You can ask your admin to change the greeting language for everyone in your organization. Your admin should see this topic for instructions: Change the default language for greetings and emails.
1. "Hi, you've reached [your name] at [your company]. I'm unavailable right now — probably helping [type of company] get [X results, e.g. ‘ double their leads in 60 days,' ‘hire the best and brightest engineers,' ‘convert 40% more customers.']
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-Hey! Sorry I missed your call. If you’re a telemarketer, then I’m definitely not sorry. If you’re not a telemarketer, then I’ll return your call as soon as possible.
"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."
When you know something to be true, when you have an opinion that needs to be shared, be more assertive and powerful in your word choices. Here are 3 simple ways you can do that.
2. Offer clear options. For many small businesses, the phone announcement will typically send the caller straight to a voicemail box. For larger organizations, you may decide to direct callers to a phone menu with options or forward the call to an external destination.
We’re keeping it simple with this one. Just a few basic elements to help you get started. As long as you know who your audience is, the message you wish to convey, and the information you need from the caller, the rest should fall into place quite nicely. Let’s face it, a voicemail greeting for a lumber company will probably be different than that of a psychologist’s office. One greeting is aimed at securing potential customers, and the other is geared towards appointments, more or less. Once you are certain who your caller is, the better your voicemail. Center on your audience, first and foremost. Knowing what to relate ensures that your caller will leave the right message. For instance, if you’re a retail store, you would include your hours of operations, and perhaps any specials that you’re running. If you are a therapist’s office, then you’d need to include an alternate number in case a patient is having an issue and requires immediate help. Again, this will vary depending on the business. Here, a therapist would definitely request the caller leave their contact information. However, a retail store chain might not request that. There are also complex voicemail systems such as those used by mobile phone services, which ask you to press a certain number on your phone, where you are asked to leave your account information. Again, as you can see, it all boils down to the demographics of your callers, and what you need from them to conduct the best business possible. Depending on the situation, your caller might be in a good mood or not. In either case, they’ll probably be eagerly awaiting your call. So, it stands to reason that you only promise them a call back if you can deliver. In other words, if you’re a small shop and you’ve decided to close due to a much-needed sabbatical, then don’t leave a voicemail greeting where you promise them to call right back. However, if you have an active customer service staff, then you can promise to return their call within the same day.
OK, so I followed all the instructions that came with the machine. I pressed all the necessary buttons. So… now what? I… am… so… confused. Could you please… beep.
You can access your UniTel Voice account from any browser with your username and secure password. Since you manage your virtual phone system online, you can make changes in real time, no software or hardware is required.
5. "Hello, [Person's name] is chasing new adventures and is no longer with [Company name]. Please forward all future requests to [New or interim person's name] at [phone number].
This message is for Ms. Smith. This Laura from Dr. Tracy’s office calling about your last appointment. We’d like to share some details regarding your visit with you. You can return my call at 444-444-4444 anytime, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Have a good day.
If someone takes the time to call and leave you a voice message, they usually have a reason that they are calling. It does convey a certain level of interest when someone is willing to hop on the phone with you. If they were less interested, they would probably send you an email or fill out a form on your website.
If your job involves a lot of talking on the phone, take the time to learn the NATO phonetic alphabet. "If you need to spell something out, you'll always have a way to clarify which letter you've said without having to think about it, and it sounds more professional than, 'B as in boy, L as in...uhhh...Larry.'"
Set up your call forwarding to route callers to the proper extensions, phones, or voicemail.
15. "This is Bond. James Bond. Okay, it's really [your last name]. [Your first name] [your last name]. I'll get back to you as soon as I'm done helping M16 save the world — which will probably be tomorrow at the latest. Have a good day."
No one should be calling during the holidays, and yet some people do. When you’re out for the holidays, create a voicemail greeting that communicates the cheerfulness of the season while still staying professional.
Bonus Tip: If you find that people get cut off before completing their message, call your cell phone carrier and for a couple dollars a month, you can lengthen the time people have to leave you messages.