Voicemail is one of the oldest and most basic features found in phone systems, yet it also seems to be the most overlooked feature, too. Businesses usually leave a generic greeting for callers, and think nothing more of it. But voicemail greetings are one of those seemingly trivial things that help project your brand’s image and say a lot about your company. So in order to help you create a voicemail greeting that makes people feel as welcomed, follow these tips below:
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.

For many small businesses, it may not be possible to pick up the phone immediately. Other times, you may receive a call after hours or during a busy time when no staff is available to assist a caller.
Typically, a good business voicemail greeting should comprise the following elements: A warm greeting. Your name, the name of your company and department name. Make an apology for being unable to take the call. Ask the caller to leave a message. Let the caller know when to expect a return call. Voicemails are used by most businesses for Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Businesses spend over $26 billion on CRM, yet little changes can make all the difference. If you’re planning on using voicemails for greetings, you need to make sure you hit all the right notes. We’re going to show you five voicemail greetings scripts to demonstrate all the different things you need inside your voicemails. The optimal time for a voicemail is between 8 seconds and 14 seconds, so get to the point immediately. Say what you want to say and nothing more. Hello, you have reached X. I’m going to be out of the office until Y. Please leave your name and number so I can get back to you.