11.) Welcome to John Doe, unfortunately you have reached us outside business hours, or we can not take your call at the moment. If you want to leave us a message, then please send us an email to [email protected] - We will contact you as soon as possible. For more information about us please visit our our website www.johndoe.de. Many thanks for your call.
The simple truth is that you need to be more aware of what you’re leaving for other people to hear. Sure, this doesn’t always register as a priority for users, but it’s never too late to reassess your greeting. a. Reading/Speaking in the Imperfect Tone: Tone is absolutely everything. Users don’t want to come off as being too nice, as it sounds insincere, or being too terse, as it can be interpreted as being rude. That being said, striking the right balance is absolutely essential. Your greeting exists as its own entity, and therefore, it should NOT rely on callers’ familiarity with you. Instead, it needs to appeal to the masses. As such, your inflection, i.e. the way you state your name and directions, needs to be both welcoming and firm. b. Injecting Humor & Insincerity: While humor/light heartedness can be welcoming, it can also convey a sense of informality, insincerity, and ultimately unprofessionalism. Why, because you’re not there to lend your humor or to contextualize. Instead, you’re assuming the caller has a working knowledge of your personality to ground the message. Though this might not sound like it’s all that terrible—it can be detrimental. As stated above, one should NEVER rely on a caller’s familiarity with you. Instead, aim to appeal to the masses. Humor is ultimately subjective, meaning not everyone has the same tastes; therefore, someone is bound to be turned off by a quirky or off-color remark. While implementing a light-hearted or even tongue and cheek tone can work, it’s just a really bad idea.

If you don’t know it by now, you might never know. Voicemail greetings are incredibly important to users. It conveys identity, character, and image to callers. In an increasingly digital world, where business is conducted online and over the phone, phone presence is increasingly important. As such, your greeting is a crucial part of the platform. While there are a number of obstacles to be aware of, utilized properly, voicemail greetings can be incredibly helpful and beneficial; therefore, its in users best interest to invest themselves in creating a quality recording.
There are many little things I instinctively look for and notice and one of them is a person’s voicemail greeting. I often conduct initial phone interviews and when someone’s personal voicemail greeting turns me off, the interview process is over. It’s their first and last impression.