Are you struggling to come up with a voicemail greeting that you believe in? Do you find that everything you record comes out too casual, overly professional, or doesn’t seem to touch all of the bases that you want it to?
The voice mails I receive in response to this greeting allow me to use my time most productively. I learn the purpose of the call and when they are available for a return call. This allows me to prioritize when I need to return calls and helps me be better prepared for the ensuing conversation.
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To improve a a business voicemail greeting, keep these eight rules at the forefront of the creative process: Avoid turning customers off with overused and impersonal phrases like “your call is very important to us..." Avoid leaving customers unsure by not immediately telling them the business, department, and/or person they’ve reached. Avoid leaving customers confused with too many details and complications; just keep it simple. Avoid messages longer than 25 seconds. Do apologize for being unavailable at the moment. Do invite the caller to leave a message. Do tell the caller when they can expect a return call and actually follow through within that timeframe. Do tell the caller about any applicable alternative options of contact and information- website, live chat, email, social media, or emergency numbers. Voicemail Greetings 101
Hello, you’ve reached the customer support department at Sugar Sweets. We’re very sorry, but we can’t get to the phone right now. We may be able to answer your query within the FAQs section of our website at www.sugarsweets.com.
2.) Sie sind mit der Mailbox von Herrn Mustermann verbunden. Bitte hinterlassen Sie eine Nachricht, damit Sie Herr Mustermann so rasch wie möglich zurückrufen kann. Vielen Dank für Ihren Anruf.
4.) Welcome to John Doe. Personally, you can reach us during our office hours Monday to Thursday from 9am to noon and 2pm to 4pm, and Friday from 9am to noon. You are welcome to tell us your request by mail to [email protected] and we will get back to you as soon as possible - Thank you.
Voicemails are not just important within the corporate world but are valuable to self-employed individuals and job seekers.
Departments and teams are typically organized by function – customer service, tech support, sales, billing questions, etc. When a team is busy handling other calls, encourage your callers to leave a message and reassure them that you will get back to them within a reasonable time frame. It’s important that you actually follow through to avoid upsetting your callers.
The script is relatively similar, but the doctor is including a good reason for not being available, so patients don’t feel like they’re being ignored. He’s also left another avenue for patients to get in touch if they need some urgent help.
Find out WHY a professional voicemail greeting is so important: Why You Must Have a Professional Voicemail Greeting. Hello, thanks for calling (name), I’m unable to answer your call at the moment. Please leave a message and I’ll return your call as soon as possible. Thank you.
“Hello, you’ve reached the special agent Bond. James Bond. Okay okay, it’s actually [last name]. I’m currently away saving the world on a top-secret mission but I will get back to you as soon as possible. Please leave your name, contact info, number, and availability and I’ll call back as soon as I’m done helping M16. Have a great day. [last name] out!”
Business Intro – quick intro announcement heard by the caller before they speak with a business representative. Usually quite short and welcoming, introducing the business to the caller.
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Recent statistics from Forbes magazine show that 80 percent of callers sent to voicemail do not leave messages because they don' think they'll even be heard.
Cox Business offers a pager notification option when you receive voice mail. All pager notifications are routed to a pager email address, not a telephone number. Once you have identified the email address for sending messages to your pager, typically in [email protected] format, contact a Cox Representative to add pager notification preferences to your voice mailbox. Subject: New Voice Msg | 01/27/2013 | 08:46PM (EST) | Caller: (732)111-0000 | 2 new | 0 Subject: New Fax Msg | 01/27/2013 | 09:22PM (EST) | Caller: (732)555-2468 | 3 new | 0 Cox Business requires initial setup of each voice mailbox from a desk phone as it is set up in our network. Can I record and upload a professionally-recorded greeting for our voice mailbox? Contact your Cox Business representative for information about uploading pre-recorded files for your voice mailbox. How much storage space is provided with Cox Business Voice Mail? What happens when the storage space is consumed?
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.
The script is relatively similar, but the doctor is including a good reason for not being available, so patients don’t feel like they’re being ignored. He’s also left another avenue for patients to get in touch if they need some urgent help.