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Salesfolks, Wait for the Green Light
A note here for salespeople. If you ask a prospect if he or she has
time to talk and the answer is “Not really, but tell me what’s on
your mind,” DON’T! Do not make your sales pitch while he or
she is red. Do not talk when he or she is yellow. Wait until green,
very green. (If you ever want to see any green coming from your
prospect, that is.)
How to Get What You Want—by Timing!
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Technique #65
What Color Is Your Time?
No matter how urgent you think your call, always
begin by asking the person about timing. Either use the
What Color Is Your Time? device or simply ask, “Is this
a convenient time for you to talk?” When you ask
about timing first, you’ll never smash your footprints
right in the middle of your telephone partner’s sands of
time. You’ll never get a “No!” just because your timing
wasn’t right.
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You can tell a lot about people just from the outgoing messages
they leave on their voice mail. “Hello,” his machine answers. “I’m
not in right now. But you probably don’t want to talk to me any-
way.” Beep. Would you suspect this fellow has an inferiority
complex?
“Hello,” her machine answers. “The sound you hear is the
barking of our killer Doberman pinscher, Wolf. Please leave a mes-
sage after the tone.” Beep. Would you suspect this woman is wor-
ried about break-ins? Most of us don’t record our personal foibles
so conspicuously for the world to hear. Nevertheless, people can
hear a lot between the lines of what we say on our voice mail.
Last month I needed a graphic artist to do some work for one
of my extremely conservative clients. I phoned Mark, an artist
whose work I had seen and liked a lot. His answering machine
blasted ear-splitting rock music through the receiver. Then his
voice boomed over the electric guitar, “Hey there, dude, don’t be
crude. Jes’ croon me an earful of sweeeeeeet sounds right at that
lone tone. Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Beep. I banged the receiver quickly
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Everyone with Your
Outgoing Voicemail
Message
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Copyright 2003 by Leil Lowndes. Click Here for Terms of Use.
back into the cradle to shut out horrible fantasies of how my client
would react if he had to call Mark. His thirty-second talent show
might have been an appropriate sample of a rock musician’s tal-
ent. But a businessperson should opt for a more sedate outgoing
message. The message you leave on your answering machine
reflects your work. Keep yours friendly, neutral, and up-to-date.
And here’s the secret: to give the impression you are really on
top of your business, change your message every day. Studies show
that callers perceive people to be brighter and more efficient when
they hear an updated message each time they call. If appropriate,
let callers know where you are and when you intend to be back.
If you have customers who need to be attended to, this is crucial.
Try something like this on your office phone: “This is (name).
It’s Thursday, May 7, and I’ll be in a sales meeting until late this
afternoon. Please leave your message and I’ll get back to you as
soon as I return.” That way, if you don’t call a client back until
4
p.m.
he isn’t steaming.
Also, keep it short. Some people change their message every
day, but it’s too long. I had a colleague, a public speaker named
Dan, who in his finest mellifluous voice imposed his thought for
the day on all unsuspecting callers.
Last year I was working on a project with Dan and had to call
him three times in the same day to leave a progress report. Each
time his machine answered: “Hello, this is Dan, and here’s my
daily motivator.” He cleared his throat for his big recorded per-
formance and then continued. “Did someone say something today
that offended you? So what! That’s their problem.” He paused dra-
matically. “Did someone look at you the wrong way? So what!
That’s their problem.” Again, a pause for the magnitude of that
sentiment to sink in. “Replace your petty thoughts of anger, exas-
peration, and spite with thoughts of strength. Calm down. Rise
above those little insignificant irritations in life. Focus your
thoughts in the direction of fulfillment and accomplishment. Once
How to Impress Everyone with Your Outgoing Voicemail Message
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again, this is Dan.” I’m surprised he didn’t also leave his agent’s
phone number here. “Leave your message at the tone. And have a
great peaceful day.” Beep.
The first time I listened to Dan’s “inspirational” message, the
length mildly irritated me. The second time, I found myself hyper-
ventilating while waiting for him to get through his unbearably
long message. By the third call, his schmaltzy message seemed
interminable. I was filled with those “petty thoughts of anger, exas-
peration, and spite” he warned against because of his darn mes-
sage. I found it impossible to “rise above it” and “focus my
thoughts in the direction of fulfillment and accomplishment.” I
wanted to punch him in the nose. Outgoing messages are not the
venues to give inspirational messages or to impress the world with
one’s accomplishments.
Another friend of mine, a writer, earned herself a few little cat
stripes with this one on her machine:
“Hello, this is Cheryl Smith. Cheryl is on her national book
tour,” (she paused so all callers could be appropriately impressed)
“making appearances in twelve cities.” (Another pause as though
awaiting applause.) “She’ll be returning on October 7.” (What’s
this “she” bit? Cheryl herself is speaking.) “Please leave your mes-
sage for her at the tone.” Beep.
Yes, Cheryl, we know you’re an important author. But your
third-party reference to self, your narcissistic tone of voice, and
topping it off with twelve cities would make any big cat snicker
through his whiskers.
One last codicil: Avoid one particular message many busi-
nesspeople use these days—“I’m either away from my desk or on
the other line.” The subtext of this message is “I’m a slave chained
to my desk and it is an amazing fact that I have escaped for the
moment.” One night I was working into the wee hours. At 4
a.m.
I decided to leave a message on a colleague’s business phone so
she’d get it as soon as she came in at nine. “Hello,” the message
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chirped. “This is Felicia. I’m either away from my desk or on the
other line right now, but leave your message at the tone.” Beep.
Felicia, of course you’re away from your desk—it’s 4
a.m.
on Sun-
day morning! “On the other line?” At this hour? I hope not!
You never know how your message is going to affect some-
one. Just keep yours neutral, friendly, constantly changing, short,
and understated. No boasts, no bells, no whistles.
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