How effective are the messages that YOU leave for your prospects? Your prospects form an opinion about you and your company every time you contact them. In fact, the messages you leave on their voicemail or e-mail may be a determining factor in their decision to call you back and consider doing business with you. So make a good impression!

The Voicemail Message

Recently, I had the experience of shopping for a car. Unfortunately, I didn't have the pleasure of buying one. Although I knew the exact car I wanted and was ready to buy, not one car salesperson was willing to give me any personal attention. To begin, I followed a "get a quote" tool that was available online and filled in exactly what I wanted in my next car: the type, the color, the features, and even additional comments. I couldn't have made it much easier for a car salesperson to sell me a car that I already knew I wanted.

With the five requests that I sent online to different car dealerships in my area, I received five phone calls within 12 hours of my request. All of them went directly to my voicemail. Here is the basic script to four of the messages I received: "Hello, this is (insert name of salesperson) calling from (insert name of car dealership). Please call me back at (insert telephone number that I have yet to call).

BOOORING! And talk about impersonal! Did they even read my request? Do they even know what kind of car I am interested in? When a prospect goes out of their way to contact you in regards to a sale, the last thing you want to do is leave them an impersonal or automated message!

What's the purpose of a voicemail message?

There is only one objective to leaving a voicemail: get them to call you back. Be creative! Use humor! Show them you are different from the competition! Distinguishing yourself from others DOES NOT mean telling your prospects how great and wonderful you and your company are. DON'T tell them that your company is the biggest, the best, that it always puts the customer first, has a 99.6 percent customer satisfaction rate, was the first to do something, or how long you've been in business and how many awards your company has won. In fact, don't tell them ANYTHING remotely similar to anything on that list!

True Story: While attending college at Bowling Green State University I made a significant observation: all seven pizza companies in town printed "voted #1 pizza in town" right on their pizza box. Why? The same reason you tell your customers how great you are-because you think people actually care.

How do you differentiate yourself from the competition?

Your prospects know what they like and what they want. They don't want to dance around with you or play games. They want to be treated like an important customer and not like the next sale towards quota. So try leaving a message that is actually to the point. Try to sound like a human being and not a salesperson. Leave a message of value, where you tell your prospect something they might actually want to know. This will entice them to return your call.

The e-mail message

After sending in my online quote requests for a car, I also received an automated e-mail. I know that you've probably received one sometime in your life, too. They're easy to spot as soon as you open the message: a letter full of misspellings, asterisks and exclamation points; sent from a nameless person promising to give you an incredible deal on a sale. These types of e-mails almost always end up in the trash folder. Why? Because they're garbage, and you know it!

So, why are you using this garbage to reach your prospects? Voicemails and e-mails should always be sent personally from a real human being, with the intention of creating a relationship with your prospect. Get to know your prospect so you will understand them and discover their motivation for their interest. When you know why they are interested, you will find out how they will make the decision of whether or nor to buy from you.

Be persistent!

Although all five dealerships reached out to me within the first 24 hours of my inquiry, not one person has followed up with me since then (with the exception of automated e-mail blasts, like I mentioned). A clear and simple way to separate yourself from the competition is to be pleasantly persistent with your follow-up. You are NOT creating a favorable impression with a prospect if you can't take the time to contact them on a personal level after your first attempt.

When I sent out my initial online inquiries, I was ready to buy a car. I took the first step to contact five different car dealerships in my area. However, the impersonal and ineffective follow-ups of these dealerships have reminded me of why I don't like purchasing a car, and now I am considering keeping my old one. I didn't make the sales process difficult, the follow-up system of the car dealerships did!

So consider this: is your follow-up system killing your chance of making sales? Do you send messages to your prospects? Are they personal? Are they effective? Remember, the point of the follow-up is to establish a relationship that will eventually lead to a sale. So be personal, be persistent, and be happy you're changing a prospect into a customer!