e. Never Assume Anything: Phrases like “You Know What To Do,” “Sing Your Song at the Beep,” and others mentioned above are awful to leave in your greeting. For the sake of universality and comprehensiveness, NEVER assume the caller knows what to do. Lay it out clearly. f. Leave a Message: This phrase, by itself, will not do. It’s imperative for users to identify themselves in their greetings. Callers need to know they’ve reached the right person. g. Disregard Lethargy: If you’re not excited about your greeting, why would anyone else be? Never display a lack of enthusiasm in your greeting as it could turn callers off to both you and your business. h. Speak Clearly and Never Slur: Callers need to understand your every word; therefore, mumbling, slurring, and all other detractions of speech should never be recorded. d. Be Creative Without Sacrificing Quality: Callers know how voicemails work–i.e. leave a number, message, etc. While you want to be clear, it’s important not to be contrive or redundant with your message. Creativity can help users to differentiate themselves, as well as intrigue callers. While users should avoid the tropes of creativity listed above, it’s definitely good to think outside the box. That being said, scripting and practice can help users to experiment more with their greeting–ultimately allowing for more unique and creative approach. e. Speak With Diction: It’s important to present one’s self as an authority without alienating callers. As such, it’s crucial to articulate and speak with clear diction. “ if your voice recording has you stumbling over words and speaking haltingly, it does not convey confidence and competence,” states Ron Sellers of Grey Matter Research & Consulting. Remember, this greeting represents you; therefore, you want to appear collected and professional, as well as welcoming. To do this, one must carry themselves well through their recorded message. f. Account for Timeliness: Your message should be concise. No caller wants to be sitting through a rant/diatribe of redundant statements. Your greeting should flow without dragging. Inversely, one doesn’t want to be terse, either. Engage callers with a simplified approach laden with creativity. h. Account for Quality: Aside from speaking clearly, users want to eliminate any noise in the surrounding environment. The quality of the greeting is just as important as what’s being said in the greeting itself. As such, one doesn’t want to undermine a great message with poor quality. i. Courtesy, Tastefulness, & Tact: This is pretty self-explanatory and straight forward–NEVER be rude. Being light-hearted and humorous is very different from being obnoxious and/or abrasive. Again, these tools can be helpful if utilized properly, but not everyone perceives humor the same way. So play it safe. The last thing your voicemail greeting should do is offend a caller. k. Provide Options: if you’re part of a bigger company, it might be good to offer caller options. For example, allow a menu to defer callers to a colleague or co-worker in your absence. This can help show callers you care about their well being. Another option might be offering different modes of communication–i.e. email, fax, etc. In offering users diversity, contact may be much easier to maintain.
Be unique in your voicemail greetings, add a human touch when creating the message.
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To create or change outgoing voicemail messages for individual extensions or for a Ring Group (multiple extensions).
You can’t always get to the phone when clients, partners, investors, or colleagues call you. When this happens, a professional voicemail greeting helps you make a positive impression and tells them what to do next. There are a variety of ways to convey your message. If you’re not sure what type of message to record for your own voicemail box, here’s a definitive guide to get you started.
If this feature is enabled, be sure to record your voicemail greeting with the appropriate guidance for the caller. For example, “To reach my assistant, press 0.” Set Up Your Voicemail Greetings
4. Hi, this is [your name]. I’m unable to take your call right now but leave your name and number, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Record a personalized greeting, up to 3 minutes long. A common template you can follow is: "You've reached [name]. We can't get to the phone right now, but if you leave a message, we'll call you back."
45. Hi, this is [X department] at [X company]. We’re not able to take your call right now, but if you leave a quick message after the tone, our next available representative will call you back shortly.
Ryan Bozeman is a writer and conversion optimization consultant in Seattle, WA. He works with B2B technology startups, helping businesses find and execute effective content strategies. Any views or opinions represented in this post belong solely to the author. 8 Ways To Build Brand Trust & Make Your New eCommerce Business Look Established Tools, Templates, & Tactics You Can Use To Start, Run, & Grow Your Business 100+ Startup Tools About Us Work With Us Go to UniTel Voice » Blog Growth MarketingGuidesLead GenerationLead NurturingProduct updatesSales Instantly engage users Talk to your customers, directly on your site, app and mobile devices.
Don’t be that business that lets important messages slip through the cracks and miss out on new opportunities. Here are some tips on how to set up a professional voicemail greeting that will have people wanting to leave you more messages:
How to set up your voicemail PIN: After you are enabled for Skype for Business Phone Service, you will receive an email that includes a PIN for your voicemail. Refer to that email, then: Call the Outlook Voice Access number, 785-864-1900 or 4-1900. Enter your temporary voicemail PIN at the prompt.
You can also click View more in Outlook to open the Voicemail folder for more info. Listen to your voicemail at a different speed
Other employees can set up extension mailboxes individually; however, an office administrator can set up two or more mailboxes and navigate between them.
While there are a number of resources to help coach users in making a proficient voicemail greeting, some users still feel they are not doing enough. As such, there are a number of tools currently available to help even further. a. Professional Voice Recording: Now that you’re versed in the process of recording your greeting, you may feel a burdening sense of responsibility. As such, you may find that weight to be too heavy to lift alone. Well, rest easy. There are a number of companies and services for recording quality professional greetings.
This type of service can be very beneficial as users are still able to craft their own messages, while a professional reads them. In doing so, companies can spend more time on the scripting process, making sure the text conveys everything they want it to. As such, companies may bring in expert teams to draft, revise, and/or finalize the script itself. The bottom line is you can take more time to get the words right. Additionally, in working with a professional voice talent, you are ensuring your words have the utmost impact—i.e. the words are read perfectly with the right tone, resonance, pacing, etc.
OpenPhone is a modern business phone service app for startups, small businesses, and individuals. OpenPhone separates your professional and personal communications and enables you to personalize your number to reflect your own brand. Use your business number directly from your existing cell phone!
No one wants to sit and listen to someone talking drone and monotone on a voicemail greeting. Remember to keep it upbeat and avoid sounding like a robot!