Getting Prospects to Return Your Phone Calls: Ten Tips That Will Improve Your Percentages

Getting Prospects To Return Your Phone Calls: Ten Tips That Will Improve

Your Percentages

Copyright © 2005 Bill Lampton, Ph.D.

Championship Communication

http://www.ChampionshipCommunication.com

When you review your list of phone calls you have made to
prospective clients, you note these initials, or similar codes,
that you wrote beside numerous names every month: HCB (He’ll
call back) and SCB (She’ll call back). But do they, without
additional prompting from us? Often they do not.

So we wonder, “How can I increase the percentage of prospects
who return my initial phone call?” After eight years as an
entrepreneur, I have discovered a few strategies that stimulate
callbacks. Here are the tips that work best for me, whether I am
leaving a voice mail message or talking to the office gatekeeper:

ONE: More than once, state the name of a prominent person who
referred you. Open the call, not with your own name (“Hi, I’m
Bill Lampton”), but with the referring party’s name: “Harley
Smith suggested that you might be interested in hearing about my
services.” Then close with, “As I said earlier, our mutual
friend Harley Smith prompted me to call you.”

TWO: Mention a specific point you want to talk with them about.
“I’ll appreciate the chance to hear your feedback about the bid
I sent you last week.”

THREE: Mention how the call will benefit them. “When you
return my call, I will explain how my services can improve your
company’s employee morale and customer service at the same time.”

FOUR: Suggest a specific date/time: “I will be in my office
tomorrow morning between 9:00 and 12:00, and I hope you get an
opportunity to call me then.” This suggests that a returned call
in that span wont initiate long-term telephone tag.

FIVE: Give the recipient the privilege of setting the preferred
date/time: “I’m going to give you my E-mail address now. Will
you please send me a short message, mentioning what day and time
are convenient for us to talk? I will keep my line clear for
your return call then.”

SIX: Promise to keep the return call brief: “When you return my
call, I promise to take no more than three minutes of your time.
You can hang up if I’m not finished by then.”

SEVEN: Confine your message to three or four sentences, even
with a receptionist. If the executive assistant or voice mail
message identifies you as longwinded, you are less likely to get
called back.

EIGHT: Say something that connects you with their organization:
“I know your company quite well, because I did an internship
there during my years at the university.”

NINE: Give your phone number at the start of your message and
again at the end. If the person missed jotting it down the first
time, she has a second chance without replaying the message.

TEN: Say, “In case it’s better for you to return the call after
hours, here is my cell phone number.” This doubles your access,
and indicates you give service beyond closing time.

Having shared these tips, I will ask whether you are enjoying
return-call success using strategies I haven’t mentioned. If so,
please share them with me by E-mail. Like you, I remain open to
any legitimate approach that strengthens my business.

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Bill Lampton, Ph.D., wrote The Complete Communicator: Change
Your Communication, Change Your Life! As a business consultant,
speaker and coach, he helps organizations improve their
communication, motivation, customer service and sales.
His Web site: http://www.ChampionshipCommunication.com
E-mail: drbill@ChampionshipCommunication.com