How to Get the Most Value from Voicemail Marketing

By Ruth P. Stevens
eMarketing Strategy

The secret to getting the most value from voicemail as a B-to-B marketing tool is strategy, plus a healthy dose of best practice. Let’s look at the top techniques out there today.

Outbound telemarketing is still a powerful part of B-to-B sales and marketing, but, as we all know, business people are harder to reach than ever. The net is that 85% of calls these days are going to go to voicemail or otherwise not connect. This can be frustrating, but it also offers an opportunity to turn voicemail from an enemy into a friend.

Your campaign strategy needs to be built around your objectives with the outbound call. For example, if you are trying to have a live conversation, and you reach a voicemail box, then you should plan on either hanging up or leaving a short voicemail message. The message should request a callback and give a good reason why the prospect should want to talk to you. If, on the other hand, your call is an extra touch to support, say, an event invitation , or an email campaign, then you should pre-record the voicemail message and seek to deliver it to every voicemail box on your list.

Here are the elements of best-practice voicemail marketing today, whether it’s designed to support lead generation, qualification or nurturing.

Plan for multiple outcomes. Set up your program to be flexible and responsive to whatever happens on the other end of the call. Be ready for either a live conversation or a voicemail message, with both scripts and pre-recorded messages on hand. In other words, prepare for 100% message delivery.

No wasted calls. If you’re investing in making the call, you want each dial to work as hard as it can. Use a call center that can take advantage of all the options:

• Navigate pre-recorded message into voicemail boxes.
• Conduct a meaningful conversation with a live prospect—whether it’s to gather information, probe for a potential lead, modify a data record or whatever.
• Transfer a live prospect directly to your sales team.
• Deliver a hot lead to sales via email.

Script adjustment on the fly. One of the most powerful things about the phone is its flexibility. So smart marketers take advantage with frequent script refinement in response to positive or negative feedback. “The input we get from our call center’s ongoing experience becomes valuable market insight for us,” notes Sean Shea, of Expert Server Group.

Move fast. The flexibility of the phone also allows quick turn on/turn off—unparalleled in any other medium. By using the new technology platforms, templates and data clean-up processes, you should be able to be on the phone within 24 hours.

Inspect often. Telephone marketing permits instant feedback, so keep a close eye on results, so you can continuously optimize your program. For early stage campaigns, inspect at least daily. Ongoing programs, weekly. “We provide free, fast and frequent reports to our clients, and we recommend that they look at the topline results but also dive into the detailed call logs, so they can really know what’s going on,” says Cesario Correia, president of Voicelogic.com in Toronto.

Caption: Sample call center results report, courtesy of Voicelogic.com

Integrate your voicemail program. Voicemail is only part of a larger set of communications strategies, so think about it in the larger context. The easiest way to execute integrated voicemail is by using a call center that provides multiple services under one roof. Look for offerings such as live conversation, hot or live transfer, voice broadcast, fax broadcast, and email delivery, so you can choose the best combination for your campaigns.

Craft your voicemail messages. The secret is to make the message sound real, and not to exceed 30 seconds. This is a personal medium, so think conversation, not advertising. “I’ve learned over the years to tailor my conversation to sound natural and unscripted, which gives me the best results,” says John Price, a long-time rep at Voicelogic.com.

Use the latest automation tools. These days, marketers can order up call center services instantly, using a Web-based interface, to give instructions about the campaign details—start date, script, medium, and so forth—and accessing regular reports online. The tools also allow you to repeat a successful campaign with ease and accuracy.

Ruth P. Stevens consults on customer acquisition and retention in B-to-B markets, and teaches marketing in business schools in the U.S. and abroad. Reach her at [email protected].