Some salespeople will say anything to get a prospect’s attention. Here are four very common examples: 

1. Rattling off proprietary info. This constitutes shady dealings, to be sure. But there are some salespeople who will do a little extra homework to learn as much as they can about where the prospect is from, what his/her address is, where he/she spends time. Then the salesperson will leave a voicemail, quoting as much personal info as possible, claiming it’s crucial the prospect call back ASAP. When the prospect returns the call out of a heightened sense of concern, the salesperson immediately dismisses the situation as a misunderstanding. Once the prospect seems relieved, the salesperson launches into a pitch.
2. Sneaking in the boss’s name. In some cases, when the salesperson knows who the prospect’s direct superior is, he/she will leave a message explaining that the prospect’s boss insisted he give the prospect a call. Because the prospect fears his boss following up later on, he may actually return the phone call.
3. The cell phone/voicemail trap. When it comes to cell phones, the biggest barrier to making contact is caller ID. You want to know the slickest way around that? Leave a voicemail, wait 30 seconds, then call right back. Why? Because prospects will most likely check the voicemail ASAP to find out who was calling from an unknown number. When the salesperson calls a second time, the prospect will know he’s been nabbed (the call waiting beep will go off), and feel he has no choice but to click over and take the call.
4. Say you’re returning his call. This is probably the least likely (and most unethical) on the list, in terms of the probability it’ll actually yield results. But every once in a while, a salesperson may try to pull a fast one, whereby he calls the prospect and leaves a voicemail saying he’s returning the prospect’s (non-existent) call, and that he really does want to know what the prospect was calling about, so if he “could please just give me a quick call back ASAP.” Etc., etc., etc.

Keep in mind, we’re not advocating any of these practices. We’re simply acknowledging there are some salespeople out there who do.

Tags: call, cell phone, prospect, unethical, voicemail