Many callers will be respectful of your wishes and follow your directives. This is extremely vital for reducing your voicemail volume.
This is optional, but you can also leave another form of contact on your voicemail, like an email, that the employer who is calling can utilize. This will show that you want to get back to them as quickly as possible, and you are giving them multiple ways to do so. This isn’t necessary, but can be a good step if you want to squeeze a little more into the voicemail without going overboard.
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“Hey Henry, I’m reaching out because I recently helped someone in a similar position to you save X amount of dollars…”
If you’re ready to go the professional direction, congratulations! Here are some websites you can use to hire a service to record your greeting.
When recording, choose a quiet area, speak clearly, and use your full name (first and last).
Hi, this is [Name]. I’m not currently available at the moment, but I look forward to talking with you. Please leave your contact information, along with a short message, and I’ll make certain to return your call.
Do you have a crowning achievement or hold a competitive advantage? Showcase that within your voicemail so you’ll be memorable and emphasize why working with you is an advantage. Here’s an example of a professional voicemail someone in real estate could use:
Good professional voicemail greeting examples. A business named Lorem Ipsum, which sells widgets, wants to leave a brief message that confirms for the listener that they have called the right business. The message would also prompt the caller to provide information needed to return the call, and throws in a nice quick promotional note.
5. Hi, this is [your name]. I can’t get to the phone right now, but please leave a message with your name and number, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
You have stated your calls-to-action. Now you have to make sure they know the process to follow. If you want your customers to leave their voicemail messages, you have to tell them from the start, “Kindly leave your name, purpose of your call, and how to contact you.”
4. "Hello, you've reached [your name and title]. I'm currently out on parental leave until [date]. In the meantime, please direct all phone calls to [alternate contact name] at [phone number] and emails to [email address].
Shut the office door and turn down the music—it’s time to record! Pretend that your office is your music recording studio as you prepare to vocalize your message. Remember that obscene background noise can be a major turn off to potential customers and prospects.
The script is relatively similar, but the doctor is including a good reason for not being available, so patients don’t feel like they’re being ignored. He’s also left another avenue for patients to get in touch if they need some urgent help.
Voicemail is necessary when no one can answer the phone. However, a dedicated receptionist can reduce the need for this feature and help people reach a live person. Consider live chat as well if your customers like to reach out online.
Provide as much useful information in your business voicemail greeting. However, be sure to keep it short and concise. An excessively lengthy voicemail can be damaging rather than helpful. Keep your voicemail to around 20-25 seconds maximum.
With all these things to include, it's easy to write your greeting the wrong way. To keep it simple, something like this:
For example, a message like, “Hi, this is Jim. You know what to do.” Well, not everyone is going to know what to do—i.e. they won’t leave you inclusive information. Additionally, they may not leave you a message at all. Aside from this, humor can again be detrimental to your message, this time lending itself to ambiguity and costing you clarity. For example, if a message read, “Hi this is Jim, sorry I can’t answer your call right now. Please leave your name and number and I’ll call you as soon as I can, but you already knew that right? Do I need to tell you what to do?” This is worse than the previous example as this is confusing and can also come across as rude and unprofessional. Complicating a greeting with phrasing like this is sure to cause some harm. e. Ignoring Personality & Identity: Don’t use computer generated greetings. Some users leave default messages (‘you’ve reached the voicemail box of 777-777-777, please leave a message). Believe it or not, even this can cause problems. Callers may be unsure if the voicemail box belongs to you; therefore, they don’t leave a message. Also, some may even be uncomfortable leaving information through a message in a nameless voice message box. As such, impersonalization can cause ambiguity, which again can hurt the effectiveness of your voice message system. This doesn’t mean you have to make an elaborate greeting if you don’t want to, just insert your voice and name so at least callers know they’re calling the right person.