Home > Phone Systems > Corporate Voicemail Greetings - Bloopers and Best Practices Corporate Voicemail Greetings - Bloopers and Best Practices Want to make the most of your business phone system? Make sure that your greeting to callers is effective. The way any phone system greets callers is critical to the image and presentation of your business. From the initial phone greeting to all callers, through whatever phone menu your system uses - or if you have a live receptionist - through to the voicemail greeting on personal phones, every step sends a message about your company and about you. It is pretty easy to get it wrong - and not an awful lot harder to get it right. "You have reached the Sales Department. Leave a message." This might not seem so bad but think about it in terms of missed opportunities. The chances are that they know they reached the sales department. And they expect to reach a sales person. If your sales team is really so busy thay can't get to calls then at least make it personal. Have messages go to a department assistan who is named. That way a person is involved and the caller has some expectation of personal contact. Tell them good times to call and what information YOU need from them - at very least a reminder to leave their own number! Not too surprisingly, there aren't a lot of real examples floating around on the internet of bad phone systems - but here are a few real and not so real.... Any good voicemail message needs to do a few things: Say who you are very briefly to confirm that the caller reached the right number. Say that you aren't available as briefly as possible. Remind the caller to leave a contact number and identifying information. Ask them to state the issue they are calling about as simply and clearly as possible. Saying who you are is obvious - whether it is the company or a personal message on your extension. While it isn't totally obvious that you should say you aren't available, it is polite and you can include additional information without going too far. If you are going to be gone at another office for a month then you can say that and leave a forwarding number if needed using whatever vacation message function your system may have. But if you are literally just out for a moment then a standard, "I am not available," is all that is needed. Obviously you need to tailor the greeting for the situation. If you are recording a greeting for a common line that is shared then don't leave personal information as the identifier. And don't if you have legitimate concerns about identity. But in reality, most of the time it is better to include who you are. Other optional information that is nice to include is information about when they can expect a call back, email contact info as an alternative and even an answer to an overwhelmingly common query. But those are optional. It is more important to be clear and brief so that the most important information gets across. Once you have a message you like, double check by calling the number to see what the experience is like. It is easy to forget that many voicemail systems include automated instructions that can take up a lot of time BEFORE the caller even gets your greeting. if the automated information is too long, work with your phone system tech to get it changed to somethign useful and appropriate. Adjust your message if needed so you don't repeat anything they already heard. "Hi. This is Joe Smith at Acme Co. I can't take your call right now, so please leave me a detailed message after the tone. Please include your number and your name. Thank you." Brief, to the point and doesn't waste anyone's time. "Hello, this is the Acme Company. We can't take your call in person at the moment. Please leave us a detailed message including your name, phone number and the reason you are calling. We will call you back as soon as possible." "Hi, this is Joe Smith at the Acme Co. I am working in the New York office during July and August. You can reach me there on 212-555-1111 or leave a message here stating your name, number and the reason you called. I will return the call as soon as possible." Hopefully these warning examples and tips on how to do it right will help you improve the way you present yourself and your company to the world.
Earlier, we noted that Avochato’s 2019 study found that 92 percent of consumers expect to wait five minutes or more before talking to a person. But interestingly, an older study by Velaro found that 32 percent of respondents said they were unwilling to wait on hold for any length of time.
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Short Business Voicemail Greetings. Hi there, you’ve reached [your name] at [X company]. Thanks for calling. I'm unable to answer the phone but if you leave your name, phone number, and message. I'll make sure to return your call as soon as possible. Hello, you’ve reached the office of at [X company].
Velaro’s data is older, but they made an interesting finding that has probably only become more relevant in the years since: younger adults were less willing to wait on hold for any length of time. 40.8 percent of adults between 18 and 24 wouldn’t wait on hold at all, whereas only 27.7 percent of adults over 65 were unwilling to wait.
Katy Gassaway and Jentry Petzold, owners of The Black Cat Salon & Spa in Kailua, Hawaii, says one of the most unique things about their salon is their hellos and goodbyes: ""Whenever anyone walks into or out of our salon, everyone, including everyone at the front desk and all the stylists, even those with clients, takes a moment to greet them or thank them. Our friendliness has actually startled some people!"
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!
1.“Hi! Thanks for calling [company name/your name]. Please leave a brief message and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Have a great day!”
If you’re not dedicating resources to messaging channels right now, you're not serving your customers in the way they want you to serve them.
3. Use informal language with family and close friends. There’s no need to be professional when you are talking to people that you know well. Use slang language and words if they will know what you mean. However, if you are talking to someone older, like a grandparent, they may not be up to date on all of the slang language that you use. You can say things like, “Hey, what’s up?” and “What’s happening?”
You can find more information for recording from your phone and sample greeting scripts by clicking Instructions for recording on a phone and Show me a sample script. Edit After Hours Menu Options for Auto Attendants
In this post, I’ll share what makes a good voicemail greeting — and the best voicemail greeting scripts you can use.
Most business greetings include a simple, firm handshake. Pay attention to names, and always introduce the “less important” person to the “more important person.” Business etiquette dictates that clients should be considered the “more important person,” even more so than the boss. Run this by your boss beforehand, however.
There’s plenty of ways businesses can take advantage of automation and put artificial intelligence to work. But when you ask your customers to talk to a robot, most of them aren’t going to be happy about it.
You might be if you don’t have your auto-attendant and after-hours business voicemail greetings set up properly to handle calls that come in from customers when your business is closed. Most businesses have their phone system configured to automatically play a recording if you try to call their office when they’re closed.
“Hello! You’ve reached the voicemail of [your name], [your job title]. I’m currently either away from my desk or on the other line. Please leave your name, telephone number, and a short message after the beep, and I’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as I’m available.”
4. Liam Neeson Threatens and Delights Your Callers. Liam Neeson has been acting for decades but it was his recent role in the hit movie Taken that caught the attention of a younger audience.
Here are some examples of voicemail greetings for your direct business line that are both personal and professional. Enjoy!