This week I received a voicemail message from a salesperson that literally included everything but the kitchen sink.  I don't recall listening to a voicemail that sounded like this before.  I don't think voicemails like this are effective.  I don't like voicemails like this.  

The most interesting thing about this voicemail is that even though I don't recommend it, if you leave it for enough of the right people, it will probably get one of out twenty-five prospects to raise their hand in much the same way that a marketing email might get someone to raise their hand and ask for help 1/10th of 1 percent of the time.

My description of the voicemail doesn't do it justice.  Listen to it here. 

I'm surprised he didn't offer catering, dog-walking, house-sitting, fish-feeding, or massage.  Seriously, the reason that some prospects will raise their hands and call back are that he rattles off so many services, that one of those services is bound to be something that someone, somewhere, will need, especially if the message gets delivered to enough people.

This is a good example of what hard work looks like.  The message wasn't targeted or effective, but if you make enough calls, and cast a wide enough net...

I wrote an article with my 10 rules for sending a good email and similar to the rules of that article, a good voicemail message is very targeted, provides less, not more information, and in a perfect world, provides little more than a name and phone number.  But even the name and phone number voicemail that I teach is usually delivered incorrectly by salespeople who forget or ignore that the approach requires context.

Just remember that even a clock with a dead battery is correct twice per day.  There is more than one way to get the job done and if you belong to the outwork everyone club, this approach could work for you.

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