Let’s take a moment of silence for our dear friend the voicemail…
While voicemail isn’t completely dead. It is on a path of evolution. You may find that many of your customers don’t check their voicemail. I have to admit, I hardly know how to access mine. If it’s important, the person will follow up with a text message, email, Facetime, or message me through an app.
I’m not alone in this sentiment. Research shows that fewer callers are leaving voicemails. Between 2011 and 2012, telephone provider Vonage found that there was an 8% drop in callers leaving a voicemail. At TrueLark we’ve found that only about 30% of callers leave a voicemail. The numbers are even worse for some fitness studios, where the numbers are far lower — less than 10%.
Why are people leaving fewer voicemails?
Forbes reports that the reason why people do not leave a voicemail is that when polled, 80% of callers felt that they would not be heard. This sentiment starts to make sense when you learn that less than 20% of voicemails are played back. There is also data to support that this number is decreasing over time — Vonage reported a 14% drop in voicemail retrieval from 2011 to 2012.
If customers aren’t leaving a voicemail, what are they doing?
In the case of the salon, spa, and fitness industry, customers sometimes try calling again, but most of the time they end up going down the list of Google search results and trying the next business. The average spa or salon misses 10 calls a day.
As a business owner, how are you connecting with your clients and prospects? Consider using channels that your clients already use. Don’t know how they like to communicate? Ask them! Do they prefer texting? Phone calls? Apps? Emails? It is easier to meet your clients where they are already interacting vs. trying to change their behavior.
TrueLark AI client communications solution responds to missed calls with a text so your clients don’t need to leave voicemails and wait for a call back. Our generative AI is purpose-built for the beauty and wellness industries. The caller can converse with our AI assistant, get answers to questions and manage appointments in the text thread. Voicemail can’t do that.
Book a TrueLark demo today to see how generative AI can free your business from voicemails for good.
