Let’s start with one depressing fact: a majority of your prospects are going to ignore your voicemail messages.

Ok, now that we’ve recognized that unpleasant reality, let’s move on to how to get more callbacks. There are some basic rules that will improve your response rate, and the good news is that they’re pretty easy to implement.

But first, I must give credit where credit is due: Mark Hunter, creator of Saleshunter.com, assembled these strategies. I’ve come across a lot of bad voicemail “tips,” but these are mostly spot-on. I highly recommend them.

Here are few:

REMOVE POTENTIAL EXCUSES.
Give your number twice. Many will be fumbling for a pen during the first few seconds of your message. “If the person can’t quickly write your number down, you’ve given them a perfect reason to not call back,” says Hunter.
Don’t spill the beans, and don’t offer to call back. “If your goal is to get the phone call returned, don’t leave information that would allow the person to make up their mind.”

WORK ON YOUR TIMING.
As with comedy, timing is everything. In general, avoid extremes. “Messages left on a Friday afternoon are the least likely to be returned. For most people, Monday mornings are very busy and, as a result, only high–priority activities will get their immediate attention.” (When it comes to following up on online leads, this isn’t necessarily the case. The best strategy there is rapid response: you should be calling the second your leads hit your inbox.)

KEEP IT WARM AND SHORT.
“Voicemail messages are an excellent way to introduce yourself to a person. Be personable, yet professional.” But don’t get too comfortable … because “voicemail is not ‘story time.’ Leaving a long message is an invitation to have the entire message skipped. The optimal voicemail message is between 8 and 14 seconds.”

Here’s the one clunker (IMHO) among Hunter’s tips; I’ll let you decide if it’s worth putting into play: “When leaving a message with multiple points, be sure to immediately disclose how many you will be making. This will prevent the recipient from accidentally fast-forwarding or deleting it before it is completely heard.” I think this violates the all-important brevity rule. By the time you list what you’re going to say, you should’ve already said it.