I try to respond to leads 3 times: email, text message and a phone call (leaving a message when they don't pick up the phone) ... I figure that way, they realize someone took the time of day to get back to them. If they don't get back to me, I know I did my best.

I prefer a text to a voicemail any day of the week. And I am not a millennial I'm almost 65.

Know your audience - many of my friends, I could call them with free Super Bowl tickets or be offering to share my $1Billion lottery winnings with them, and if I let them know via voicemail, they'll never find out.

For leads, I like to let them know who I am and I'm very transparent - who I am, why I'm calling, and I give them a reason to call me back.  

But in today's world, voicemail is a low priority for many people.

I identify my self and my message is that I am returning their call.  not always works but repeat as necessary at a different time of day 

I ask people to repeat their number twice, tends to slow them down.  Because you don't always get numbers.

Realness & genuineness has been copied by spam artists making it hard for people in the know to trust. Most people today stay within their chosen sphere of influences & comfort zones. Leaving voicemail messages is tainted. Even if you try to explain you are not spam, it comes across as spam. Saying all that, I have written letters to purchase & have left reaching out honest messages. I have said: I am in earnest & to please call to confirm or deny interest. Majority respond but this changes with the times. 

I don't even know people who check their voicemail let alone respond to one.  Most people will silently (or not) swear when the phone rings and wonder why the person didn't text them, lol

I do not call leads - I return calls from people that leave a message or I call people who requested a consultation.  I speak in my normal voice ... and have a real conversation. 

I work 100% By Referral, so my prospects are not leads, they are referred to me. The prospects I get off Google, they initiate the call. Cold calling is outdated and a waste of time - unless you like being cursed at, hung up on and or leaving voicemails in Limbo? Paid leads are largely a waste of time and money too unless you like fighting the rest of the pack for the scraps, cause you ain't the only one with their info. The only people that "call back" are the ones that called first.

When active, I did what Bob Crane suggested and usually had to follow-up a couple of times. In my later years I found voice mails ineffective.

Leave enough info for them to know who I am, why I am calling, and why they want to call me back.

Clients don't usually call me.  I'm an "extra" in real estate in my wife's firm.  I take overflow buyers when I'm off for my three day weekends and they are busy and then they revert to contact with her team.

I let them know who I am and the name of my company.  I give some information and ask them to call me if it is of interest to them.  I don't want to trick people into calling me back.

This is a tough question. When I cold called I did leave VM's for sellers but I was very specific as to what I was calling about.

Try to be "yourself"; don't use a scripted text.

Can't stand voicemails. And from total strangers way out of my area code. Most recently, they come from unsolicited loan people like "yes, we do anything from conventional FHA all the way to blah blah blah.  Their phone number and "I look forward to hearing from you thank you so much bye bye." Jeez. How naive do I have to be to refer this anonymous person to my clients?

Repeat your phone number to make sure they understand it.