I’ve called a few students lately to help with their search and have gotten this message, “We’re sorry. The person you have tried to call isn’t available right now. Please leave a short 10 second message and it will be converted to text. Again, these messages aren’t always converted correctly and you run the risk of missing out on internship opportunities if you do not have a professional voicemail set up. It is well worth it to have a professional voicemail, and it's not difficult to set up at all. If you haven't already got one, take 5 minutes to create it today. Back To All Next Article Take your video interviewing game to the next level
To create a professional business voicemail greeting, businesses need to do several things:
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In this quick guide, we’ll take a look at what makes a good business voicemail greeting, breaking it down into the elements that every voicemail greeting should contain.
If you’re planning on doing a sales call sprint via phone – so, possibly via voicemail – trust the scripts crafted by close.io’s Steli Efti on this one . Finally, since it tends to come out of people nearly automatically whenever they leave VMs on phones: Please don’t say “I tried calling you” or “I wasn’t able to reach you.”
The above section details types of phrasing to avoid; however, it doesn’t detail what users should NOT say on their greeting. Though this is a bit loaded, as there are hundreds of combinations of things one shouldn’t say, there are some key components users should ALWAYS avoid. a. Forget About Slang: You should strive to be as professional and welcoming as possible in your greeting. While this may steer you towards using slang, in an attempt to make callers comfortable, it’ll most likely work against you. As a professional, your demeanor, tone, and speech should be clear cut and well articulated. Using slang undercuts this and works against you. b. Don’t Even Think About Profanity: This is a no-brainer. Never, under any circumstances, curse in your greeting EVER! c. Keep Your Sentences Clean, Don’t Ramble: Introduce yourself and give your caller specific direction. Avoid long diatribes detailing tangent thoughts. Keep it simple and quick. d. Always Return Your Calls: It’s important for callers to feel they are valued. Nothing dissolves this quicker than a greeting that doesn’t stress this. For example, “I’ll call you when I can,” “If I don’t return your call, please call back”—these phrases are terrible and completely destroy any good will you may have with a caller.
Friends and colleagues speak to each using first names only. So do people of authority. They do not call each other and leave voicemail messages asking for Mister, Miss, or Mrs. Therefore, when you call a person you want to do business with and you leave a voicemail message, refer to them by their first name only. Don't say mister, miss, or misses. Don't say their last name. Begin your voicemail message by saying only "hi/hello" followed by the person's first name. Or, you can even forget the "hi/hello" and just say the person's first name. That is how you show confidence and authority and separate yourself from weak salespeople.
Need French Canadian voicemail voice? Listen to Lili’s bilingual (English & French Canadian) voicemail demos here. Need a Spanish voice? Listen to her Spanish voicemail recordings here.
5. "Hello, [Person's name] is chasing new adventures and is no longer with [Company name]. Please forward all future requests to [New or interim person's name] at [phone number].
This means you’re contacting the prospect in multiple ways and increasing your chances of somehow getting a response — Whether it’s via phone or another way.
15. “Hi, Thanks for giving us a call! Sorry, but we are closed right now. Please leave us your name, number and the best time to reach you and we’ll get back to you within the day. Thank you.”
Voicemail Scripts for New Prospects Sample Voicemail Message #1: Here is the classic template when calling a new prospect – adjust and adapt it to fit your product or service. In this and all examples, leave your phone number SLOWLY. “Hi _____, this is _____ with (your company).
10. Hello, you’ve reached [your company]. We’re sorry to have missed your call. Please leave a brief message including your name, number, and reason for calling and a member of our team will get back to you within one business day.
And make sure in the queues you leave for yourself as notes you write it down as a reminder to say it out loud.
The simple truth is that you need to be more aware of what you’re leaving for other people to hear. Sure, this doesn’t always register as a priority for users, but it’s never too late to reassess your greeting. a. Reading/Speaking in the Imperfect Tone: Tone is absolutely everything. Users don’t want to come off as being too nice, as it sounds insincere, or being too terse, as it can be interpreted as being rude. That being said, striking the right balance is absolutely essential. Your greeting exists as its own entity, and therefore, it should NOT rely on callers’ familiarity with you. Instead, it needs to appeal to the masses. As such, your inflection, i.e. the way you state your name and directions, needs to be both welcoming and firm. b. Injecting Humor & Insincerity: While humor/light heartedness can be welcoming, it can also convey a sense of informality, insincerity, and ultimately unprofessionalism. Why, because you’re not there to lend your humor or to contextualize. Instead, you’re assuming the caller has a working knowledge of your personality to ground the message. Though this might not sound like it’s all that terrible—it can be detrimental. As stated above, one should NEVER rely on a caller’s familiarity with you. Instead, aim to appeal to the masses. Humor is ultimately subjective, meaning not everyone has the same tastes; therefore, someone is bound to be turned off by a quirky or off-color remark. While implementing a light-hearted or even tongue and cheek tone can work, it’s just a really bad idea.
When someone reaches your voicemail, it’s important that you help them confirm that they have reached the right person by providing all of the relevant information that they will need. Who have they reached? Did they contact the right person and the right business? Should they leave a message? When will you get back to them? Is there a better time for them to call?
Many businesses want to sound professional and, as a result, end up creating boring, monotonous, and overly generic messages such as: “Hi, this is Joe. I’m either on the phone or away from my desk. Please leave me a message.”
Here’s our ultimate guide, including video and audio samples, on every thing you need to know about professional voicemail greetings: