Some of us may still remember a time when voicemail was a blank canvas for pranksters and humorists. They would use voicemail greetings as a place to begin recordings as if they were answering the phone (“Hello? I can’t hear you… Just kidding! Leave a message…”) or to flash some personality with music or themed messages. Unless your business is a costume rental facility or joke and magic trick shop, it’s best to avoid this strategy. Instead, try to remember a few key points to focus on-
Professional recording studio — Rent a professional recording studio space for a day to have optimal audio quality.Professional speaker — Hire a voiceover professional to create all of the voicemails across your company.Create a script — Create scripts for the voiceover professional to use during recording.Be personable — As noted above, allow for a bit of personality in the recording.Be positive — Tone matters more than the words you say!Keep it short — The longer they have to listen, the less likely they are to leave a message.Ask for details — Make sure to get the most important information from them in their message. Get a free business voicemail script (that you can use today!)
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Many people get nervous when recording a voice message. Add to that the pressure you might feel trying to create a professional greeting for your company’s phone number! Here are a few tips on planning and recording a voicemail greeting for your business, followed by the Phone.com tools that make it much easier to make classy greetings.
The biggest barrier is actually getting them to leave the voicemail in the first place. Don’t get in your own way by recording a long, drawn-out voicemail greeting that might do more to convince them to hang up than actually leave a message.
If anything big changes- address, phone, etc.- make sure you correct your voicemail early on. Keep It Short; We know, we know. We just gave you all this information and we’re now telling you to ‘keep it short‘. But, a professional voicemail greeting (or any for that matter) shouldn’t go beyond 20-25 seconds.
Hello. Thank you for contacting [Business Name]. Unfortunately, we are not currently available at the moment. Our regular office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4 pm, closed during the weekend. Please leave a message along with your name and number, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Hi, you've reached Sally Smith at Example Realty. We specialize in helping you find commercial properties in Northern New Jersey. I'm unavailable to take your call, but will call you back by this time tomorrow if you leave a message with your name and telephone number. You can also email [email protected] or tweet @SallyS.
Rather than the over-used “I’ll check in again on Monday,” leave the conversation off with a reminder of the benefit of chatting or a specific question that gets their gears turning.
Below are examples of what to say in a voicemail message. Whether recording the message for a personal phone or a business line, these ideas will help. Using humor is appropriate in some situations, but humor should be avoided in situations including serious businesses where reputations could be damaged or people could become upset.
Hello, you have reached Dr. A. We are busy assisting patient on the another line. Please, leave your details, including the case number if applicable, name, and phone number. For a medical emergency, hang up and call 911.
If you are going to use your own phone to record your greeting, be sure to use a land line. Cell phones can’t always be trusted to produce a high quality sound and often the callers will hear distortion, static, or flight information in the background because you decided to record a new message while waiting for your plane at the airport. Always use a land line in a quiet setting to make your recording.
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Here are 5 sample business voicemail greeting scripts that will leave a positive and personable impression on your callers.
For those with voicemail greetings that get changed about as often as a new president is elected, know that this is doing a serious disservice to the caller-recipient relationship. It signals to callers that the business is anything but an authority, most likely not very detail oriented, and has questionable overall credibility and competency. Those aren’t traits that any business wants to associate itself.
OpenPhone is a modern business phone service app for startups, small businesses, and individuals. OpenPhone separates your professional and personal communications and enables you to personalize your number to reflect your own brand. Use your business number directly from your existing cell phone!
A general voicemail greeting is what callers will be greeted with if you are unable to answer the phone at work. It is the everyday greeting, used as the default, unless you have set up a temporary greeting, such as an away message while you're on vacation, or a special message during a holiday.
A relatively unprofessional one — like mine, for instance — does the opposite: It encourages prospects, recruiters, and potential connections to run in the other direction.