As mentioned above, it is extremely important to have a voicemail message that is easy to understand. However, there is also the matter of word choice. You must ensure to give attention to what your words are in your voicemail greetings. There can be certain words used that may trigger your customers. Though you did not mean what they understood, it will still bring a bad name to your company’s reputation. Your choice of words can affect significantly, so make you give close attention to your words.
It can be overwhelming to someone calling if your voicemail suggests they leave their name, address, time of calling, reason why calling, best phone number to call them back at, etc. They might not be prepared with all of the information and could end up leaving a confusing and flustered message. Instead, just kindly ask the person to leave their name and number and reassure that someone will be in touch as soon as possible.

A lot of small businesses set up a 13, 1300 or 1800 number to appear more professional, but that’s only the first step. Using a business phone service gives you a range of advantages over your standard landline, including the ability to: Set your business hours and record different voice greetings to align with a particular time of day or year. Set up an automated response, add department extensions to route the calls, and more. Have multiple users on the phone number via call overflow regardless of their location. For ideas on what to include in your voicemail greeting, see our blog on examples of professional voicemail greetings.
The above section details types of phrasing to avoid; however, it doesn’t detail what users should NOT say on their greeting. Though this is a bit loaded, as there are hundreds of combinations of things one shouldn’t say, there are some key components users should ALWAYS avoid. a. Forget About Slang: You should strive to be as professional and welcoming as possible in your greeting. While this may steer you towards using slang, in an attempt to make callers comfortable, it’ll most likely work against you. As a professional, your demeanor, tone, and speech should be clear cut and well articulated. Using slang undercuts this and works against you. b. Don’t Even Think About Profanity: This is a no-brainer. Never, under any circumstances, curse in your greeting EVER! c. Keep Your Sentences Clean, Don’t Ramble: Introduce yourself and give your caller specific direction. Avoid long diatribes detailing tangent thoughts. Keep it simple and quick. d. Always Return Your Calls: It’s important for callers to feel they are valued. Nothing dissolves this quicker than a greeting that doesn’t stress this. For example, “I’ll call you when I can,” “If I don’t return your call, please call back”—these phrases are terrible and completely destroy any good will you may have with a caller.