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You may think this is boring, but it’s what works. Leave the sales talk and the promotion for when you call them back. Leaving a greeting is all well and good, but if it has no context you’re going to struggle to stop the person from giving up on you. Make sure people know that they’ve reached the right place. Hello, this is the office of X, the Y department. Please leave your name, reason for calling, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. By mentioning the specific department or office they’ve reached, you’re reminding them that they’ve reached the right place, and this is not some generic support department they’ve been redirected to. We talk to lots of different people every day. Make sure you remind people of who you are, and why you’re the best person to handle their call (and more importantly their valuable time). Hello, my name is X, the Senior Manager of Y, I’m sorry I’m unavailable right now, but if you leave your number I’ll return your call as soon as I can. Not only have you revealed who you are, but you’ve also given them the reassurance that their call is important to you. It leaves the right impression. The order of your words can seriously impact how your greeting is received. Research shows that we remember the first and last items on a list best, so the statements that matter most are those at the beginning and those at the end. Hello, you have reached X. I’m out of the office at the moment. Provide me with your contact details and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Do you see how important the order of the words is? The name comes first and the call to action is last. Most people will put all this important information in the middle of their greeting. It may not seem like a big difference, but it really matters. It can be tempting to try to fit as much information into a voicemail greeting as possible. Don’t do that. Sometimes less is more. Try to incorporate some strategic pauses into your greeting, so you can let everything sink in. Hello, this is X from Y. [Pause] I am not available to take your call right now. [Pause] If you are calling about Z, then please leave your name and number and I will get back to you as soon as you can.
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First of all, it looks more professional to potential clients. Secondly, it will give you the chance to connect with prospects from any device that’s convenient for you at the moment. If you’re in the office, you can pick up the call on your desk phone. If you are in your car on your way to a meeting, you can answer via mobile. You even have the option to pick up from your desktop computer, and to the caller, it won’t make any difference. The person calling your virtual phone number will dial your business phone number and you’ll answer it professionally regardless of your location.
Need French Canadian voicemail voice? Listen to Lili’s bilingual (English & French Canadian) voicemail demos here. Need a Spanish voice? Listen to her Spanish voicemail recordings here.
Obviously, I need to update it. And if you haven't changed your voicemail greeting in over a year, you're likely in the same boat.
If all this seems like a lot of homework, remember that it's well worth the effort. Just about anything you can picture a business needing from a phone or collaboration system can be delivered by a hosted VoIP PBX solution—and generally at a more affordable price than purchasing and maintaining your own on-premises PBX. It's just a matter of selecting the right solution for your business.
Many busy businesses utilize auto attendant greetings to make a great first impression, however, if your business relies on the personal touch of a live receptionist, it is important to have a plan in place when that position is unstaffed. Make sure your voicemail greeting contains the useful information that your receptionist would normally provide. This could include: location & directions, office hours, website URL, or social media info, as well as any pertinent company information.
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.
Need script options? Take a look at these templates (and modify them as you please):
The Basic plan starts at $29.99/month and comes with two toll-free or local numbers, unlimited users, 1,000 minutes, and 10 clients in the contact book.
Automatically redirects your incoming calls to another number, voicemail or do-not-disturb announcement.
These skills help you stay on point and will have people eager to hear your message and return your phone calls!
Unbeknownst to most new business owners, building business credit is more complicated than building personal credit.
While they are listening to your voice, they are internally deciding whether or not it is worth their time to continue or hang up. Look at your voicemail message as its own short advertisement.
For many, a voicemail greeting is the first impression a customer gets for a business. You need to make sure your company’s message matches your company’s image, so putting some thought and effort into your voicemail greeting is imperative. Wondering what it takes to come up with a proper business voicemail greeting? Here are 8 keys to creating the perfect voicemail recording. Click To Tweet
The benefit of a cloud-based system is that all messages dropped by prospects can be converted into digital formats. Virtual voicemails can be accessed by agents anytime anywhere. They can also be added easily with other data to generate reports.
If you’ve chosen a completely cloud-based solution, you won’t need to connect a physical PBX box to your phone system. If you have an on-premises solution, use an Ethernet cable to connect your PBX box to your desk phones/computers.