Often times, the waiting is the hardest part. You've made calls and sent emails, and now you're waiting. Ugh! Thankfully, sales trainer Mike Brooks has some ideas that will definitely shorten that waiting period. Read on and let us know what you think!

Last week I spoke at the first Los Angeles chapter meeting of the AA-ISP (American Association of Inside Sales Professionals), and it was great. What I especially liked about it was that it gave me and all those in attendance the chance to share current techniques and skills that are working in today's business environment. Networking in this way with other professionals who are struggling with and overcoming the same problems as you is how you come up with new and fresh ideas that not only work, but that make you better in the process.

The topic I spoke on was how to leave voicemails that get returned, and after my talk we had a discussion on what was working for people. This voicemail discussion led to what was working for emails as well, and I think we all got some really valuable ideas on what gets the most responses. Here they are:

Voicemail:

The most effective voice mail message was a short, somewhat vague one, but the person who shared it said she gets the most amount of call backs from it. It goes like this:

"Hi _________, I saw your profile on LinkedIn and I think it might make sense for us to talk - please give me a call back when you get this. My name is ______ _______ and my number is (your number)."

That's it! We all agreed that the reason this works so well is that it gets people's curiosity up. People wonder what it could be about and then call back. You would, wouldn't you?

The next is an email message that was shared and it had a great subject line and a good message that gets a smile. The person who shared this said that she uses it for prospects she's already sent her information too and for some reason they aren't responding to her calls. Here's what she does that almost always gets a response:

Subject line of her email is: "Should I stay or should I go?"

Great subject line from the title song by The Clash - you probably know it and are already singing the song in your head... And here's the body of the email:

"_________ I haven't heard back from you and that tells me one of three things:

1) You've already chosen another company for this and if that's the case please let me know so can I stop bothering you,
2) You're still interested but haven't had the time to get back to me yet.
3) You've fallen and can't get up and in that case please let me know and I'll call 911 for you...

Please let me know which one it is because I'm starting to worry... Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing back from you."

Are you smiling again? It's no wonder that people respond to this. Besides making someone smile, what I like about this is it gives prospects a way out. It lets them know that it's OK if they aren't going to move forward with you, and as I've written before, it's better to know in advance than to keep chasing and begging.

Also, in some cases people really are still interested and using this approach will get them to let you know that, too.

Mike Brooks, MrInsideSales.com, is creator and publisher of the "Top 20% Inside Sales Tips" weekly Ezine. If you're ready to Double Your Income Selling Over the Phone, then sign up to receive your FREE tips now at: www.MrInsideSales.com.

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