As a sales guy, my relationship with my phone is truly love/hate. Don’t get me wrong, nothing is better than making a call and getting the buyer to pick up so you can finally get a straight answer, but the reality is they rarely pick up! In fact, 97% of phone calls go to voicemail and according to InsideSales.com, the average voicemail response rate is 4.8%. The odds are not in our favor.
Let’s face it, people hate unsolicited calls, that’s why you get the voicemail to begin with. And why would you expect the buyer to respond if they never even listen to what you have to say? Sales leaders are always looking to increase call time with their reps, but we think there’s a better way than just cold calling. Email is great because it’s less intrusive than a cold call, but how do you make an email personal and human? The answer is Video!
According to Syndacast, including the word “video” in an email subject line will show the following email improvements:
- Boost open rates by 19%.
- Boost click-through rates by 65%.
- Reduce unsubscribes by 26%.
Video makes your email stand out and provides an opportunity for you to be remembered. Furthermore, video engagement can be tracked, so you can actually KNOW if the message was heard, something you don’t get with voicemails.
So our recommendation is to use phone, email and video together. Instead of leaving a voicemail, record a generic video (leveraging your existing voicemail script). Then when you make the call, if no one picks up, send a video email instead. You’ll be happy with the results.
BONUS: If you use Salesforce, check out our video voicemail demo:
