the drop, the contents of the message, and follow-up actions.
Benefits of Voicemail Drops
Using voicemail drops can achieve revolutionary sales efficiencies and effectiveness. Here are some of the key advantages of voicemail drops:
1. Time Savings
One of the immediate benefits of voicemail drops is the huge amount of time saved.
Leaving voicemails manually is definitely time-consuming and exhaustive, especially for sales reps dealing with enormous volumes.
Let’s put this into numbers: If an SDR typically leaves 70 voicemails per day, this process could take over an hour. Multiply that by only a week’s worth of calls, and you get 5 hours per week, just “lost”. See where we’re going with this?
By automating this process, the reps save several hours every day, which they can utilize toward more strategic actions such as engaging in live calls, prospect research, or even practicing their sales pitch.
2. Increased Call Volume
With voice mail falling off their to do list, sales representatives have the freedom to make many more calls.
This increased activity level means increased time in front of the prospects you want to reach and better numbers on the connectivity rate, and subsequently, more opportunities for closes.
Voicemail drops allow each missed call to still count toward the campaign's outreach without adding to the manual effort.
3. Improved Productivity
Voicemail drops streamline the sales process by reducing gaps between calls.
The reps are not going to have to sit around, waiting for voicemails to be recorded and left; they can move from call to call.
It ensures a continuity of workflow for the best overall productivity and guarantees that the sales teams use their time most efficiently.
4. Consistency in Messaging
Consistency of message on all outreach efforts is key to brand reputation and effectiveness. Voicemail drops allow each message to be dropped in the same manner in terms of tone, content, and delivery.
Therefore, this directly means that it always supports the value proposition of a brand and does not omit or misquote any pertinent information with manual voicemails.
5. Higher Response Rates
Voicemail drops allow sales teams to ensure not only consistency in their messages but also that they are personalized to a particular segment or campaign.
This naturally inclines the message to be well interacted with by prospects and responded to much more positively.
6. Non-Intrusive Communication
Voicemail drops provide a rather unobtrusive way of reaching prospects. Since the messages are left in voicemail boxes with no ringing of the phone, prospects can review them at their convenience.
Such courtesy can be used to your advantage in enhancing customer satisfaction and minimizing how intrusive your outgoing calls feel.
7. Better Lead Management
Coupled with CRM systems, voicemail drops allow for the better management of leads. Every message drop is automatically logged and associated with the corresponding prospect record, enabling the visibility of all interactions in one place.
This integration allows sales teams to follow up on the tracks, track the level of engagement, and prioritize leads based on responsiveness.
How to Do Voicemail Drops: Best Practices
Voicemail drops can be incredibly effective-but only if you use them correctly. Following are some best practices you absolutely shouldn't ignore.
Craft Interesting Messages
Success with voicemail drop lies in the quality of the message itself. Make sure your pre-recorded voicemails are clear, concise, and appealing.
Also make sure to address the prospect's pain points and state the value of your solution, along with a strong call-to-action to prompt them to call back or have further interaction.
Personalization Where Possible
Though voicemail drops are automated, personalization will go a long way in optimizing their impact. Tailor messages for specific verticals, titles, or particular prospects if your CRM will allow you to.
Personal touches, such as referencing a recent company achievement or a mutual contact, make it sound more personal and pertinent.
Be Professional
Use a professional yet warm tone at each voicemail drop: voice quality, language, and delivery should reflect professionalism of your brand and instill trust in the prospects' minds.
We highly recommend that it doesn't sound too scripted, or worse, robotic; this murders the message's punch.
Testing & Optimizing
Use a mix of voicemail messages from time to time to understand the best-of-breed within your recipients.
Keep a close eye on the callback and response rates to capture the best-of-breed messages. Take that data and drill back down to continuously refine and improve the voicemail drop process for better results.
Ensure Compliance
Comply with all the legal and regulatory requirements for voicemail drops. This includes permission where warranted and informing the prospect that the call is going to be recorded or that a voicemail drop is going to be used.
Compliance protects you and your company legally, plus gives prospects peace of mind.
How To Overcome Common Challenges with Voicemail Drops
While voicemail drops come with many advantages, there are some challenges, too. By being proactive and trying to solve these challenges, you can make the most out of voicemail drops as part of your sales process.
1. Don’t Get Caught by Spam Filters
One of the most common problems is not having your voicemail drops flagged as spam. To avoid this problem, make sure you deliver valuable and pertinent content that addresses the prospect's pain issues.
Avoid content that sounds way too promotional, and ensure that your messages align with the laws that govern unsolicited communication.
2. Keep it Human
The personal touch that goes into leaving a voicemail can sometimes be lost with automated messages. Flip that around by incorporating elements of sincerity and personalization into your pre-recorded messages.
Avoid sounding robotic, and make the message more appealing by being friendly in your tone of voice.
3. Handling Message Relevance
The interest will not be sustained if all voicemail drops are not prospect-relevant. Leverage CRM data in audience filtering and message customization.
One-to-one targeting in this way ensures relevance of each message to the immediate needs and interests of the prospect.
4. Balance Automation and Human Touch
While automation might be more efficient, strike a balance between automation of voicemail drops and the human touch.
Challenge your sales representatives to follow up voicemail drops with at least a call or email to create a multi-touch that reinforces your message.
Take Your Sales Game to the Next Level
As successful and useful as they can be on their own, voicemail drops can turbocharge performance when combined with the right platform and provide further layers of support for your outbound sales.
Enter Tendril: a comprehensive solution where we optimize your entire sales process, focusing on calls and data in particular.
Tendril Connect enables your sales team to leave 30-40 pre-recorded voicemail’s in a 1 hour period which greatly increases your chances of receiving a call back, getting a reply to an email, or increase the likelihood your prospect picks up the next time a call attempt is made
Voicemail drops are just the beginning in changing the name of the game in your outbound sales. Next-gen voicemail automation, agent-assisted dialing, single-click CRM integration, and experience-driven SDR is what Tendril brings to the table.
You don’t have to worry about dialing, navigating through phone trees, dealing with gatekeepers or leaving voicemails; you will only focus on talking to live, and ready to engage prospects (around 8-12 per hour live conversations btw, which is what most people talk to in a full day of work, if they’re lucky.)
So, ready to take your outbound sales to the next level? Reach out to Tendril today to learn more about how our complete sales toolset can be used to streamline your outreach, increase your sales efficiency, and drive significant revenue growth.
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