The Best Alternatives to Sales Voicemails

There are tons of articles and guides touting the best voicemail scripts and tips on leaving messages that will drive callbacks and conversions. No one is talking about the fact that many sales voicemails don’t get played in the first place. 

People are busy. Most of us avoid the phone as much as possible. And when it involves sales and marketing, we’ll almost always let it go to voicemail. And then, we’ll let that voicemail sit until our inbox is full, or we get bored one day and check it out of curiosity. By then, the opportunity has passed, or it’s been so long that it would be awkward to reach back out, so we do nothing. 

Meanwhile, that sales team is waiting for a callback and will never get it. They could be spending their time much more effectively, especially with the tools and technology available today. 

Here are the best alternatives to those exhausting sales voicemails. 

Social media messages 

Today, people spend a ton of time on social media. It’s how they engage and interact with the world around them, keep up with friends and family, and find brands they can trust for the things they need. If you want to target your leads in a way that will get their attention, use social media messaging platforms. 

Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, or even Snapchat, you can send a simple message letting people know who you are, why you’re reaching out, and how they can get back to you if they want to learn more. It’s simple, straightforward, and in a space where they’ll be far more likely to get the message. 

Sales and outreach emails 

Email campaigns are still more effective than calling in several cases. People like that they can access email on their own time and then decide how to respond or proceed, rather than being put on the spot with a phone call. Plus, you can automate your sales sequences with email campaigns so your sales reps can spend more time on clients ready to convert. 

You can customize emails to each individual and provide resources and other elements that make your outreach unique. This is a great way to show that you’re committed to delivering a tailored experience for every client, which is a big selling point for many people. 

Text messages 

People of all ages love texting. And now that businesses and employers will engage in texting, it’s gotten even more popular. If you want to reach your clients in a way that works for them, a text message is always a good choice. Just make sure they’ve opted in for text messaging so that you don’t get in trouble for spam or other lousy advertising tactics. 

When creating text messages, keep it simple. Who are you, what are you offering, and why does it matter? If they want to know more, they’ll follow up. And if they don’t, they’ll appreciate that you kept it short and didn’t waste their time (as will you). The nice thing about texts is that people can get to them when they have the time. And if they’re not interested, they can simply type “STOP” or quick reply with a number to quit getting messages altogether. 

AI chatbots and voice assistants

This one is more of an inbound effort, but it’s also very effective. As AI becomes more effective and useful in everyday life, it is changing how companies handle customer interactions. You can change the conversation and shift the power in your customer interactions by offering AI voice assistants and chatbots to guide them through the sales process. 

Instead of interacting with a human or dealing with those aforementioned pesky voicemails, people now have a “complete your own” journey and a guide to travel with them along the way. Plus, you can use the droves of data collected by your AI tools to improve the sales process, the customer experience, and other aspects of your business. 

Why not voicemail? – A quick look at the numbers

So, in case telling you that sales voicemails aren’t that effective wasn’t convincing, let’s take a look at some statistics before we close. 

• 80% of cold calls go to voicemail 
• It takes eight cold call attempts (and voicemails) to reach a lead
• Only 27% of sales reps say cold calling is still effective
• As many as 90% of first voicemails are not returned
• Sales reps are spending as much as 15% of their day leaving messages

So, if you want to improve your chances of success, improve the efficiency of your sales team, and create a better sales process overall, you need to find something besides voicemail to get people’s attention. 

Whether you think your voicemails work or not, a good sales process requires several different approaches. Even just integrating the ones listed above along with your sales calls can make a world of difference. 

Outsourcing for sales support, and more 

One really effective way to improve your sales processes is to outsource what you can. That leaves your sales reps to focus on what matters and guarantees that you’ll still have experts handling the rest. When you partner with Smith.ai, for example, you get a team of virtual receptionists that can act as your 24/7 answering service. Let the calls come to you, and never miss a single opportunity. 

Plus, we can offer support for lead intake and appointment scheduling to save admin time and even support your outreach campaigns to generate those leads in the first place. Last but certainly not least, we’ve got solutions for chatbots and live chat and an AI voice assistant to help you take your communications to the next level. 

To learn more, schedule a consultation or reach out to hello@smith.ai. 

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