The above section details types of phrasing to avoid; however, it doesn’t detail what users should NOT say on their greeting. Though this is a bit loaded, as there are hundreds of combinations of things one shouldn’t say, there are some key components users should ALWAYS avoid. a. Forget About Slang: You should strive to be as professional and welcoming as possible in your greeting. While this may steer you towards using slang, in an attempt to make callers comfortable, it’ll most likely work against you. As a professional, your demeanor, tone, and speech should be clear cut and well articulated. Using slang undercuts this and works against you. b. Don’t Even Think About Profanity: This is a no-brainer. Never, under any circumstances, curse in your greeting EVER! c. Keep Your Sentences Clean, Don’t Ramble: Introduce yourself and give your caller specific direction. Avoid long diatribes detailing tangent thoughts. Keep it simple and quick. d. Always Return Your Calls: It’s important for callers to feel they are valued. Nothing dissolves this quicker than a greeting that doesn’t stress this. For example, “I’ll call you when I can,” “If I don’t return your call, please call back”—these phrases are terrible and completely destroy any good will you may have with a caller.
Do Not Disturb sends incoming calls straight to voicemail without ringing your phone. UniTel Voice also allows you to read a transcription of any voicemail so you can stay in the loop, even when you're too busy to talk.
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You can record a personal greeting, or you can use one of the pre-recorded CenturyLink greetings. Follow the system prompts to select your greeting:
Remember, your professional voicemail greeting recording can be an excellent opportunity to put your best foot forward with customers and promote your business in the process. We have collected 10 of the best voicemail greetings for …
You’re talking too fast. You’re still talking too fast. Slower. Slooooowwweeer. Yes, you have a lot of information to pack into that 20-second voicemail. Or do you? Read #6 to learn how to cut down your talk time.
Hi, you have reached …. Please leave your name, phone number and a message and if we like it we will return your call.
4. Keep your after hours voicemail greetings current. If your business will be closed during its normal operating days for a holiday or is dealing with some type of emergency situation you will want to update your after-hours announcement.
Adam Boalt, CEO of LiveAnswer, a provider of phone support services for small and midsized businesses, puts the voicemail abandonment rate at between 50 percent and 75 percent, depending on the type of business.
Hi there! You’ve reached the sewer on the next street. I can’t get to the phone right now, but if you take a wee walk, I’ll be at the sewer grate with the red balloon…floating. Please feel free to join me.
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Your clients don’t have a lot of time, and neither do you. Use the following short voicemail greetings to get to the point quickly and invite them to leave a message.
For example, a message like, “Hi, this is Jim. You know what to do.” Well, not everyone is going to know what to do—i.e. they won’t leave you inclusive information. Additionally, they may not leave you a message at all. Aside from this, humor can again be detrimental to your message, this time lending itself to ambiguity and costing you clarity. For example, if a message read, “Hi this is Jim, sorry I can’t answer your call right now. Please leave your name and number and I’ll call you as soon as I can, but you already knew that right? Do I need to tell you what to do?” This is worse than the previous example as this is confusing and can also come across as rude and unprofessional. Complicating a greeting with phrasing like this is sure to cause some harm. e. Ignoring Personality & Identity: Don’t use computer generated greetings. Some users leave default messages (‘you’ve reached the voicemail box of 777-777-777, please leave a message). Believe it or not, even this can cause problems. Callers may be unsure if the voicemail box belongs to you; therefore, they don’t leave a message. Also, some may even be uncomfortable leaving information through a message in a nameless voice message box. As such, impersonalization can cause ambiguity, which again can hurt the effectiveness of your voice message system. This doesn’t mean you have to make an elaborate greeting if you don’t want to, just insert your voice and name so at least callers know they’re calling the right person.
Even in the case of cold calls, you should have a reason for contacting people and name that reason. For instance, you might contact business owners if you specialize in business insurance. In the case of warm calls, you may be contacting people who visited your website or registered for a free webinar. Mention this when you call.
Edit the Primary Phone Number and/or Extension. 5
2.) Welcome to John Doe. Unfortunately you are calling us outside our normal business hours. Personally you can reach us Monday to Friday from 8am 6pm and Saturday from 9am to 4pm. Please leave a message, or send us an email to: [email protected]. We will contact you as soon as possible - Thank you.
For the safety of our team and our customers during the pandemic, [LinkedPhone] is currently closed until further notice. We are grateful for your ongoing support and patience during this time and we look forward to reconnecting with you as soon as possible. Please visit our website or social media channels for updates. Stay safe and healthy.
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.