DISC Voicemail

Their outgoing message tells you their DISC style before you've ever met them. Listen to it, match it, and leave the voicemail that sounds like it was made for them.
A play from Stevenson Brooks · Glossary

Free intel, every time you call

Every customer you cold-call has already left you a clue: their voicemail greeting. Fifteen seconds of them, scripted or unscripted, telling you exactly how they like to communicate.

"I'm going to give you an example of where I find that adjusting doesn't happen very much. Voicemail. We make a lot of phone calls in our lives, and when you call somebody, you get an outbound message from their phone. They let you know who called. All I'm doing is mirroring and matching voicemail. We're not even getting in — I haven't even met the person, and all I'm doing is just matching their voicemail style."

Most sellers leave the same voicemail to every customer. That's a missed opportunity. Every voicemail you receive is a DISC reading. Use it.

Industry terms this page covers

What you might call it What I call it
"Leaving a professional message" Matching their DISC voicemail
"Voicemail etiquette" Fine — for C's only
"Being yourself on voicemail" Usually a mismatch with 3 of 4 styles

What their greeting tells you

The D's greeting. Short. Terse. Often barely a greeting.

"They didn't tell me who it is I just called. They don't give me a warm greeting. They just go: 'leave a message, beep.' They might say, 'don't leave a message, I don't check my voicemail, beep.'"

Translation: "I'm busy. I don't care about voicemails. Get to the point or don't bother."

The I's greeting. Upbeat. Warm. Often playful.

"Hey, sorry I missed your call, leave me a message, I'll get back to you soon — have a great day! Or they might even be a jokester: 'hello? Hello? Just kidding, it's my voicemail. Leave a message, man.' Or 'hey, I'm probably either on the jobsite or playing golf, either way leave a message.' You can almost hear them smiling."

Translation: "I'm a fun human and I want my phone to be fun too. Be warm with me."

The S's greeting. Soft. Apologetic. Always offers alternatives.

"They already feel bad that they missed the call. 'I'm so sorry I missed your call. If you need immediate assistance, you can press zero and get somebody. I also check messages throughout the day. You can send me an email or text. I'll respond as quickly as I can. Thank you.' Sometimes they even tell you what number you called, just in case you got lost — 'you've reached Steve Brooks at 702...' They give you this nice, cool, warming, accepting, apologetic message."

Translation: "I want to take care of you even though I missed your call. Be calm with me."

The C's greeting. Formal. Structured. Gives you a script to follow.

"You've reached the offices of Stevenson Brooks. I'm not available to take your call right now, but if you leave your name, your phone number with area code twice, and a brief message as to why you called, I'll get back to you as soon as I am able. Thank you."

Translation: "Follow my protocol. Fill out the form I've handed you. Don't waste words."

The four matching voicemails

Stevenson's exact templates for each style:

Leaving a message for a D.

"It's Steve. Call me. Click."

That's it. Maybe, if you need to add color:

"Hey, this is Steve. It's about the project on Main. Call me back."

Why it works:

"D-style people listening to voicemails — 'dude, hey Steve, so the reason I called was because three weeks ago you guys do—' delete. Next message. 'Hi Steve, is there any chance that you might—' delete. 'Hey Steve, the reason I called was because—' delete. So what's my message? It's Steve, call me, click."

D's listen to voicemail the way they do everything else — fast, impatient, trigger-finger on delete. Get in, get the name, get the ask, get out.

Leaving a message for an I.

"Hey Mo, it's Steve. What's up? Listen, I'd love a chance to chat with you when you get a second. Give me a call, man. Call my cell, anytime man, I'll pick up. Can't wait to talk to you, man. I'm hearing so many great things about you. Give me a call back when you can. Alright man. No, you hang up. No, you hang up. Okay, you hang up. Okay, bye."

Slight exaggeration — but you get the energy. Warm, smiling-through-the-phone, enthusiastic, not in a hurry. An I leaves a smiley message, so you leave a smiley message back.

Leaving a message for an S.

"Hey Mo, when you get a second, no hurry, but could you give me a call back? My phone number is [number]. I'm not sure who I should be talking to, I guess I just need your help. Give me a call back when you can. Thanks, man, I appreciate it."

Calm. No urgency. "I need your help" — S's love being helpers. Echo their apologetic, accommodating tone. Don't bro it up. Don't say "call me now, click." That'd stress them out.

Leaving a message for a C.

"Hi Danny. My name is Stevenson Brooks — that's Stevenson with a V. [Pause so they can write.] My phone number is 702-400-2705. Again, that's 702-400-2705. I'm calling in reference to the job on 123 Main Street. If you could call me back this afternoon between 3 and 5 p.m., or tomorrow morning between 10 and noon, I'd appreciate it. Thank you so much. Have a great day."

Fill out the form exactly the way they asked. Pause on the phone number so they can write it. Repeat the phone number like they taught you to. Specify call-back windows. Articulate. Formal. Let them hear the rule-follower in your voice and they fall in love a little.

"Again, that's 702-400... they're just like, 'oh my god, I get to check. I can hear him. He's articulate.'"

The "what I used to do wrong" mirror

Most sellers do the opposite of matching — they leave the same voicemail regardless of what the outgoing greeting sounded like.

Same words, wildly different outcomes, based on style matching. A 15-second investment in listening to their greeting and mirroring it back is one of the highest-ROI behaviors in sales.

The framing trick — match, then keep matching

Voicemail style is a sample. It almost always predicts what their in-person communication style will be. So the voicemail isn't just a one-off adaptation — it's your first DISC read, and it should guide how you show up when you finally connect.

Matching the voicemail gets them to call back. Keeping the match gets them to want to work with you.

Your own voicemail greeting — audit it

Flip side: what does your outgoing greeting say about you?

A generic "you've reached Steve, leave a message" gives every caller zero information — which is fine, but it's also a missed branding moment. Your voicemail is a 10-second ad for you.

Questions:

You don't have to overhaul it. Just audit it once a year.

Homework — the voicemail drill

This week:

  1. Next three cold calls you make, before you leave your message — replay their outgoing greeting mentally. What style are they? Leave a voicemail that matches.
  2. Keep a tally for the week: how many of your voicemails got returned vs. last week's generic voicemails. Most sellers see a noticeable lift.
  3. Record yourself leaving each of the four style-specific voicemails as a drill. Play them back. Does your D-voicemail sound terse? Does your I-voicemail sound warm? Build the range.
  4. Audit your own outgoing greeting. Is it calibrated, or is it whatever you recorded five years ago?

Where to go next

Source: drawn from 12 canonical moments across the live-coaching corpus — including the four style-specific greetings (terse/bubbly/apologetic/formal), the four style-specific voicemail templates, the D's delete-before-you-finish listening pattern, the C's "fill out the form" script, and the S's offer-them-options calm cadence. Voice preserved.