In the video lesson, I shared this example for a common voicemail greeting in English:
16Hey, could you come up with some cute voicemail greetings, I’m out. Can you just leave your suggestion, after the tone? This voicemail engages your caller, challenging them to come up with funny voicemail messages, while they wait to leave their messages after the tone.
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This is frustrating on many levels because it leaves you wondering if there is a need to take a different route to get an answer to a problem or to just wait for the return phone call.
#8 “Hey this is Bryan, sorry that I couldn’t make it to my phone in time or that I’m on the other line. I’ll get back to you when I can. Unless the reason i didn’t pick up was because I was just in an accident or dropped my phone in the toilet. Then you might never hear from me. But trust me, there is a good reason I’m not picking up. Leave a message!”
People have short attention spans these days, and you should always craft your communications for the lowest common denominator with something as universal as your voicemail.
Before you record your professional voicemail message, take a quick peek through these examples for some inspiration:
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.
Hello, this is Joan Tracy. I’m out of the office until Tuesday, May 23rd. I’ll be sure to return your call when I get back to the office, however, if you need immediate assistance, please call my colleague Sue at 444-444-4444. Thank you.
OpenPhone is a modern business phone service app for startups, small businesses, and individuals. OpenPhone separates your professional and personal communications and enables you to personalize your number to reflect your own brand. Use your business number directly from your existing cell phone!
If you have an assistant, include their name and contact information in your greeting. If you have a hard time delegating tasks, this is an excellent way to start building it into your processes.
Cell phone voicemail greetings are generally more personal and casual than office phones. Consider a greeting like “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.”
6. Don’t Overthink, Just Keep it Short and Relevant. The main point that we want to drive home with this article is that you shouldn’t overthink your business voicemail greeting.
Leaving the Voicemail. 1. Know what you want to say before you place the call. If you want to be the go-to notary, then you have to exhibit competence on all levels. Don’t spoil your confident image by hemming and hawing and filling your messages with “uhhhhs,” and “ummmms.”. Consider writing out what you want to say beforehand.
While covering all of the relevant information, aim to keep your voicemail to about 20 seconds. You definitely should not ever record a business voicemail longer than 30 seconds, and anything less than 10 seconds will typically mean that you are either speaking too quickly or aren’t providing all of the required information.
Your greeting is very important as it can be the first contact people have with you or your company. Voice mail is only impersonal if you make it that way. One way to help increase the effectiveness of voice mail is to change your greeting at least weekly if not daily.
Hello! Thanks for calling [LinkedPhone’s Customer Success Team]. We are currently helping other customers achieve their goals and want to do the same for you! Please leave a message with your name, number, and a brief description of how we can serve you. We promise to return your call [before close of business today]. In the interim, you can also check out our website at [linkedphone.com] for helpful answers to our most common requests. Thank you.
-Hello. All of our operators are busy right now, but if you’ll leave your name, telephone number, a brief message, and the time you called, we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you and have a pleasant day.