Deciding what to say in a voicemail can be difficult. Poor quality and unprofessional voicemails come in a lot of shapes and sizes. Great voicemails strike the right balance of being concise, friendly and professional, which can be hard to do if you don’t leave them all the time.
AUDIX voice prompts tell you what to do at every step in a task. Once you have selected the appropriate Activity Menu Option, you can rely solely on the voice prompts to figure out what to do.
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Sticking with our "Andy Applicant" example, if Andy had left Hannah Hiring Manager a voicemail of, “It’s me and I would like to talk to you.” She will not know who Andy is nor what Andy wants to talk about. Effectively she will be answering Andy’s questions on the spot the whole time after she figures out how to get in touch with him. What if she forgets to mention something?
If you leave a message, here is a collection of techniques that have gotten calls returned: First name and number only (in a very businesslike manner). It seems that calls are returned in inverse proportion to the amount of information left. Be funny Clean wit will get response. Be indirect “I was going to mail you important information, and I wanted to confirm your address.” Offer fun “I had two extra tickets to the Knights game and I thought you might be interested. (here’s the sure shot) Please call me if you can’t go so I’m able to give the tickets to someone else.” If it was positive first meeting, remind the prospect where you met. Dangle the carrot. Leave just enough information to entice. Ask a provocative or thought provoking question.
Perhaps the biggest mistake in a sales voicemail is pitching too aggressively. If you sound like a smarmy used car salesperson, your prospects are going to delete your voicemails faster than you can say "lowest price guaranteed!"
Hello! You’ve reached [LinkedPhone’s Tech Support Team]. We are currently closed but we’re always eager to help. Our regular business hours are from [9am to 7pm Easter Standard Time, 7 days a week]. Please include your name, number, and a short description of the issue you’re experiencing. We promise to return your call by the end of the next business day. [If this is an urgent matter, press ‘0’ to be connected with our VIP support team]. Thank you.
When leaving messages, have mercy on your listeners and do the following: Speak slowly and leave your phone number at the beginning and the end of the message. Limit your comments to one or two subjects. Voicemail is not a one-person show. Sample of a Perfect Voicemail “Hi,
Instead of Luke Skywalker, use your own name, and ta-da you have your voicemail greeting.
See how this voicemail is straightforward, clear and concise? This might be a good script to start with if you’re new to making calls to leads. Always talk in a friendly voice and come from a place of caring (they’ll feel it on the other end of the line). After you’ve used the script for awhile, you’ll learn how leads are reacting to the voicemail and you can rescript it if necessary. Keep in mind, you will be calling the lead MANY times so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to try different scripts. To be most effective with your voicemail scripts, keeps notes on what’s working and what isn’t.
You’ve worked hard on your application. You’ve double- and triple-checked for spelling errors and you know you are a perfect fit for this job. You’ve followed up on your application and made such a great impression that the employer decides they want to call you in for an interview. You are checking your phone, anxiously awaiting the call…but nothing seems to happen.
Friends and colleagues speak to each using first names only. So do people of authority. They do not call each other and leave voicemail messages asking for Mister, Miss, or Mrs. Therefore, when you call a person you want to do business with and you leave a voicemail message, refer to them by their first name only. Don't say mister, miss, or misses. Don't say their last name. Begin your voicemail message by saying only "hi/hello" followed by the person's first name. Or, you can even forget the "hi/hello" and just say the person's first name. That is how you show confidence and authority and separate yourself from weak salespeople.
When you want to use your original greeting, delete your temporary greeting. To do this: Press the Message Key. Enter your password, followed by the # key. Press 0 for Mailbox Options. Press 4 to record your Temporary greeting. Press 2 to delete your Temporary Greeting. Hang up. Press the Message key. Enter your password, followed by the # key. Press 1 to listen to new messages. Follow the prompts to save, delete, etc.
The following sample voicemail messages will help you to use this form of communication effectively, whether you are leaving a message for someone to return your call or recording a greeting for people trying to contact you.
Dan Grim, CEO/Founder of Good Stuff Tonics and Melior Botanicals, keeps his script even simpler:
To set these options via the softphone (desktop app) or the telephone connected to the magicJack device, select the Vmail button then press zero (0) to select one of the above recordings.
Open your device’s Phone app .At the top right, tap More .Tap Settings. Voicemail.You can: Change what handles your voicemails: Tap Advanced Service. Set up your voice mailbox: Tap Advanced Setup. Change your notification settings: Tap Notifications.
Please leave your name and telephone number after the beep. Thank you for calling. You have reached the office of James Bucki. I can’t take your call right now, but if you leave me a message after the tone, I will return your call as soon as I can.