Don’t Drop the Ball, Drop a Voicemail Message Instead

What is a Voicemail Drop?

At its simplest, voicemail dropping is literally ‘dropping’ a pre-recorded message into someone’s voicemail inbox. Their phone doesn’t ring, but they do get a notification that they have a new message.

Why Use It?

It’s effective. While it’s easy to ignore or decline a phone call, people are far less inclined to delete a voicemail without at least listening to it. In fact, voicemail drop providers reports have shown a response rate between 15-25%.

Affordability – Depending on the provider and plan, it can cost just a few cents per message delivered.
Multiple Channel Reach – working with both mobile phones and landlines.
User Friendly – You can quickly upload a recorded message, or make a new one from your account dashboard.
Saves Time – Instead of individually calling dozens of patients, waiting for the call to go to voicemail (or they answer!), listening to the greeting, and leaving your message, you can record one personalized message for a patients and instantly send it out with one click. Save those messages in your library, and the right message is always waiting and ready to go.

How much time would that save you or your team? If you spend an average of 4 hours/week, then you lose 20+ hours per month to voicemail alone. Take those hours back, add a personalized touch to your post patient care, and take your “customer service” one step further, for that special touch.

Finally, you can connect and engage without having to bother or interrupt patients at home and work. They hear the message and respond at their convenience.

4 tips to create a worthwhile voicemail message

Want to give your team some pointers? Here are a few tips to help turn deleted annoyances into callback-friendly messages.

1. Smile

Patients don’t want to hear a monotonous message that will put them to sleep. It won’t grab the person’s attention and it hurts your practice’s brand.

To leave a voicemail that patient’s will remember, “say your message with a smile on your face.” Show some excitement and engage the individual as if you were talking to him or her in-person.

2. Repeat, please

If the purpose of your voicemail is to receive a callback. Make sure the receiver can complete that action. So, repeat your name and phone number at the end.

Pro Tip: To increase your callback chances, leave your message from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM and from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM local time.

3. Test multiple versions

Similar to other customer service techniques, you should test what works. Create a simple A/B test for your voicemail.

What happens when you say your name and company last? Or should you state your reason for calling first? Track your response rate with each variation. You can do this for 10 to 20 voicemails, and create a fun contest for your team members to track their outcomes, best response rate wins something!

4. Follow up

It’s easy to get ignored today. Thanks to caller ID, people generally disregard incoming calls from people they don’t know.

To counter any neglected voicemails, send prospects an email in addition to, that will pique their interest. Give them a reason to actually check your message.

Make sure you include a simple yet compelling subject line.

Voicemails don’t have to be long or lame. Leaving a long, boring message for a potential/new patient only leads to wasted time for both you and the patient.

Learn more about how Modento improves patient no shows, cancellations, and helps to bridge the gap in relationships between dentists and their patients.