Say the persons name in the first four seconds. And say it again at least once in your voicemail.
A clear, professional voicemail greeting is essential for job seekers and professionals living in English speaking countries. Job recruiters, managers and colleagues will all expect a good, clear, professional voicemail greeting when they call you.
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Your voicemail should be very specific. It should be short and urgent. Use word's like "need", "should", "must" , or "have to" to create a sense of urgency. For example, say something like, "We need to discuss..." or "We should talk about..."
Generally, people that call and leave messages are more likely to be ideal customers of your business. Your voicemail message is often not much more than a formality to the person calling.
Professional — Lets them know who they’ve reached, why their call has not been answered and when they can expect a return call.Personable — Lets them know their message has been received by a real person who values their call and will reach back out to them. Including humor and a personal touch is extremely important here (even if your industry prefers to be more “robotic” in their communications). What is the most professional voicemail message?
Need script options? Take a look at these templates (and modify them as you please):
Following up with an email? Let them know at the end of the voicemail that’s what you’ll be doing.
And you can’t talk so fast they don’t understand you! Read on to learn more about how to make these twenty seconds count.
Here’s our ultimate guide, including video and audio samples, on every thing you need to know about professional voicemail greetings:
You may clean your voicemail box by following the instructions given by your service provider.
e. Never Assume Anything: Phrases like “You Know What To Do,” “Sing Your Song at the Beep,” and others mentioned above are awful to leave in your greeting. For the sake of universality and comprehensiveness, NEVER assume the caller knows what to do. Lay it out clearly. f. Leave a Message: This phrase, by itself, will not do. It’s imperative for users to identify themselves in their greetings. Callers need to know they’ve reached the right person. g. Disregard Lethargy: If you’re not excited about your greeting, why would anyone else be? Never display a lack of enthusiasm in your greeting as it could turn callers off to both you and your business. h. Speak Clearly and Never Slur: Callers need to understand your every word; therefore, mumbling, slurring, and all other detractions of speech should never be recorded. d. Be Creative Without Sacrificing Quality: Callers know how voicemails work–i.e. leave a number, message, etc. While you want to be clear, it’s important not to be contrive or redundant with your message. Creativity can help users to differentiate themselves, as well as intrigue callers. While users should avoid the tropes of creativity listed above, it’s definitely good to think outside the box. That being said, scripting and practice can help users to experiment more with their greeting–ultimately allowing for more unique and creative approach. e. Speak With Diction: It’s important to present one’s self as an authority without alienating callers. As such, it’s crucial to articulate and speak with clear diction. “ if your voice recording has you stumbling over words and speaking haltingly, it does not convey confidence and competence,” states Ron Sellers of Grey Matter Research & Consulting. Remember, this greeting represents you; therefore, you want to appear collected and professional, as well as welcoming. To do this, one must carry themselves well through their recorded message. f. Account for Timeliness: Your message should be concise. No caller wants to be sitting through a rant/diatribe of redundant statements. Your greeting should flow without dragging. Inversely, one doesn’t want to be terse, either. Engage callers with a simplified approach laden with creativity. h. Account for Quality: Aside from speaking clearly, users want to eliminate any noise in the surrounding environment. The quality of the greeting is just as important as what’s being said in the greeting itself. As such, one doesn’t want to undermine a great message with poor quality. i. Courtesy, Tastefulness, & Tact: This is pretty self-explanatory and straight forward–NEVER be rude. Being light-hearted and humorous is very different from being obnoxious and/or abrasive. Again, these tools can be helpful if utilized properly, but not everyone perceives humor the same way. So play it safe. The last thing your voicemail greeting should do is offend a caller. k. Provide Options: if you’re part of a bigger company, it might be good to offer caller options. For example, allow a menu to defer callers to a colleague or co-worker in your absence. This can help show callers you care about their well being. Another option might be offering different modes of communication–i.e. email, fax, etc. In offering users diversity, contact may be much easier to maintain.
32. Hi, you’ve reached [your name] at [X company]. Our office is currently closed until [X date]. Please leave us your name and number, and our team will get back to you as soon as possible. Enjoy [X holiday].
We’re all busy and have short attention spans, especially when it comes to listening to a pitch. Your prospects are no different — and you can use this knowledge as a tool to cut through the noise in their inbox.
Make sure your voicemail status is set to On. Set your greetings: Standard Greeting: Select the greeting that you just created. This will be the main greeting that callers will hear when they are transferred to your voicemail. Alternate Greeting: You can also set an alternate greeting to switch to when you are on vacation or in a meeting. By
• Hello, you have reached the office of XYZ; I will be out of my office starting on Tuesday, October 18th and will be returning on Monday, October 24th. You can call me when I return or leave a brief message. If this is an emergency, I can be reached on my cell, which is 000-000-0000.
Open your voicemail greeting with a 'Thank you for your call. We're not available right now by please leave your message and we'll get back to you within [specify time]'.
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