Cold calling, the practice of contacting a prospect who has not previously expressed interest in a product or service, remains a persistent tactic in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer outreach. When a prospect screens the call or simply does not answer, the salesperson immediately faces a tactical question: should they leave a voicemail message. Since over 80% of initial cold calls are directed straight to a voicemail box, this decision is a recurring and important point of strategy. The choice of whether to leave a message, and what that message should contain, is a defining factor in the overall success of a sales campaign.
The Core Dilemma: Weighing the Risks and Rewards
The sales community is divided into two schools of thought regarding the strategic value of the cold call voicemail. One perspective views leaving a message as a necessary action to establish a presence, while the other sees it as a time-consuming step that yields minimal direct return. This division forces sales professionals to weigh the immediate cost against the potential for a delayed, multi-channel benefit.
The risk side focuses on efficiency and preserving the element of surprise for future attempts. Voicemails generally have a low callback rate, often falling below 5% in a business-to-business context. Time spent leaving a message is time not spent dialing a new prospect, which can reduce the number of calls a representative makes by as much as 25% per hour.
The reward side centers on leveraging the voicemail to drive engagement through other channels. While a direct callback is rare, leaving a voicemail dramatically increases the likelihood of a prospect replying to a follow-up email. When a voicemail is paired with an email, the email reply rate can more than double, transforming the voicemail into a component of a broader sequence.
Why Skipping the Voicemail Can Be a Smart Strategy
A deliberate decision to bypass the voicemail prompt allows a representative to maximize their daily volume and maintain a higher future connection rate. The time required to navigate a menu, record a message, and clearly repeat contact information consumes about 15% of a sales representative’s calling time. Skipping this step enables a higher number of dials, which is a suitable strategy when prospecting a large volume of leads where time is the limiting factor.
Leaving a voicemail also carries the risk of revealing the caller’s identity as a salesperson too early in the process. Research indicates that leaving a voicemail can decrease the likelihood of a future live conversation by nearly 28%. This reduction occurs because the prospect is now aware of the sales intent and may actively screen subsequent calls from that number. The absence of a message in the early stages of a cadence preserves the ambiguity of the call, keeping the prospect open to answering a later attempt.
When Voicemails Drive Engagement and Brand Recognition
Voicemails function best when they are seen as a tool for brand presence and cross-channel coordination, rather than a means to generate an immediate callback. A professionally delivered message ensures that the prospect hears the company name and the caller’s name, establishing a level of familiarity that can be leveraged in subsequent outreach. This “softening” of the prospect makes them more receptive to other contact points that will follow in the sales sequence.
Using a voicemail to reference a specific piece of information about the prospect or their company demonstrates that the call is not a generic mass message. This personalization builds credibility and shows the prospect that the representative has done their research. The message acts as a bridge, ensuring that when the prospect sees a follow-up email from the same person, the name and context are already recognized. This reinforcement across multiple platforms helps break through the noise of a crowded inbox.
Crafting the Perfect Voicemail Script and Call to Action
The effectiveness of a voicemail is determined by its content and brevity, with the ideal duration for a sales message falling between 20 and 30 seconds. Prospects are unlikely to listen to a long message from an unknown number, and exceeding the 30-second mark increases the chance of the message being deleted prematurely. The script must be concise, professional, and focus exclusively on the prospect.
The voicemail structure should begin with a friendly, confident tone and a quick introduction of the caller’s name and company. The most important element is the hook, which should be a highly personalized, one-sentence reason for calling that references a specific business challenge or a recent event. This immediate relevance prevents the message from sounding like a traditional sales pitch.
The call to action must be clear and singular, suggesting directing the prospect to a follow-up email rather than asking for a callback. For example, the message should conclude with a phrase like, “I’m sending a quick email right now with a few thoughts on this topic, so please check your inbox for my note.” This single action steers the prospect toward a less intrusive, asynchronous channel.
Key Voicemail Components
- Begin with a friendly, confident tone and a quick introduction of the caller’s name and company.
- Include a highly personalized hook referencing a specific business challenge or recent event.
- Direct the prospect to a follow-up email, steering them toward a less intrusive, asynchronous channel.
- State the caller’s phone number clearly and slowly, repeating it twice.
Integrating Voicemail into Your Multi-Touch Sales Cadence
The decision to leave a voicemail should be viewed as one step within a larger, multi-touch sales cadence. A typical cadence integrates phone calls with email and social media touches over a period of days or weeks. For instance, a voicemail can be deployed on Day 3 of a sequence to reinforce an email sent on Day 1, ensuring the message is delivered across two different channels.
Strategic sequencing involves limiting the number of voicemails left for any single prospect to maintain a professional presence. Research indicates that the highest response rates are achieved when a representative leaves one or two voicemails during a cadence. Leaving three or more voicemails can depress the email reply rate, demonstrating that excessive messaging can be counterproductive and lead to prospect disengagement.
The content of the message must also evolve depending on its position in the sequence. An early-stage voicemail might be an initial introduction, while a message left later in the cadence can be a “breakup” message or a final attempt to provide value. Automated systems known as “voicemail drops” can deliver pre-recorded, personalized messages, improving the efficiency of the overall cadence by reducing the time spent on manual message delivery.
Measuring Voicemail Effectiveness and Refining Your Approach
A strategic voicemail process requires continuous measurement of specific metrics to determine its effectiveness within the sales workflow. While the traditional metric of callback rate remains relevant, its low percentage means that other indicators must be tracked as well. The most important data point is the email open and reply rate on messages that immediately follow a voicemail, as this gauges the voicemail’s success in driving cross-channel engagement.
Sales teams should track the overall conversion rate for prospects who were contacted using a voicemail-inclusive cadence versus those who were not. This data allows for a direct comparison of different strategies and helps identify the highest-performing sequences. Refining the approach involves:
- A/B testing different scripts.
- Varying the length of the message.
- Experimenting with the optimal day and time for delivery.
By systematically analyzing these results, representatives can fine-tune their messaging to align with the preferences and behavior of their specific target audience.