I personally believe that it is not optimum to ask prospects to call you back on voicemail messages that you leave during cold calling efforts and I say this for a couple of reasons:

  • It is rude: If you ask a prospect to call you back in a voicemail message, you are asking them to perform a task, and I believe this is rude at this point in the sales process. You are the one that is trying to start the conversation and earn the prospect’s attention and business. While you can certainly ask the prospect to perform certain tasks later in the sales process, it is your job to spend the energy and effort to get connected at the very beginning of the sales process.
  • You keep control: This change means that you will keep ownership and control over the next callback. Yes, it would be great to have the prospect call you back, but by keeping control of that task, you can make sure it happens.

Also, telling the prospect you are going to call back lets the prospect know that you are going to keep reaching out. This could motivate the prospect to answer your call, respond to one of your emails, or call you back because the prospect will think that he or she has to engage with you at some point due to your persistence.

Instead of asking for a call back, tell the prospect that you are going to call back with something like:

I will try you again next week. But if you would like to reach me in the meantime, my number is 555-555-5555.