Voicemail is a reachability trade: it may get more attention in email while making the next phone attempt less likely to connect.1 Leave it when the message can create a useful handoff to email or build on engagement. Skip it when another phone attempt is worth more than that email lift.
Set the objective first. A cold call voicemail should prime the email, with a callback as a bonus.2 Gong's analysis of more than 300 million cold calls found that voicemails reduced future connect rate by 28% and lifted email reply rate from 2.73% to 5.87%.3
Decide after the call
Voicemail earns a place
- If targeted reason, leave one
- If no useful reason, carry on
Use the call outcome to decide whether a voicemail earns a place. The rule changes after the prospect has interacted with you, so do not apply it automatically on every attempt.
After some level of engagement, voicemail becomes a powerful tactic.4 On a cold attempt, leave one when you have a targeted reason for calling that includes relevant information or value.5
Ask whether the voicemail will make the next email easier to recognize and understand. If the call gives you no useful reason to continue the conversation, carry on without leaving a message.
Run a simple cadence
Set the cadence before the sequence starts so voicemail does not become an automatic action.
One recommendation is to alternate between leaving a voicemail and skipping it.6 On a leave turn, give the prospect the context they need for the email. On the next call turn, let the phone attempt stand alone.
Rotate outbound numbers so the connect rate penalty does not concentrate on one line.7 Record which attempts received a voicemail, which received an email, and which produced a conversation. That record shows the trade when you review the sequence.
Decide when to skip
When to skip
- If no targeted reason, Skip the message
- If prospect already knows, Skip the message
- If another phone attempt, Skip the message
Skip voicemail when phone reachability or calling capacity matters more than the email lift. Use the prospect's context and the capacity of the dialing motion to decide.
When the dialing system already generates enough conversations, voicemail can be unnecessary.8 A later stage deal can also justify skipping a voicemail when the message adds nothing useful.9
Leaving a voicemail takes time that could support 25% more cold calls.10 Skip the message when you have no targeted reason to hand off, when the prospect already knows why you are calling, or when another phone attempt has a better chance of producing the conversation you need.
Keep the message easy to process
The decision to leave a voicemail only works when the message can be understood quickly. Keep the recording short, give it one reason to matter, and prepare for the prospect to encounter it through call screening.
Keep the voicemail around 15 seconds.11 SellCell places the sweet spot between eight and thirteen seconds.
Pew Research Center found that 67% of U.S. adults screen unknown calls and check the voicemail when one is left.12 The message can earn attention even when the call itself goes unanswered.
On iPhone, the call screening prompt is separate from the voicemail, so prepare a screening script and a voicemail script.13 Keep the two messages consistent, then deliver the voicemail as its own short handoff to email.
What not to do
Remove these mistakes from the sequence before you start dialing.
- Do not leave three or more voicemails for one prospect, because email reply rates fall to 2.2%, below the result from leaving no voicemail.14
- Do not leave touching base or checking in messages, because they waste the prospect's time.15
- Do not rush your speech or load the message with unusual company names and jargon, because these can cause inaccurate transcription that appears as a garbled message with a warning label.16