When Prospects Dont Return Your Calls

A regular Monday Motor-Vator reader contacted me the other day to ask, What can I do when prospects are not returning my phone calls?  Thats a good question, and it inspired me to add a segment dealing with call backs in my new book, Anythings Possible.

I always say to people, You should look at your business calls as leaving commercials.  Voice mail offers a wonderful opportunity to have your prospect hear a brief commercial message from you. For example, you could say, Hello, this is Ilene.  Im sorry I missed you but I wanted you to know about something thats very exciting.  Then proceed to mention the purpose of your call, such as a special purchase price your company is offering for the business kit or a sponsoring promotion your company recently announced.

You have left your message, but nothing happens.  If sometimes we get frustrated when people do not call us back, it's because we do not have enough people to call.  If you ask, Why isn't this person calling me back? perhaps you are becoming more of a bounty hunter than someone who wants to work from the heart.  With a bounty hunter, a price is attached to someone's head.  When we work from the heart, we say, This person is not calling me back, so I will call someone else.  

I never worry about people who do not call me back, because there are so many other people I can call.  There is no magic formula to get people to call you back.  But there is a way to leave a caring voice mail message, Hi, this is Ilene.  I am sorry we have not been able to connect.  I'd love to continue our conversation about our business and what we offer, and in fact I'd love to hear from you, that yes, I am still interested, or no, I've changed my mind.  I look forward to the next time we can talk together.  
It is important to let them know they can call you if they change their mind.  And it's important to paint the picture that you have more information you would like to give them.  Never worry about who is not calling you back, because there are other people to call.

When you are in the position of making callbacks, alternate between those you have called before and have not returned your calls, and those who are new and so are more likely to call you right back.  Sometimes a direct seller will call the same twenty people on a list over and over again, until they are basing their success on the same twenty people, as opposed to mixing it up with new people, including people they have not yet called.
If you call someone who does not return the call, what are the odds she will call you now?  If you mix it up, generally you will have success every week in having people call you back.