There are a lot of different theories as to what to do with your prospects when they call you. Many people believe it’s best to answer your calls live and let them talk to a real person. While many others believe sending them to an automated voicemail is best. It’s hard to know which is really better. In this article I will be going over the differences as well as the pro’s and con’s of each method so that you can discover what is best for you!
Let’s start with answering your calls live:
There are a lot of pro’s to picking up the phone and answering your calls live. For one it’s just more personal. Fewer and fewer businesses are answering their calls live these days and it’s something that people like. It makes them feel like they are important and it just makes them feel good. Another pro to answering your calls live is that you can answer their questions right away. Sometimes just answering one or two questions can help them decide if they’re in or out and taking the calls live allows you to get the answers right away. The final pro to answering your calls live is that it gives you the upper hand in the conversation.
If you let them leave a voicemail ,you’ll have to call them back and whoever is answering the phone is automatically in a better position. By answering your calls live you will probably talk to nicer people because after all… They called you!
Now the con’s of answering your calls live:
Often when you are new to the business you might be a little nervous talking to someone about it. That is completely normal. You never get a second chance to make a first impression and many times if you answer the call live and don’t know what to say you may not represent your company in the best way possible. Another con is that if you answer it live you might not be able to fully focus, even if you know what to say. You may be driving or doing something with your kids or cooking or whatever and so you might not give the best impression because of that. Calling them back later allows you to fit it into your schedule and get in the right frame of mind before calling someone you’d like to be in your business.
Here are the pro’s for sending your calls to voicemail:
When you send them to voicemail you can give them a little bit of information without you actually having to do it live. This also allows you to call your prospects back at a time that is convenient for you. Also when you call them back you can be more prepared with a script or whatever you need to feel comfortable right in front of you.
The con’s of sending them to voicemail:
People might be put off that you are sending them to a machine instead of speaking to them live. Another reason is that they may be calling multiple people and if you don’t answer but someone else does they might end up signing up with the other person.
The choice of what to do with your prospects is really up to you. I hope you found this article helpful and that you make the best choice for your business. If you still don’t know what is best try out both methods for a short period of time and see what gets you the best results. Good luck to you and your business!
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Cheers for posting this up. Could be very useful in the near future!