Editor’s Note: The article is part of the blog series Grow Your Business brought to you by the marketing team at UniTel Voice, the virtual phone system priced and designed for startups and small business owners.
You may think this is boring, but it’s what works. Leave the sales talk and the promotion for when you call them back. Leaving a greeting is all well and good, but if it has no context you’re going to struggle to stop the person from giving up on you. Make sure people know that they’ve reached the right place. Hello, this is the office of X, the Y department. Please leave your name, reason for calling, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. By mentioning the specific department or office they’ve reached, you’re reminding them that they’ve reached the right place, and this is not some generic support department they’ve been redirected to. We talk to lots of different people every day. Make sure you remind people of who you are, and why you’re the best person to handle their call (and more importantly their valuable time). Hello, my name is X, the Senior Manager of Y, I’m sorry I’m unavailable right now, but if you leave your number I’ll return your call as soon as I can. Not only have you revealed who you are, but you’ve also given them the reassurance that their call is important to you. It leaves the right impression. The order of your words can seriously impact how your greeting is received. Research shows that we remember the first and last items on a list best, so the statements that matter most are those at the beginning and those at the end. Hello, you have reached X. I’m out of the office at the moment. Provide me with your contact details and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Do you see how important the order of the words is? The name comes first and the call to action is last. Most people will put all this important information in the middle of their greeting. It may not seem like a big difference, but it really matters. It can be tempting to try to fit as much information into a voicemail greeting as possible. Don’t do that. Sometimes less is more. Try to incorporate some strategic pauses into your greeting, so you can let everything sink in. Hello, this is X from Y. [Pause] I am not available to take your call right now. [Pause] If you are calling about Z, then please leave your name and number and I will get back to you as soon as you can.
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If the company greeting is any good, it will typically be “Thank you for calling.”
Solution: Make it easier for callers to reach a real person. For example, if you have multiple phone lines, Spectrum Business Voice offers you the option of setting up an auto-attendant that answers your business phone and provides callers with a menu of options—such as particular employees or departments. This way, callers are more likely to reach the people who can help them. A hunt group is another voicemail feature: If one employee does not answer their phone, it redirects calls to another phone line in your business and can keep trying all the lines you have. It will only direct calls to voicemail if no one answers their line.
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Numa is a specialized phone answering service that gives your callers this option any time you don’t answer the phone. We answer hundreds of thousands of calls every month and serve businesses in a wide range of industries. The percent of callers who start a text conversation varies by industry, but our customers have seen up to 80 percent of callers choose texting over voicemail.
3. Voicemail greetings for the customer s ervice phone number. Customers will eventually need help from your business. If your customer service team is unavailable for calls, you can use the customer service voicemail recordings below.
32. Hi, you’ve reached [your name] at [your company]. I’m away from my desk. Please leave your name, number and a message, and I will get right back to you.
Hi, you have reached (names) voicemail. If you want money or to sell us something, we a) gave at the office, b) already have it, or c) don’t want it. 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.
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Once you thank your customers for calling, state your name and the department. Make sure to speak clearly so the caller knows they called the right place and can understand what is being said. Don’t rush through in case the caller wants to write the information down.
All of these questions are pertinent to their call, and it’s important that you answer any that is relevant to your specific situation. Make sure not to drag on too long going through all of the info.
This employee cell phone policy outlines
It’s frustrating enough to reach a voicemail… being helpful and friendly will go a long way and reduce annoyance!
On the Basics page, enter the following information, and then click Next. 4
According to Gartner Research, more than two-thirds of companies compete for business today primarily based on customer experience – up from only one-third back in 2010. Knowing this, it should not surprise you that customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable than companies that are not.
To create or change outgoing voicemail messages for individual extensions or for a Ring Group (multiple extensions).