When your customers call and leave a message, their experience can significantly influence their view of your business. From navigating a menu to hearing a prerecorded business voicemail greeting, they’ll take note of how simple and professional their experience was. You can make sure they reach you with ease, both by optimizing their automated menu navigation and by ensuring they hear a professional recorded message when they call.
When was the last time you checked your voicemail for missed messages and paid attention to your greeting? If you’ve activated your Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone’s voicemail transcription feature for convenience, chances are it’s been ages since you last listened to your voicemail greeting. So it's probably time that you took the time to update it for your callers.
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If you don’t know it by now, you might never know. Voicemail greetings are incredibly important to users. It conveys identity, character, and image to callers. In an increasingly digital world, where business is conducted online and over the phone, phone presence is increasingly important. As such, your greeting is a crucial part of the platform. While there are a number of obstacles to be aware of, utilized properly, voicemail greetings can be incredibly helpful and beneficial; therefore, its in users best interest to invest themselves in creating a quality recording.
Expand your opening to with 'Thank you for calling [insert company/individual name]' or 'You've reached the voicemail of [insert company/individual name]'. This personal touch goes a long way towards building a rapport even when you're not available to answer the call directly.
Another point you want to bring up in the first few seconds of your call is why the person should keep on listening.
10Hello, this is [your name]. I’m probably at home just avoiding someone I dislike. A funny way of telling someone you’re avoiding them without sounding offensive or having to pick their calls. Please speak very slowly, make it short, make it sweet, and I’ll deliver the message to them. Using other household appliances as stand-ins for the message center is cute and funny. This voicemail will warn callers not to bring drama, so you can save yourself the trouble of having to hear a message that was about to spoil your day.
2. Straight To The Point Voicemail Greetings. (Insert name) is either away from their desk or on another call. Leave your name, number, and a brief message and (insert name) will return your call within (insert timeframe.)
21. “Happy holidays. Thanks for calling OpenPhone. Our hours are a little different during the holiday season. Please listen carefully to the following changes. Customer Support is available December 23, 27, and 30th as well as January 2nd, 3rd from 11 AM – 5 PM EST. On December 24th, 31st, and the holiday weekends from the 21st to the 5th we are open from 12 PM – 3 PM EST. We are closed on December 25th, 26th as well as January 1st. In the case of an emergency, please leave a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. You can also reach out via email to [email protected]. Thanks for using OpenPhone and enjoy your holiday season!” Since our holiday hours are shorter, it’s a little harder to get in contact with us immediately. That means we need to be as detailed as possible for our callers’ convenience. Yet, we still kept it brief and friendly.
For a downloadable Quick Reference Guide to the voicemail phone menu, click here.
The above eight rules of engagement for voicemail greetings may sound easy enough, but they’ll require some practice to get just right. Let’s look at some examples to provide some context in how to apply the rules to various types of greetings and situations.
In sales, immediate communication with your prospects and current customers is important. Being available to answer questions or further negotiate a deal allows your clients to feel secure and more apt to purchase from you. But what if you can’t answer the phone when they call? Make sure you have a voicemail system set up so your clients have the opportunity to leave you a message.
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A badly-done greeting, on the other hand, can confuse and infuriate customers over the phone. Creating a professional-sounding voice recording for your phone system can be a more difficult process than one initially might assume. To create a professional business voicemail greeting, businesses need to do several things:
When you speak into your phone, do not speak directly into the mouthpiece. If you do, you will likely create “popping” and “hissing” noises when you pronounce words that have the letters “p” or “s” in them. Be sure to speak across the mouthpiece and not directly into it.
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 large part of leaving a voicemail and communicating with a prospect goes beyond the script — it includes your tone of voice.
You should acknowledge that right off the bat by apologizing that they couldn't reach you directly.