Even if you’re not actually conversing with the listener face to face, it helps to smile while you’re talking. Doing so can help set the right tone, mood, feel, and intonation such that throughout the call, you remain friendly and engaging. It may seem quite odd to do so, but if you test it out, you’ll hear the difference yourself.
A great voicemail greeting can even make people look forward to you returning their call. Whether you want to install a professionally recorded voicemail greeting, or you want to record one yourself, it helps to know what you want to say before you record. Here are some helpful examples.

One major pain point for any business is when customers aren’t going into a phone call or meeting prepared. If, for example, you’re a lawyer, you need your clients to come prepared with their documents ready. You also know that there are a ton of papers that need to be organized and filed — often with tight deadlines as well — and it’s imperative for the client to have it all readily accessible.
A secretary in a doctor’s office creates a voicemail greeting that says, “If you have a scheduled meeting with us, we could use copies of all your medical documents from last year, so come prepared.” Using the word “could” gives patients the impression that they don’t necessarily “need” last year’s documents. See the difference between “could” and “need”? Your word choice can impact a future meeting significantly. If you want a customer to perform a specific action, you need to pay close attention to how you express your calls-to-action.