A good business voicemail greeting creates a favorable impression on the customer, whether it’s their first or fifteenth time calling your business. What to say in a business voicemail greeting At the very minimum, you want to say the name of the person or department, and company name so the caller knows they have reached the right place .
Before you record your business greeting, make sure to write it down first. Finalize your script and then rehearse a few times before you record the final business voicemail.
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You know that your callers are making inferences about your business and brand. If you want your voicemail recording to leave a positive impression, smile when you record it! Research shows that smiling affects how we speak, and listeners are not only able to identify that people are smiling, but also what the intent is of the smile based on voice intonation alone.
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.
7. “Hi, you’ve reached [your name] at [your company]. Sorry I missed your call. I’m especially busy today, but if you leave me your name, phone number, and a brief message, I’ll get back to you within the day. Chat soon!” Your callers want to hear from you soon. Calling back within the business day lets them know you’re reliable despite how busy you are.
9. “Hi, you’ve reached [your name]. I’m unable to come to the phone right now. But if you leave your name, number and a short message, I’ll be sure to call back.”
With Business Communicator you can see the number of new messages in your mailbox, call voicemail to retrieve messages, and manage voicemail features. You can access your voicemail using your call history or by using the dialpad to manually call the voicemail system. From the menu on the left in the main window, click Call History (the handset with a clock icon). The number of new voicemail messages in your mailbox shows under Voice Mail. To retrieve your messages, double-click the Voice Mail link. Business Communicator calls your voicemail, and an active call window opens next to the main window. When the voicemail system answers and prompts you, type your passcode and the # sign using the dialpad in Business Communicator or your keyboard. To play, delete, and forward your voicemail messages, or manage your voicemail settings, follow the voicemail system prompts. When the voicemail system answers and prompts you, type your passcode followed by the # sign using the dialpad in Business Communicator or your computer keyboard. To play, delete, and forward your voicemail messages or manage your voicemail settings, follow the voicemail system prompts. To learn more about voicemail features and functions, you can access the Voicemail quick reference guide. Installing Business Communicator on your computer Setting your audio and video device preferences Accessing voicemail Exploring Business Communicator Viewing your IM/chat history Turning Call Forwarding on and off Adding a profile picture or avatar Transferring a call Signing in to Business Communicator Making a phone or video call from Business Communicator Topics covered on this page: Business Communicator VoIP
Hello! You’ve reached [Natasha on the Product Development Team at LinkedPhone]. I’m not available at the moment but your call is important to me. Please leave your name, number, and the reason for your call and I’ll call you back as soon as possible. Thank you and have a great day!
Share with your caller when they can expect a callback. If you return calls within 24 hours, let them know. Give them an estimate of when they can expect 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.
Open your phone’s voicemail app, then tap (or in some cases, tap and hold) the message you want to save. You should be presented with a list of options; the save option will usually be listed as “save”, “save to phone,” “archive,” or something similar.
30. Hi, you’ve reached [your name] at [your company]. I’m unavailable right now on official duties. But if you leave your name and number and a brief message on why you are calling, I will call you back at the earliest opportunity.
When your business is closed for vacation or holidays, it’s imperative that you set appropriate expectations for a callback and to provide an alternative coverage option, if available. The following greeting accomplishes this succinctly.
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.
Don’t rush. It’s important to speak slowly and clearly when leaving your next voicemail greeting. Have you ever called someone and the message sounds like one big word? Don’t be that guy. Pronounce your words and take pauses between your sentences
What happens here is when you apologize and sound genuine in your tone, your prospects would understand and leave their contact details for you to follow with them.
23. Hello, thank you for calling [business name]. Please leave your name, number, and a brief message, and a member of our team will return your call within 24 hours.