Whether it’s an out-of-stock product, a canceled event, or social media snafu, there are times when your business may see an influx of frustrated callers. While it is important to address their concerns head-on, you may not be able to answer each call as it’s received. Make sure you use best practices for dealing with angry customers, and that your voicemail greeting sets the appropriate tone. Avoid defensive language, validate their concerns, and keep them informed as to how you are handling the situation.
If your business is off for a holiday, it's a common courtesy to update your voicemail to acknowledge the closure. Mention the closure in the beginning of the message, convey when your business is reopening, and don't forget to wish the callers a happy holiday if the occasion calls for it. If you're away from your office, check your voicemail remotely to keep up with incoming messages if necessary. Or get voicemail to email capabilities set up on your phone system. Thank you for calling Merlow Plumbing. We are closed for Christmas from December 24th, 2015, until January 2nd, 2016. Our normal business hours are Monday through Thursday, 8 am - 6 pm. Please leave your message after the tone. Have a happy holiday, and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year. 5. Emergency Situation Voicemail Greeting
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5. Emergency Situation Voicemail Greeting. In the case that your business is closed due to an emergency, it's only worth it to go into detail if the problem is affecting everyone in the area.
If you can get your voice mail greeting professionally recorded, then definitely consider it! These greetings sound great and can have a strong “corporate” or “important” feeling to them. When they are done properly, these recordings can be very memorable and get a lot of attention. A professional voice talent can be hired to make your greeting sound fantastic. Yes, they might be less personal, but they are certainly professional. So it’s up to you which image you want to portray. If you use a web-based voice mail system like Solaxis, then you can upload these recordings directly into your voice mail system.
When you speak into your phone, do not speak directly into the mouthpiece. If you do, you will likely create “popping” and “hissing” noises when you pronounce words that have the letters “p” or “s” in them. Be sure to speak across the mouthpiece and not directly into it.
To improve a a business voicemail greeting, keep these eight rules at the forefront of the creative process: Avoid turning customers off with overused and impersonal phrases like “your call is very important to us..." Avoid leaving customers unsure by not immediately telling them the business, department, and/or person they’ve reached. Avoid leaving customers confused with too many details and complications; just keep it simple. Avoid messages longer than 25 seconds. Do apologize for being unavailable at the moment. Do invite the caller to leave a message. Do tell the caller when they can expect a return call and actually follow through within that timeframe. Do tell the caller about any applicable alternative options of contact and information- website, live chat, email, social media, or emergency numbers. Voicemail Greetings 101
In Australian English it’s pronounced with the vowel /a:/ like in ‘part’. Problems arise when people use the /ʌ/ vowel (like in ‘up’) instead of /æ/ or /a:/. If you do this is will sound like the worst swear word in English. Many non-native speakers often pronounce the vowel /æ/ more like /ʌ/ because they don’t have a vowel like /æ/ in their first language. Many speakers of European languages will do this (Spanish speakers and Italian speakers) and also speakers of Japanese and Korean. This problem with /æ/ also means that if you say the word ‘back’ in your voicemail greeting sample, you are likely to pronounce it more like ‘buck’. remember to pronounce word endings in English. Check you aren’t dropping any endings off or mispronouncing them.
There’s nothing worse than missing a call and knowing a valuable customer was greeted with a standard voicemail message. With YouMail, you can ensure your most important calls are met with not only a message that welcomes them by name, but also receive an urgent or simply personalized message you wanted to pass on.
Record a personalized greeting, up to 3 minutes long. A common template you can follow is: "You've reached [name]. We can't get to the phone right now, but if you leave a message, we'll call you back."
A lot of care and consideration should be given to who will be providing the voiceover for a business’ audio recordings before the selection is made.
Once you have your message, you need to actually record it. The exact process varies depending on whether you’re using a cell phone or office phone, but here’s the basic process: Press the voicemail button, or press and hold 1 on most cell phones. Enter your password. Record your message. Listen to the message you just recorded. Follow the prompts to save your message. Following Up on Voicemail Messages
This video on English Voicemail Greeting Sample covers the key areas of English pronunciation such as double / diphthong vowels, long vowels, word stress and word endings and more.
Hi, you've reached the main voicemail for [business name]. We pride ourselves on exceptional customer service, so please either leave a message with your …
Hello, and welcome to Answering Machines of the Rich and Famous! (your name here) can’t come to the phone right now, because he’s spending the week in his beautiful summer home on the French Riviera…
Most mistakes are made right at the beginning. Many people do not know what they are going to say in advance and so they try to make a voice mail recording on-the-fly. Even only having a general idea of what you are going to say won’t really cut it. These types of greetings lack professionalism and sincerity. Write out your voice mail greeting word for word in advance and be sure to include information like: – The type of information that you need to return the call (name, number, details, etc)
With so much stacked against you, why bother? Because the responses to sales voicemails are generally of a much higher quality. What you lose in response rate will be made up for in conversion rate—if you know how to leave quality messages, that is.
Some phone systems allow employees to specify a primary greeting and set secondary messages to cover absences or vacations. When creating an individual voicemail greeting, clearly identify yourself, your role, and your company, and let the caller know when you will be able to return their call.