Social media, email, and your business website makes it easy to get a message through to your customers at scale, but your phone system still remains a key frontline communication tool. As more cities are encouraging people to stay home, customers, suppliers, and partners may call your business to get quick answers, such as changes to your business hours, instructions on how to get help, where to find the most up-to-date information, new procedures your company is implementing to conduct business or anything else that’s outside normal operations. There’s a strong chance you might experience a higher call volume than normal because customers will have questions they’ve never had to ask before.
With a wide variety of choices available, users are able to choose every aspect of the process—i.e. the provider (a business or a voice professional individually), the service, as well as the tools involved.
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9. Update Your Greeting Frequently. Many of the things that can make your voicemail great, also require that you update it pretty regularly. Information like deals you’re running, when you’re away, and who to contact while you’re out can take your greeting to the next level, but they’re obviously time sensitive.
38. You’ve reached [your name] at [your company]. I’m sorry, but I’m temporarily unavailable. Please leave your name and number, and I’ll return your call as soon as possible.
With OpenPhone you can record your own voicemail greetings directly in the app, upload your own voice clips or simply type your voicemail script.
A busy greeting should tell callers that your phone lines are currently in use. You can direct people to wait on hold or leave a message. For example, “Hello, you’ve reached [company name]. Our representatives are currently helping other customers. Please stay on the line to speak with the next available team member, or press one to leave a message and we’ll call you back.”
14. Hi, you’ve reached [business name]. We can’t take your call at the moment, but if you leave your name and number, the next available team member will return your call as soon as possible.
Greetings. You’ve reached the office of [Name]. I’m either out of the office or gone for the day. However, your call is extremely import to me, so I’d appreciate it if you’d leave your message, along with your contact information, at the sound of the beep. Thank you for your call.
HI, you’ve reached (name). I’m so sorry I can’t pick up the call right now because I am standing right behind you. GOTCHA.
Similar to your phone greeting, your voicemail greeting should state your private practice name and instructions on what information to leave on the message (such as name, number, and the best time to call back). Include instructions on what callers should do in case of emergency. Here’s an example voicemail greeting:
Thank you for calling the office of (office or department name) at Eastern Oregon University. We are currently working remotely in response to the coronavirus outbreak, and may not be able to check missed calls regularly. Please contact us at (department email) or leave a voice message. In case of an emergency please contact Campus Security at 541-962-3911. Thank you.
If you only check and return messages once a day or once a week, let your caller know. This will avoid multiple messages by the same caller.
Set the expectation by providing a realistic timeline for when the caller can expect a return call. Remember once the expectation has been made, make sure you follow up and return the call as promised.
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A professional voicemail greeting can be the difference between a caller proceeding on to deliver their message or simply hanging up. Ensure you take the time to craft the right voicemail greeting for your business.
Avoid background noise. Whether you have music playing in your office, or you’re sitting in a coffee shop, background noise can make it difficult for your customers to understand your greeting. Limit the noise around you when you leave your voicemail greeting.
Hi Joe. It’s Susan in Marketing. I’d like to talk with you about the budget proposal we’re sending out tomorrow. If you have time to chat today, feel free to call me back at 345-3456 or send me an email. Thanks.