Dan Grim, CEO/Founder of Good Stuff Tonics and Melior Botanicals, keeps his script even simpler:
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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.
“Hi _________, this is _______ ________ again with (your company). For some reason we haven’t been able to connect since I sent you (your demo, proposal, etc.), and believe me, I’ve been sales long enough to know what that probably means. I’m assuming you’ve either found another solution or this has been put on the back burner for now. Either way, that’s fine.
6. Write It Out And Rehearse. Unless you’re part of the 1% of people who love and excel at public speaking, you probably have a hard time conveying an unscripted message without a few pauses and 'um's here and there.
As I mentioned earlier, this won’t be the last voicemail you leave so get creative with future messages. The next day you could leave a voicemail similar to the following:
So that person doesn’t pick up, and you are thinking ok cool, I’ll just call back – but NO – then you hear that dreadful message (correction: dreaded message): “Hi, this is Luke Skywalker, I am not available right now, please leave a message after the beep. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you”
So what should you do if you’ve got a voicemail that’s really worth saving? The solution involves some free software and an affordable purchase, but it’s doable. Here’s how:
Depending on the purpose of your voicemail, these three bullets can take different forms, but if you’re checking these three boxes, you’ll be in good shape.
Sample Short Voicemail Greeting: Hi, this is [your name]. I'm either on a call or away from my desk. Please leave your name, number, and a brief message and I'll get back to you. Thank you. Sample Business Voicemail Greeting: Hello, you've reached [X company]. We can't take your call right now, but please leave your name, contact information
That being said, you want to stop short of coming off as aggressive. Remember to keep your tone conversational, and try not to badger prospects with too many voicemails. There's a middle ground between being pushy and being a pushover — try to strike that balance.
"The phone number early in the conversation is key," advises John Crossman, CEO of real estate firm Crossman & Company. "If it is a long message with a phone number at the end, I may not even listen to it."
Passwords do expire. The system will notify you when a new password is needed. Should you forget your password, please contact Telephone Services and we will reset your password to the default of 2468.
You can also use the Slydial app for iOS or Android. Create a free account with the service, then choose a contact through the app or manually enter a phone number. Once the app has connected the call, leave a voicemail, and hang up when you're finished.
Be brief. Don’t make your listener resent you for leaving a 5 minute long message. People are busy. Listening to 5 minute phone messages is not on the top of their priorities and wastes their time. Many callers seem to think they are the only person in the world leaving a voicemail for a particular person. Yet a dozen other people feel the same way and a man ends up holding the phone to his ear for an hour.
So that person doesn’t pick up, and you are thinking ok cool, I’ll just call back – but NO – then you hear that dreadful message (correction: dreaded message): “Hi, this is Luke Skywalker, I am not available right now, please leave a message after the beep. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you”
check words for the English /oʊ/ vowel. Many non-native speakers make this more like a single vowel and it’s a double vowel so it should have /o/ and /ʊ/ smoothly joined together. Check it in the word ‘phone’ . Another double vowel to look out for in your Voicemail Greeting example is the diphthong vowel /eɪ/. This vowel is in words like ‘wait’ and ‘able’. Many people use the word ‘can’t’ in their Voicemail greeting example. This can be a trap for non-native English speakers. That’s why we chose ‘unable’ instead! Watch out for the word ‘can’t’! In American English and British English the vowel in ‘can’t’ is pronounced with the vowel /æ/ like in ‘pat’ – /kænt/.