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Sometimes, you need to step away from work and live a little! This is perfectly okay, but make sure you leave a well-recorded voicemail greeting to keep your customers happy and content. Read these two examples of professional vacation greetings.
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11. Hello, you’ve reached [your name]’s cell phone. I can’t take your call at the moment, but if you leave a brief message, I’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.
Voicemail greetings should be professional, but the structure can vary depending on the situation. Here's a sample voicemail greeting script: " …
d. Utilizing Ambiguity Over Clarity: When setting up your voicemail greeting be direct and to the point. Tell callers your information, a brief greeting, and direction—i.e. “Hi, this is Jim Shamalam (from Iron Industries). Sorry I can’t take your call right now. Please leave your name number, and a brief message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you.” This is ideal, as you inform callers and let them know what they should do to ensure a return call. A lack of direction can lead to callers leaving incomplete messages (lacking contact or other information) or even callers hanging up without leaving a message altogether.
"It's been one of the best things that we've ever done, really," Blanchard says. "Productivity's gone up and we've just got so much more time."
Since I pride myself in being responsible, if I don’t receive a return call I have to assume I wrote down wrong number. If I were irresponsible I would just blow it off and not care. But if I wrote down the wrong number I have a responsibility to get a hold of this person. This extra work combined with wondering if it’s the right number, leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Length – if your callers typically wait 2 minutes at a time, then at least 2 minutes of programming should be the goal. The idea is to ensure the callers don’t hear repeated messages every time they call. A typical on-hold message is 4-8 minutes in length.
So, I finally did it. Here’s my process for developing a professional voicemail message in 10 steps:
"This message is AMAZING! Exactly what we were looking for and we couldn’t be more impressed. Thank you very much! "
Editor’s Note: The article is part of the blog series Grow Your Business brought to you by the marketing team at UniTel Voice, the virtual phone system priced and designed for startups and small business owners.
Apart from gaining a good impression of you, a clear and professional voicemail greeting is essential for negating any possible concerns the caller may have that you are the correct person to speak to, and will give them the information they need to leave you an effective message in return.
Missed calls aren’t… ideal, but if you do miss a call, how do you keep your customers engaged and encourage them to leave you a voicemail?
Your voicemail greeting is the first introduction to your office — what kind of impression do you want to leave?
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. However, I only recommend products and services that I use and believe in. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Remember to offer your apologies for not being available to answer their call and to sound genuine.
Having a dedicated emergency contact will help make sure anything important that comes up is taken care of. Another option is directing callers to a separate answering service.