Contacting new customers has never bothered you. You’re a good speaker, and you can clearly articulate why you’re calling on a voicemail. However, it seems as if you’re doing quite a bit of calling, and getting significantly less callbacks. So what are you doing wrong?

Here’s a fundamental premise that you must understand before you pick up the phone. The people you call need to want to call you back.

Even if your prospect is the person who contacted you directly for a quote, she may still ghost on you once it’s ready. You can call and call, but – unfortunately for you – she doesn’t owe you a response.

  • He may have contacted a few different agents for quotes, and their quotes could have been quicker or cheaper than yours.
  • She may have changed her mind.
  • They may have simply forgot.

It doesn’t matter the specifics of why your new insurance prospect didn’t call, all excuses boil down to the fact that they weren't interested enough to make contacting you a priority.

Is your voicemail approach working?

  1. Your message was too long.

    Be concise. You aren’t the only person leaving voicemail messages, and you need to find a way to sound legit and stand out. Your prospect will make a decision in the first 30 seconds as to whether they’ll press delete or not. Rambling will ruin your chances.

  2. Your message was too short.

    If your message is a simple, “Hi, It’s Joe from Palmer Insurance. Call me back,” you’ve done nothing to interest or entice your prospect to connect. It’s smart to be concise, but make sure to capture your lead’s attention while you’re being brief.

  3. You didn’t show value to the prospect.

    One big reason leads don’t call back is because they haven’t identified a need for your product or services yet. It’s your responsibility to make the value clear, even in a simple voicemail. Sell yourself enough to get a call back, and then you’ll be able to sell your product in an in-person meeting.

  4. Your message was too confusing to understand.

    When you aren’t clear and precise, people will tune you out. Chances are you aren’t the only voicemail they’re listening to, so not only do you need to make your message stand out, you also need to make it easy-to-understand.

  5. You’re calling the wrong person.

    Let’s say you’re trying to sell insurance to a business. If you keep getting red lights, but still find yourself interested in doing business with them, start from scratch. Instead of leaving another voicemail for your contact, try calling the receptionist. Tell her that you don’t know who you should be speaking with, and ask if she can point you toward the right person. Part of the reason you haven’t been getting call backs might be because your original contact wasn’t the decision maker.

So you’ve been given a lot of advice, but how will you know if you’re on the right track? Think about how you’d feel if you were the lead.

Are you coming on too strongly? Do you need to push your prospect a little harder? Knowing the right thing to do isn’t always easy, but there’s something to say about trusting your gut.

There’s also a way you can check your gut reaction to see if it’s being helpful. Did you decide to push harder on some sales, and still no call backs? Have you also tried giving space to other prospects and they stay silent too? Well, something’s not working.

Call in a co-worker or a trusted friend and ask them to listen to your pitch or your voicemail message. Make sure you ask someone who will be honest about your approach. You don’t need a kind word, you need a detailed critique.

When you’ve tried everything and nothing works

Are you pitching the right people? If you’ve been losing the callback game, don’t give up yet. While most business people truly believe that their product or service is perfect for a certain clientele, that isn’t always the case. It can be tough to hear, but your pitch just doesn’t suite the prospect’s needs. They could be working with a provider they’re happy with currently or they may not be interested or have a need for the product you’re selling.

When nothing seems to be working, it may be time to realign your goals with the right buyer personas. Sketch out your ideal customers, do market research to find out if the people you’re contacting need your services, and above all, never stop trying.

Rejection means is you’re putting yourself out there. Expand your call reach, and soon you won’t need to worry about getting callbacks from any leads. They’ll be the person reaching out.