If you’re calling from your own phone, you’ll be able to access your voicemail without entering a PIN. This will happen even if you’ve previously set one up.
Before you read this, stop and listen to the voicemail greetings for your cellphone and business line. Seriously, I’ll wait.
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You should script out your greetings, rehearse, and find a tone of voice that is reflective of your professionalism and your company’s personality. If applicable, your tone and your message should take into account that certain industries and companies are more conservative than others.
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If you have a main business phone number that’s shared with the customers or publicly listed, you’ll want to make sure it has a professional voicemail message to greet callers. Here are sample greetings you can use to help you craft your own.
Instead of leading with tired old lines like 'Your call is important to us', brush up on your telephone etiquette and start your voicemail with a thank you.
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.
If you are a burglar, then we’re probably at home cleaning our weapons right now and can’t come to the phone. Otherwise, we probably aren’t home and it’s safe to leave us a message.
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.
When your business is closed for vacation or holidays, it’s imperative that you set appropriate expectations for a callback and to provide an alternative coverage option, if available. The following greeting accomplishes this succinctly.
18. Hello, you’ve reached the voicemail box for [employee name] at [company name]. [Employee first name] has moved onto a different position, but our new [job title, employee name] will be happy to assist you. Please call [number, extension] or leave a message here and a representative will get back to you.
A DUI attorney needs to be available on urgent notice as the clients can get mired into specific charges anytime, anywhere. Let us analyze how the ideal attorney voicemail scripts should be.
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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• Hello. You’ve reached XYZ in (name of department). I am in a meeting and cannot take your call right now, so please leave me a message after the beep.
In this case, the agent shows concern for the customer and wants to serve him in the best possible manner. The agent is also polite and courteous.
If you started your company more than a year ago, it’s probably time to change your voicemail script. Your recording should match the brand, tone, and voice of your company — just as though a caller were speaking to a member of your team.