By John Barrows | August 2026

Yes, you should leave a voicemail. Not because you expect a callback, though that does happen. The real reason to leave a sales voicemail is that email response rates go up when you combine voicemail with email outreach. A voicemail on its own is rarely the answer. A voicemail as part of a coordinated sequence changes the math.

Why the guarantee argument settles the debate

There is a simple way to think about this. Take two reps: Rep A makes 20 calls and leaves 20 voicemails. Rep B makes 20 calls and leaves none. What can you guarantee tomorrow? You cannot guarantee Rep A gets a callback. But you can guarantee with 100% certainty that Rep B will not. Voicemail gives you a chance. No voicemail removes it entirely.

What a good sales voicemail actually does

A sales voicemail is not a pitch. It is an attention-grabber. The job of a voicemail is not to sell your product or explain your value proposition. It is to give the prospect one compelling reason to call you back or open your next email. That is it. If you try to do more than that in 20 to 30 seconds, you are going to fail.

The most common mistake reps make is treating the voicemail like a compressed version of their discovery call. They try to explain who they are, what they do, what their product does, what results they have gotten, and why the prospect should care. By the time they are done, 90 seconds have passed and the prospect has moved on. Keep it short. Get to the reason for your call in the first sentence.

The technique that changes your callback rate

Start with the reason for your call, not with your name. Most reps open with “Hi, this is John Barrows from JB Sales…” and the prospect tunes out immediately because they recognize the pattern. Flip it. Lead with the reason.

Here is the structure I use:

“Hi Bill, the reason for my call is one of my clients similar to you used our prospecting techniques during one of their call blitzes to drive 25 net new meetings with target prospects in less than an hour. I wanted to see if you’d be open to a discussion to see if we can do the same for you. Could you call me back at 555-555-5555? By the way, this is John Barrows with JB Sales. 555-555-5555.”

Contact information goes at the end. If you lead with your name and company, you signal immediately that this is a sales call, and the prospect will skip the rest. If you lead with the reason and leave your contact information at the end, the prospect has to listen through to hear who you are. It is counterintuitive, but it works.

How to think about voicemail volume

If you make 200 dials a week and leave a voicemail on every call, that is roughly 100 additional minutes per week. Less than 20 minutes a day. The question is not whether you have time to leave voicemails. The question is whether the sequence you are running is good enough to make those voicemails worth it.

Why different buyers respond to voicemail differently

Not everyone processes information the same way. Research from Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) describes three communication styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Auditory communicators prefer conversations, talk for hours, and send one-line emails. Voicemail reaches this type of buyer in a way email often does not. Kinesthetic communicators prefer email and face-to-face interaction. Making multiple phone calls to a kinesthetic buyer without varying your approach is likely to hurt you.

The point is not to leave voicemails on every call forever. The point is to use voicemail as one part of a mixed outreach strategy, because different buyers respond to different channels. Mix up your communication methods and your chances of making an impression go up.

Use voicemail to practice

One underrated use of voicemail is the practice it forces. A good voicemail has to be concise, clear, and confident in 20 to 30 seconds. That is exactly what you need when a prospect picks up and you have to deliver your opener in real time. Reps who leave thoughtful voicemails are practicing their pitch on every call, whether anyone listens or not.

Try cold calling yourself at the end of the day and leaving a message. Listen to it the next morning. It is uncomfortable, but it is one of the fastest ways to improve. You can also cold call your manager, leave a message, and ask for feedback. You get coaching and you get better at voicemail at the same time.

Frequently asked questions

Should you leave a voicemail on a cold call?

Yes, in most cases. Not because you expect a callback, but because a well-executed voicemail increases the likelihood your next email gets opened. The voicemail primes the prospect to recognize your name. When your email arrives, it does not feel like the first contact. It feels like the second, which changes how the prospect perceives it.

How long should a sales voicemail be?

Twenty to thirty seconds. Long enough to deliver your reason for calling and your contact information, short enough that the prospect does not lose interest before they hear why you called. If your voicemail runs longer than 30 seconds, you are trying to sell on the voicemail instead of trying to earn a callback. Cut everything that does not directly serve one of those two goals.

What should you say in a sales voicemail?

Lead with the reason for your call, not your name or company. Give the prospect one specific, relevant reason to call back or engage with your next email. Leave your contact information at the end and repeat it twice so they do not have to replay the message to write it down. Avoid phrases like “touching base” or “checking in.” If you cannot finish the sentence “The reason for my call is…” with something specific, you are not ready to make that call.

Should you leave your name at the beginning or end of a voicemail?

At the end. When a prospect hears your name and company first, they recognize the pattern of a sales call and tune out before hearing your message. When you lead with the reason for your call and leave your name at the end, the prospect has to listen through to find out who you are. Lead with value, close with identity.

Does leaving a voicemail actually increase email response rates?

Yes. The voicemail works with the email, not instead of it. When a prospect receives a voicemail and then sees your email, they recognize your name. That recognition changes the open rate. A cold email from a stranger is easy to ignore. A follow-up email from someone who left a thoughtful voicemail is a different category of outreach. Voicemail alone rarely generates callbacks. Voicemail combined with email outperforms email alone.

Build the habits that create consistent pipeline

Filling the Funnel is built on the prospecting fundamentals that separate reps who build consistent pipeline from reps who scramble. Outreach sequencing, call execution, and objection handling are all covered. See what teams have built at learn.jbarrows.com/pages/results.

John Barrows helps sales leaders decide whether to replace or rebuild their teams for the AI era. For 25+ years he has worked with the world’s most demanding sales organizations, including Salesforce, LinkedIn, Google, Amazon, and Okta, building the frameworks that became Filling the Funnel and Driving to Close. He is the host of Make It Happen Mondays, author of I Want to Be in Sales When I Grow Up, and an LP at GTMfund. His training programs are available at learn.jbarrows.com.