For many businesses and professionals, your voicemail greeting is going to be the first point-of-contact for your customers. This is especially true for service businesses, who often rely on their voicemail to collect information from interested parties.
“Hey, there! This is [your name]. Please leave me a message with your name, number, and the reason you’re calling. If you also tell me [insert random fact] I’ll be sure to move you to the top of my call list. Have a great day!”
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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.
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.
Many businesses want to sound professional and, as a result, end up creating boring, monotonous, and overly generic messages such as: “Hi, this is Joe. I’m either on the phone or away from my desk. Please leave me a message.”
As you can see by reading our article on how to write the best voicemail greetings, they’re a bit more complex than one might imagine. There are important elements that cannot be left out, as to do so could cost you valuable business contacts. We realize this, so have included a selection of more funny, professional, and personal greeting examples, in MS Word and PDF format. By using these voicemail greetings, you’ll be well on your way to craft a greeting that will be pleasant to hear, provide the correct information, as well as requesting the correct information.
State your name clearly so the caller knows they have the right number. 3 of the messages I heard last month were missing his/her name.
Below are examples of excellent professional voicemail greetings for various situations to help you get started in creating your own perfect greeting! For each, we’ve included helpful tips, a sample voicemail greeting script, and an audio recording. The greetings are grouped by company greetings, department / team greetings, and personal business greetings. These greetings are likely longer than what you would want to use in real life – but our goal is to help you generate ideas to help you create your own!
So, I finally did it. Here’s my process for developing a professional voicemail message in 10 steps:
That’s why a script is so helpful. Wondering why prospects aren’t leaving messages if you don’t answer right away, or what all of those missed calls are?
Recording professional voicemail greetings is easy but many people find it to be akin to public speaking, and are therefore apprehensive about starting. First of all, lets acknowledge the elephant in the room and just say that nobody in the history of the world enjoys the sound of their voices being played back to them. Once you can accept that, getting a professional voicemail greeting or Auto Attendant menu recorded will be a lot easier. To help you get the right tone and tenor of what you’re trying to communicate over you business voicemail, we’ve put together this handy list of resources for you.
Voicemails that simply say, “call me” are irritating at best. If the recipient of your messages tends to fall into the trap listed in the previous point, tell him or her, “When you return my call, please leave a message on my voicemail to let me know the status of the project if I’m not able to pick up the phone.”
Your message should be 20 seconds at most. Remember, your clients or co-workers may listen to this dozens of times.
Voicemail and voice messages are among the top ways every professional business can use to enhance their customer services. Though this idea may sound strange to many in the internet age, this kind of mail is a proven source of solutions for business communications and customer service.
22. "Hi, you've reached [your name, the office of X company]. We're closed until [date]. Please leave your name and phone number and someone will return your call ASAP. Have a great [New Year's, Fourth of July, etc.]."
Business voicemail greetings are rarely thought of as a prime way to connect with customers. But just because you're not available doesn't mean you can't make a positive impression on your customers when they reach your voicemail box.
In fact, scripted voicemails receive an increased conversion rate of anywhere from 3% to 22% over unscripted voicemails.