With most businesses closing for at least the Christmas-New Year break, it’s important to be prepared and know how to change the messages your prospects and customer hear when they call your business during that period.
8. Informative. Companies that offer services often get calls about something specific. For this, add the information to your voicemail. For example, your greeting might say
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13. “Hi, you’ve reached [company]. We’re available by phone from [hour] to [hour] [time zone] Monday through Friday [optional: and from hour to hour on the weekends]. You can also contact us by going to our website, [URL], and live-chatting or emailing us. If you’d like us to call you back, please leave your name and number after the beep.”
Generally, people that call and leave messages are more likely to be ideal customers of your business. Your voicemail message is often not much more than a formality to the person calling.
Is your refrigerator running? You better go catch it! Corny jokes like this don't work anymore...and won't work in your voicemail greeting. Saying things like, "Hello, you've reach the machine that lives inside Mark's cell phone. Leave a message and I'll tell him!" are really unappealing and aren't even funny.
JS Hello Me Community Experts in Multifamily Property Management, Apartment Investment, Apartment Marketing, Apartment Leasing, and Apartment Jobs HomeAbout Multifamily InsidersMultifamily NewsCulture and MissionContact UsMy MFIEdit ProfileInboxCommunityAll InsidersSearch InsidersEventsWebinar WednesdaysMastering MaintenanceSpeaker LineupInsiders' Choice Award WinnersWebinars On DemandSocial Multifamily ShareSpaceLinkedIn Multifamily HubDiscuss!Recent PostsPopular DiscussionsInsider BlogsMy BlogsMy Blog DashboardFile BankUpload FilesDealsResearchResident Events Listen to your Voicemail Greeting 10 years 5 months ago #6148 We all know how hard it is to answer the phone every single time it rings. The reality is, sometimes you just miss a call. Have you listened to your voicemail greeting recently? Being a marketing partner, and currently an apartment shopper, I call apartment communities just about every day. I definitely get plenty of voicemail greetings, especially if I call close to the lunch hour, that wouldn't encourage me whatsoever to call back if I were a prospect! I'm going to start working with my clients on their voicemail greetings - what do the seasoned experts out there think they should include and sound like? Are there any guidelines you would suggest? My industry mentor tells me that properties tend to take on the personality of their managers; how do we apply that belief to even the smallest things like voicemail? Colin Hagan Topic Author Posts: 10 Thank you received: 0 Re:Listen to your Voicemail Greeting 10 years 5 months ago #6149 You know, I'm not a big fan of having a voice mail message picking up for the property when the office staff is busy or not there. I think it's a good idea to consider using an answering service or perhaps a third party service that can answer questions, send info, or maybe set appointments. I can understand where a prospective rent may not be inclined to visit a community they call and do not get a live person on the phone. My company does use an answering service and the service is usually successful at getting the name, number, floor plan, and lead source when we are not able to answer. Denny Humphrey Posts: 16 Thank you received: 0 Re:Listen to your Voicemail Greeting 10 years 5 months ago #6152 This is completely personal but I CANNOT stand when I call a place and there voicemail message is longer than 30 seconds... If it's too long I'm hanging up or if someone sounds overly cheerful or bored... Chrissy Surprenant Posts: 118 Thank you received: 1 Re:Listen to your Voicemail Greeting 10 years 5 months ago #6160 I have shopped many properties over the years. Some VM messages are good, some are less than good and some are just plain BAD!! Maybe it's just me, but if the message sends me to the property web site, I get annoyed! I was just on the web site!!Now I'm ready to talk to a real live person!! I have used call centers who answer after so many rings with good and bad results. I am not a fan of the Auto-Systems that answer and give you 20 other choices and when you make a choice, you hear another message! We have about 10 seconds or less to capture a callers attention, sound different from the competition, and make yourself sound interesting enough for them to want to leave a message. The message should be clear, quick and concise. Gerry Hunt Re:Listen to your Voicemail Greeting 10 years 5 months ago #6167 Great points Gerry and Chrissy, I agree totally. Messages should be no more than 30 seconds and even getting close to that mark is too much. Make your point, don't be sales pitch-y and then let them leave the message. For me when I hear an answering machine message I'm just waiting for the tone so I can start talking... I'm really not paying much attention to what they are saying. If voice mail messages were a closing tool we'd have a source code for them. Ha! Bill Szczytko Posts: 64 Thank you received: 0 Re:Listen to your Voicemail Greeting 10 years 5 months ago #6169 Re:Listen to your Voicemail Greeting 10 years 5 months ago #6172 I hate the VM's that start with "press 1 if this is a maintenance emergency." If you are calling to inquire about leasing, the first thing you think is "this place needs maintenance. Danny Soule Posts: 19 Thank you received: 0 Re:Listen to your Voicemail Greeting 10 years 5 months ago #6185 Chrissy, you make me smile!! When a property has a website it should be on all advertising, flyers, and correspondence. The company paid big bucks to have the web site developed; we want to direct folks to it!! It is also a great tool to use when talking to a prospect on the phone. The leasing person can direct the prospect to the site and talk about floor plans and amenities WITH the prospect! In my opinion VM tend to be to long and boring. By the time I call the property, I just want to talk with a PERSON! I have been to the web site, and I don’t want to be directed back to it! Of course, I am also in the business and maybe just a little impatient!! Re:Listen to your Voicemail Greeting 10 years 5 months ago #6188 At least I made you smile... I'm still right though hahaha!! Sorry I had to tease you a little ;)
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In this blog post, we'll cover how to set up several voicemail greetings: a name recording for your voicemail box, a default greeting, and a temporary (for holidays and vacations) greeting.
-So long as phones can ring and eyes can see, leave a message, and I’ll get back to thee.
Prepare for alpha test of Beep Software revision 1.05. Counting down to test: 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
4 hours agoAdmittedly, email is the most prolific communication tool for businesses, unfortunately, business owners do limit the benefit of sending emails to their clients especially the creative voicemail greetings. Business professionals are often overwhelmed with many business tasks, and as a result, customers are being overlooked unintentionally.
This is exactly why you need to create such a voicemail that lets your prospects analyze it and give their details for you to reach out to them.
If you are a friend, trying to give us money or just want to talk, then leave a message or try my cell phone number. I don’t know who you are, and I don’t know what you want. But you can tell me all of that in the message you leave me. Try These Sample Voicemail Greetings.
Hey, it’s me. I am home, but really trying to avoid someone I don’t like. So if you’ve left me a message and I haven’t called you back, then it’s probably you.
To whom it may concern. You’ve tried to reach Wilbur and Ed. We aren’t here at the moment, but if you want, you can leave your contact information at the tone and one of the brood will get to you shortly. Take care, thanks for the call.
2. Hello you’ve reached Matt Grech, I’ll be out of the office for the next few days due to the holidays. Feel free to leave a message, or you can shoot me an email at Matt@GetVoIP if something urgent pops up. I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as I return to the office. Happy holidays!
When on vacation, provide your callers with a return date and a back-up contact person to accommodate emergencies. This prevents you from potentially damaging a valued relationship while you enjoy some time off.