 Do you cringe when you see that you have a voicemail in your inbox? I do too, but sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised at what I find. Learn some voicemail etiquette tips to help you get a return phone call from your client. Hey, it's Leanne from LeanneColterwood.com. And while leaving a voicemail is never the best way to help push projects forward, having someone hear your voice may be a better way to build relationships than simply leaving an email. So of course, trying to catch them on the phone is probably the best way to further the relationship. But if you can't catch them on the phone, let's learn some voicemail etiquette tips that will help you get a return phone call faster. First, let's look at some questions you should ask yourself before you even pick up the phone. The first question to ask yourself is if this problem can be solved by a simple email. If this is a simple fix solution, perhaps email is best and then you're not taking up the time of the client through a phone dialogue. So see if this is simple enough that you can just send a very quick email to get a very quick reply. Secondly, if it's quite strategic in nature, then it is time for a phone call or at least an email to help set up a phone call. So that's when you definitely want to give your client a call and potentially give them some advance notice of your call. And if you have to leave a voicemail clearly outlined that you'd like to do this over the phone versus doing it via email because the content is quite lengthy in nature and maybe strategic in nature. Now, if you want to recap everything in your dialogue in an email, that is best so you have a paper trail of what you discussed. And I've done a blog post on some email tips that you can find up here. But that's the best place to do a phone call and a voicemail over an email. Thirdly, really decide if this voicemail is going to help grow and nurture your relationship. If there isn't something strategic in nature or it's too simplistic in nature, the voicemail is going to look like disturbance and it probably won't further the relationship. In fact, it might do the opposite and harm the relationship. So really decide and script out your voicemail to see if this is something that is going to build on the relationship that you have started with this client. And my fourth tip, which I alluded to, is script out your voicemail in advance of the call. Of course, you're always hopeful that you'll catch the client on the phone, but if you have to leave a voicemail, you want to make sure that it's scripted out in advance. And that's what we're going to talk about now. Now, what to leave in that voicemail? Well, first and foremost, you need to leave your name, but please leave your full name and the organization you are with. I often receive voicemails where they say, hey, it's Sarah or hey, it's Jennifer. Unfortunately, I work with a lot of Sarah's and a lot of Jennifer's. So knowing some context is going to be really helpful with your full name and your organization. Secondly, leave your phone number at the beginning of the call. Actually, you're going to leave it in two places, both at the beginning at the end at the end. But that way, if they need to listen to the voicemail again to record your phone number, they don't have to go through the entire message to get to your phone number. So leave your phone number right at the beginning as well as at the end of the message. Thirdly, ensure you reference the project that you are working on, especially with busy meeting planners. They're working on multiple priorities today. So knowing the reason for your call is very, very important. And if you want to read a blog post on how busy these meeting planners can be and how to work with them better, you can check out that blog post up here as well. Just ensure that you reference the project name when you're talking to them on the phone. Fourthly, when it comes to the subject matter, try to stick to one or two topics only in the voicemail. That way, you're going to keep the voicemail under one minute in length, which is your target goal. So if you're focusing on too much, then you're going to have to bump it over to the email. But stick to one topic on the voicemail so that they have a one succinct reason to give you a call back and keep that voicemail under a minute in length. Fifthly, try to avoid answering open-ended questions. And you've probably seen this as well where people open up a voicemail by saying, how are you doing? The problem is the voicemail is not a two-way dialogue. The voicemail is a one-way dialogue. So you need to save those open-ended questions for when you have the person on the phone versus putting it in the voicemail. This rule also applies to open-ended questions in emails. Try to eliminate open-ended question in your written communication as well. Sixth and finally, make sure you have an action-oriented statement. What action do you want that client or supplier to take at the end of your voicemail? Is it to call you back? Is it to email you back? Is it to calendar a time where you can connect again? Make sure that you include an action-oriented statement at the end of your voicemail and then follow it up with your phone number again. Well, these are tips that have worked for me in the past. I'm very curious to see what strategies that you've used in your voicemails that have gotten results. Will you do me a favor and comment below this video and let me know what voicemail etiquette tips that you've used and have seen success from? Thank you. Now that you've used all these voicemail etiquette tips and you're still not getting a return phone call, here's a couple things that you might want to try instead. First, you might want to change up the format of your communications with this client. Perhaps this client is just adverse to using the telephone and they prefer email. So follow up your voicemail with an email if you're not getting a return phone call and you might be able to get a response quicker that way. Secondly, you might want to change up the tone of your voicemail, especially if the first voicemail was quite professional in nature. You may want to inject a little bit of humor in a follow-up voicemail or something a little bit more casual so that the person on the other end can now start to build a friendly rapport with you and start building on a friendly relationship. So you might want to change up the tone of your voicemail just a little bit. If you found value in the tips provided in this video, will you do me a favor and please share this with your colleagues and your other industry friends? And if you're looking for more tips on how to break through to busy meeting planners, go to my website at liankhulderwood.com and download how to get a meeting planner's attention. It is chock full of tips and tricks that you can use to break through to busy meeting planners. Thank you for watching this week's video and to stay on top of all of the videos that I put out in the industry, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time. Bye for now.