When recording your business voicemail greetings on your VoIP phone system, make sure to state the correct time when your callers can expect you to call back. If your call-back policy is within two hours or 24 hours, make sure to say the correct expected time so your callers don’t waste their time waiting for your call.
There you have it, a basic introduction into how to write the best voicemail greetings. As you have seen, they’re not as easy as you’d think, but once you get comfortable with the type of information required by each, writing and recording your own should be a piece of cake. If you’ve tried to write one yourself and still don’t ‘feel you’ve captured the right essence, then please look at one of our voicemails greeting templates. When it comes to recording it, remember to rehearse your script and speak clearly. If you don’t care for your own voice, then have someone else record it, or hire a professional voice actor. Remember, there are also free audio editing software programs like Audacity, where you can manipulate your recording until you get exactly what you want.
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No one wants to listen to an unenthusiastic message or do business with an individual who appears unenthusiastic about their business. That’s boring! Put some passion into your tone so you sound inviting to your customers. It may even help to smile as you record your voicemail. The first impression you make with a potential customer may very well be your voicemail, so make it count!
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.
It's easy to get carried away in a voicemail and include more detail than is necessary. We've all been in that situation where the automated or pre-recorded voice on the end of the line goes on and on with more information than you can take in.
8. "Hi, you've reached [your name]. I'm unable to come to the phone right now. But if you leave your name, number, and a short message, I'll be sure to call back.
Unexpected crises like COVID-19 can occur at any time. Here are a few example business voicemail scripts you can adapt for those unanticipated events. It’s important to incorporate key information that your clients need to know. You should also add a human touch by expressing your goodwill for them and their families.
Hello, (your name) summer home. Some are home, some aren’t. Leave your message at the tone.
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.
5. Voicemail greetings for holidays. Your customers might need you on the holidays. If you’re a business owner, you know this already. 🙂 Manage customer expectations and let them know how to get assistance.
Most mistakes are made right at the beginning. Many people do not know what they are going to say in advance and so they try to make a voice mail recording on-the-fly. Even only having a general idea of what you are going to say won’t really cut it. These types of greetings lack professionalism and sincerity. Write out your voice mail greeting word for word in advance and be sure to include information like: – The type of information that you need to return the call (name, number, details, etc)
Here’s a sample voicemail greeting script: “Hello, you’ve reached [name] at [company]. I’m unable to come to the phone right now. Leave your …
Hello. This is Chris. John and Mike aren’t here right now, but if you leave a message, they’ll get back to you as soon as they can.
6. Access your greeting or recorded name settings. Next, press the key on the dial pad that corresponds to options for your greeting or recorded name. In this case, it's 3.
Check your voicemail on iPhone. In the Phone app , Visual Voicemail (available from select carriers) shows a list of your messages. You can choose which ones to play and delete without listening to all of them. A badge on the Voicemail icon indicates the number of unheard messages.
When recording a personalized voicemail greeting on your office phone, your greeting should include only the company name and your extension number. When recording a personalized voicemail greeting on your office phone, your greeting should include only the company name and your extension number. State your name and spell it out if you’re asking callers to follow up with written correspondence. State your company name and department name. Let callers know that you cannot take their call right now. Invite them to leave a message. What should I record on my work voicemail?
44. Hello, you’ve reached [X department] at [X company]. Our team is currently out of the office, but we’ll be happy to assist you when we return. Leave a quick message that includes a callback number and a team member will reach out within one business day.