Leave out excuses like “I’m probably with a client right now” or “I’m unable to answer the phone right now” – it’s obvious you can’t answer your phone if a caller is listening to your voicemail greeting!
22. Hello, this is [your name]. I’m currently away from my phone. I return calls on Tuesday and Friday at 10 a.m. Please leave a detailed message including your name and a callback number and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
.
Now that the importance of having current and applicable voicemail greetings has been established, the big question of how remains, right? How does one create this stellar voicemail selection and improve their business voicemail greeting?
2. Mention Hours of Operation Upfront. Most callers expect their call to be answered. Once they realize that your office is currently closed, the most important piece of information they probably want to know is your standard business hours.
The above eight rules of engagement for voicemail greetings may sound easy enough, but they’ll require some practice to get just right. Let’s look at some examples to provide some context in how to apply the rules to various types of greetings and situations.
27. Hi, It’s [your name] of [your company]. I’m in a meeting at the moment. Please leave your message and contact information, and I will get back to you within [realistic timeframe]. Thank you for calling.
A professional voicemail greeting is essential in many aspects of a business. In sales, it enables you to properly respond to inquiries from prospects and customers or discuss a deal in more detail. When they call, and you can’t answer, you may lose the opportunity for immediate communication and potentially lose a client or customer.
You can set when you would like to send callers to your voicemail. For example, you may want to send all calls to voicemail when you know you’re going to be out of the office and not taking phone calls. 1
After accessing your voicemail, choose your next message option to perform a specific function. Press 1 to retrieve messages. Press 2 to go to saved messages. Press 7 to hear current date and time. Press 9 for your mailbox setup menu. How to navigate through messages while listening to a message
Happy [Monday!] You’ve reached [Jessica on the Business Development Team at LinkedPhone]. I’m presently out of the office [for a meeting until late this afternoon]. Please include your name, number and the reason for your call and I’ll get back to you ASAP. Thank you and have a fantastic day!
If they don’t leave a message, you’ll never know who called. Some people may assume they should just call back later. But if you prefer to get back to them at your leisure, encourage them to leave a message.
15. “Hello, you’ve reached the Sales Department at [Company name]. All of our representatives are currently helping clients [insert goal such as, ‘achieve 40% growth through streamlining HR’] and are unable to take your call. Instead of putting you on hold and taking up your valuable time, please leave your name, company, and phone number and we’ll give you a call back ASAP. Thank you!”
When you receive a voice mail message, the message appears in your Outlook Inbox. Go to your Outlook Inbox. Open any email with Voice Mail in the subject. Click the blue play button to listen to a message.
To learn more about Call Queue with Music On Hold or the Rollover Hunting feature, log in to the Optimum Business Account Center at optimum.net/business and click on the "Explore Optimum" link to watch the tutorial.
d. Utilizing Ambiguity Over Clarity: When setting up your voicemail greeting be direct and to the point. Tell callers your information, a brief greeting, and direction—i.e. “Hi, this is Jim Shamalam (from Iron Industries). Sorry I can’t take your call right now. Please leave your name number, and a brief message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you.” This is ideal, as you inform callers and let them know what they should do to ensure a return call. A lack of direction can lead to callers leaving incomplete messages (lacking contact or other information) or even callers hanging up without leaving a message altogether.
When your small business is closed, ensure that your callers know that! If appropriate, you might want to reiterate your business hours to manage callback expectations.
Anyone who’s struggled to recall the correct password for their voicemail system in order to retrieve new messages probably has thought there has to be a better way.