You don’t want to answer calls 24/7 (unless you’re serving clients globally and there’s an expectation of 24/7 support). If you’re unavailable during specific hours of the day, use the voicemail examples below for after-hours business calls.
That said—as with any technological advancement—challenges and dilemmas can arise. Here are five common voicemail problems businesses face and solutions for them:
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This feature functions very similarly to an answering machine, but with no additional equipment required in your home. Retrieve mail from any touch-tone telephone by dialing *98 or the 10-digit home number and pressing * at the greeting. Messages are retained for 30 days. After 30 days, the message is automatically purged. Print Did this article help answer your question? BACK TO ALL ARTICLES BACK
Remember that Brittney Spears song where you hear her voicemail greeting at the end and she does that fake-out “beeeeep” and says “do yo thang?”
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.
Examples of Good Business Voicemail Messages. It makes a positive difference when you record a greeting message that adheres to the basic elements of good voicemail greetings. Here are some good business voicemail greeting examples: Hello, this is Jim Smith. I am currently on the phone …
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The hiring manager loved your error-free application, and really liked the initiative you showed when you came in to follow up on your application. They have a really good feeling about you and are looking forward to having you come in to interview for the position. There’s even talk about hiring you on the spot! So, the manger dials your number and…ring….ring….ring…”We’re sorry, the voicemail box you are trying to reach is full. Please try again later.” The manager starts to think that you aren’t taking this very seriously and moves on to the rest of the applications, as there isn’t any time to waste with this job needing to be filled quickly.
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17. “Hi, you’ve reached [your name, the office of X company]. We’re closed until [date]. Please leave your name and phone number and someone will return your call ASAP. Have a great [New Year’s, Fourth of July, day].”
This voicemail greeting should list the name of the department, the hours of operation or the whereabouts of your personnel, the protocol for following up with the customer, and another way to get in touch with the department. You've reached the Delivery Department of Wringley Furniture. All of our personnel are currently occupied on the floor. Please leave your contact information and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. Or email us at [email protected]. 4. Vacation Day Voicemail Greeting
Looking for more information about delivering a professional voicemail message? Click here to download our free guide, "Top Tips for Professional Voicemail Greetings" Tags: resources, tips, greetings Recent Blogs Taking Your Presentations To The Next Level With Audio and Voice April 01, 2019 Tools to Support Message on Hold Production October 12, 2018 tips (186) resources (163) message on hold (154) marketing (118) customer experience (101)
Once you thank your customers for calling, state your name and the department. Make sure to speak clearly so the caller knows they called the right place and can understand what is being said. Don’t rush through in case the caller wants to write the information down.
The best text-to-speech voices don't sound robotic at all. Do a "text to speech" search in Google to explore your options. Type in your script and presto! You'll get an instant greeting with a natural sounding voice. You can select from a broad spectrum of male & female voices with any local or foreign accent you choose. LinkedPhone offers text-to-speech built right into our software. It's super popular and our users love it!
Expanding on the simple approach above, let the caller know who they've reached. This will not only eliminate people leaving voicemails by mistake, but it will reassure the caller that they have called the number they intended.
It's easy to get carried away in a voicemail and include more detail than is necessary. We've all been in that situation where the automated or pre-recorded voice on the end of the line goes on and on with more information than you can take in.
It might sound corny but try to project a little bit of happiness into your voice, particularly if you work for some kind of customer service company. People tend to get very solemn when they record voice messages and it can come across as almost upset when playing it back, even if that wasn't the intention. Post your comments Please enter the following code: Login: Forgot password? Register: