Let us know in the comments if you want to suggest an addition to our list of small business phone services. We’d love to hear about it. We’ll check it out. How Can Your Alma Mater Help Your Small Business? The Importance of a Great Logo for Your Business Sponsored by Fiverr Humanizing the Customer Experience with Technology The A-Z of VoIP Phone Systems and How They can Transform Your Business 6 eCommerce Customer Service Benchmarks for Your Business What Can Small Business Learn From the Rich and Successful? TJ McCue served as Technology/Product Review Editor for Small Business Trends for many years and now contributes on 3D technologies. He is currently traveling the USA on the 3DRV roadtrip and writes at the Refine Digital blog.
14. “Thanks for giving us a call! We promise it’s never a bad time for [company name], but you’ve reached us after-hours. Please leave us your name, number and the best time to reach you and we’ll give you a call when we are open.” Let’s face it, you’re not always open. Yet that doesn’t mean you don’t want to help your caller. Let them know you’ll call them right back when you’re open again.
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Great price is only “great” if it includes great service. We want you to be our customer for life and we do that with amazing service that’s a great value. Our reputation for high-quality business phone solutions for more than 20 years continues to prove our commitment to putting customer service first.”
Welcome to (company name), (short brand wording). If you know your party's extension, you may dial it now. Please listen carefully as our menu options have recently changed.
5. Hi, this is [your name]. I can’t get to the phone right now, but please leave a message with your name and number, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Don’t include the date unless it’s completely necessary. 16 of the messages I heard last month had the wrong date—one of the messages had a date over 2 months old!
Nice list TJ. Another Virtual Receptionist phone service is All Call Technologies. We provide services for small offices and entrepreneurs. The differences are the customization and total system management. All Call Technologies has a very robust phone system with and extensive feature list and the best part is there is no programming or setup for the client to do. We will write scripts, record the greetings and program the system. With some of the companies you have listed they require the client port their phone number to them, in most cases we do not need that. The office phones and phone lines stay as is. Visit us at http://www.allcalltechnologies.com.
Instead of stating the obvious, enhance your message with information your callers can use, such as how to reach someone immediately, when you will be returning calls, or where they can obtain after-hours service. Services that offer multiple custom greetings like Tendant allow you to store multiple greetings so you can have a greeting just for a holiday that you can use every year. Specify the information you want callers to leave. Your voicemail greeting presents a great opportunity to gather important details that will help you better serve your customers. This may include account numbers best times to return the call, and of course, a brief summary of the issue or purpose of the call.
VirtualPBX is a cloud-based phone solution that caters to all-sized businesses. VirtualPBX enables companies to streamline and improve communications with features such as unlimited minutes, video conferencing, business SMS, auto-... Read more
When you want callers to leave a message, make sure your voicemail greeting indicates that. Be sure to keep your greeting short and direct, and include the info you want to capture.
Your phone system can be a powerful marketing tool for your business, and that includes your voicemail greeting. If you want to utilize this opportunity to throw in a quick humblebrag and keep callers informed of your awards and accolades, there are a few best practices, you should follow. First, keep the self-promotion brief and appropriately placed within your voicemail message. Don’t promote yourself and your products/services in the same greeting, and finally, only include current achievements in your business voicemail greeting.
In my experience, many provides allow you to keep your number. Number portability is required of telecom providers in the US and I’ve successfully “ported” landline numbers to both Vonage and Packet8. I can’t speak for other providers though.
Rather than requiring a giant amount of capital for new equipment, Grasshopper's system allows your small business to make the most of what you probably already have.
Nextiva offers users of its virtual phone numbers unlimited domestic calling and multiple plans of service. Nextiva is a good selection for entrepreneurs working alone and owners of small companies who need a virtual phone number with a complete business phone system at a price they can afford.
23. "Happy holidays! [I'm, the team at X company is] away until [date]. We'll make sure to call you back straight away when we return. If your request is urgent, email [emergency contact] at [email address]. Thanks, and have a wonderful day."
Most voicemail services are included as a feature of a broader business phone system – like you’ll find with VirtualPBX Voicemail.
Aside from the need to keep your personal calls personal and your business calls professional, you need a dedicated business phone number for other reasons.