By: Katie Benson, Director of Expansion for Xperience Real Estate

While we MAY BE experiencing an INCREASE in the number of people actually ANSWERING their phones these days, there is something to be said for INCREASING the effectiveness of the voicemail’s you choose to leave. 

For ANY AGENT or LEADER intending to become MORE EFFECTIVE in their messaging, implementing these FIVE STRATEGIES will do exactly that! 

The TOP FIVE MOST EFFECTIVE strategies for voicemails that CAUSE ACTION:

#1 KEEP IT SHORT

The average length of time your prospect LISTENS before deleting the voicemail or stops paying attention is 18-30 seconds. THIS MEANS NEVER EVER leave a VM longer than 30 seconds if your desire is to CONNECT with the PROSPECT effectively. Whether your prospect is a Buyer, a Seller, a prospective team member, UNKNOWN talent, or KNOWN talent doesn’t matter – this is a HUMAN THING created by the impatience of our “NOW” society. 

#2 USE YOUR TONE to create CONNECTION

How long would you listen to a monotone voice? 

NOT LONG, right? 

Ensuring that your TONALITY and rate of speech match your message is imperative in creating connection. CONNECTION builds TRUST and TRUST is imperative in fostering ANY relationship. If you’re asking somebody to call you back quickly but your rate of speech is slow and languid there will be discord and your message will be dismissed without action. 

Your tonality must SHOW YOU CARE. Think of the visual ‘climbing over the fence that separates you and sitting in their situation with them’. That is what we’re looking to convey in our TONALITY and voice inflection. 

The bottom line here is your TONALITY, voice inflection and rate of speech must ALL MATCH the message you’re leaving. 

#3 Your message MUST BE COMPELLING

Unclear, rambling voicemails will never gain response. Neither will the opposite type of message. EVERY CONVERSATION we have is either creating CLARITY or CHAOS there is no in between. Saying “Hi this is X give me a call back” may work in SOME situations and yet it creates SUSPICION in the mind of most prospects simply because there IS NO CLARITY on the BENEFIT to the listener or the REASON for the call. CLEARLY STATE the BENEFIT to the prospect in returning the call. 

If the message you leave has no benefit to the prospect, action will not ensue. Here’s another example, “Hi this is X and I met you earlier at the open house and I’d like to connect with you again’. NOTHING in this message creates a compelling reason for the prospect to engage with you. 

If there isn’t a compelling reason to call back, why would anyone bother to take the time to return the call? 

COMPELLING EXAMPLES 

BUYER

“Hi this is YOUR NAME with YOUR COMPANY and I met you earlier at the open house on 123 Main st. I’ve done some research on the home you’re looking for and I wanted to share a few options and an incredible opportunity I’ve discovered that you may want to take advantage of quickly, give me a call back at xxx-xxx-xxxx so I can share these with you.” 

**This message is COMPELLING because it’s related to research you’ve done on WHAT THEY DESIRE AND the language promotes urgency. 

OR 

SELLER

“HI ‘THEIR NAME’ it’s ‘YOUR NAME with BRAND’ and there are some things happening in the market that may affect your equity position as you move forward with the sale of your house. Give me a call back at xxx-xxx-xxxx and I’ll share what I know”.

**Again to cause ACTION the message must be COMPELLING and EXCITING. 

OR 

TALENT

“Hey, I wanted to make sure you have awareness around what’s coming down the pike for Agents in our community as it could affect the level of success you reach in the coming months.’ 

“Undoubtedly you probably already know that due to the restrictions imposed by covid-19, our industry has had to make some shifts towards a more virtual approach. There’s a strategy my team has been using that has increased conversion by 85% that I’d like to share with you’

#4 Your message must create URGENCY

If they can call you back next week or next month or sometime in the future and still get the same information or benefit, why would the prospect take action NOW? 

One thing our organization does very well is create ‘dialogues that promote IMMEDIATE RESPONSE’ and one of the concepts we employ is SHORTENING the window for the call back such that urgency is created by nature of the shortened time frame. Using certain phrases to communicate “this has to happen NOW” will increase the likelihood of a quick response. 

EXAMPLES

• ‘I’m going to be here for the next 30 minutes

• ‘talk with you shortly’ 

• ‘Time sensitive information’

• ‘I’m in between appointments’

• ‘I’ve got 10 minutes before my next meeting’

• ‘Window of opportunity’

• ‘Give me a quick call back’

#5 Use 3 psychological motivation techniques in your ‘CALL FOR ACTION’

1. The first psychological motivation technique we’ll employ is HERD mentality (Everybody is doing it). If most of your neighbors are doing something, you’d want to know about it, right?  If most of the city is experiencing something that you were unaware of, you’d most certainly want to know about it. This is why the NEWS is such a powerful tool, humans have a STRONG DESIRE to know what’s going on so they can be PREPARED which creates safety at least in their minds. 

2. The second psychological motivation technique we’ll employ is FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). If there were a window of opportunity that you were about to miss out on, you’d want to at least have awareness around what that is such that you can DECIDE if that opportunity is right for you. 

3. The third psychological motivation technique we’ll employ is FEAR of the UNKNOWN. AWARENESS must be present for ANY CHANGE to be made. If we are in possession of knowledge that would affect our buyers/sellers equity position, we owe it to them to SHARE that knowledge as their fiduciary. If there is a trend in the market that would help a talented agent you’re looking to attract to your team, we owe it to them to SHARE that knowledge. The underlying feeling from the prospect is one of gratitude AND this also serves to set you apart as somebody that has EXPERT LEVEL knowledge and delivers OPPORTUNITIES to those aligned with them. 

Unfortunately fear is a more powerful motivator than anything else which is why using it causes response. All three of these techniques are closely related to each other in terms of the reaction they cause and yet when executed TOGETHER, the effect is a POWERFUL move towards action! 

EXAMPLE

• Most of your neighbors were unaware of the market condition affecting their equity position so I’m making calls through the neighborhood today to ensure you have AWARENESS around the situation presented by COVID-19. I’ll be at xxx-xxx-xxxx for the next 30 minutes if you’d like to give me a quick call back. 

• I’ve been making calls around your neighborhood today ensuring that EACH NEIGHBOR is aware of the equity opportunity presented by COVID-19 and the lack of inventory in your neighborhood. I’ll be at xxx-xxx-xxxx for the next 30 minutes and able to share this time sensitive information with you, WE STAND STRONGER TOGETHER!

• Hey I’ve got 10 minutes before my next meeting and wanted to give you a quick call because what we’re realizing is that most agents haven’t been able to successfully manage the shift to a more virtual presentation style and I have some SUPER powerful scripts my team has been using that are causing a 75% RESPONSE rate from the public. I’m excited to share these with you, give me a quick call back OK? 

IN REVIEW

• Keep it SHORT

• Create CONNECTION 

• Be COMPELLING

• Create URGENCY

• Use 3 psychological motivation techniques in your language