The length of your voicemail plays a big role in its efficacy. Try to keep the length of your voicemail between 15- 30 seconds. Anything more and you will be rambling, anything less, and you’re probably not checking one of the three boxes above as effectively as you need to.
Click on the video below for more great tips for a perfect voicemail from Corporate Speech Solutions President, Jayne Latz:
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Personal Greeting. A Personal greeting is a longer individual message recorded by the user and several variations are available depending on the context of the call. The options are a Personal After Hours greeting, a Personal Busy greeting, a Personal Internal greeting, a Personal External greeting. What should you say when leaving a voicemail message? Say the person's first name ONLY. Say your first name only followed by your company name. Keep your voicemail brief and urgent. Leave a reference name of a person and company you've worked with. How do I save a voicemail greeting?
To recover a deleted message, tap Deleted Messages, tap the message, then tap Undelete.
When opening your voicemail, start with a professional or generic greeting like, “Hello” or “Good Morning”. Be sure to clearly state your name, who you are/where you’re from, and (where applicable) how you got their contact information.
“(Intro) I’m calling regarding the voicemail I left you (earlier today/yesterday) about (example: how we recently helped competitor 1, 2, and 3 avoid ______ while ______) and wanted to see if it would make sense for us to have a conversation to determine if what we do would be of some help to you as well. If you’d like to discuss this further you can reach me at __________. I’ll send a follow up email to this message so if it’s easier to reply that way you can or if you’d rather talk via the phone, again, my number is _________.”
Go the Audio Input tab and opt for the Microphone. Make sure that you move the mobile phone’s earpiece or speaker close to the Microphone as possible.
10. "Hello, you've reached [X company]. We can't take your call right now, but please leave your name, contact information, and reason for reaching out, and one of our team members will be in touch within 24 hours."
Use the Temporary Greeting when you want to record a greeting that you plan to use for a limited time (for example an out-of-office greeting). Press the Message Key. Enter your password, followed by the # key. Press 0 for Mailbox Options. Press 4 to record your Temporary Greeting After the tone, record your temporary greeting. Press # when finished. Follow the prompts to confirm or record the greeting again.
[Here is some great advice for opening your cold-calls without boxing yourself in as JUST an agent]
Dr. Brown’s office is open for patient care Monday through Thursday 8 -5. If you are a patient or record and are experiencing a true dental emergency, please call Dr. Brown directly at 888-888. If you would like to leave a message, please do so after the tone. We will call you back very soon.
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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,
You’re growing tired. Your eyelids are getting heavy. You feel very sleepy now. You are gradually losing your willpower and your ability to resist suggestions. When you hear the tone you will feel helplessly compelled to leave your name, number, and a message.
You can play a voice message at different speeds and pause/resume the message, using desktop client visual voicemail, or by dialing into their voicemail. Pressing a certain key on your phone controls how you can hear the voicemail: Read your voicemail transcription
For example: “Hi this is Anna Smith. I am a local loan officer who wants to help you accomplish your financial goals, like living in your dream home. I would love to talk to you about your goals, and see how I can help you throughout the process. Give me a call today at XXX-XXX-XXXX.”
To access voice mail settings in classic Outlook on the web, select Settings > Mail > General > Voice mail.