3. "Hey, this is [your name]. If you're calling for [X reason], please [contact so-and-so] or [go to our website, send me an email]. For all other inquiries, leave your name and a brief message and I'll call you back within [one, two, three] business day[s]."
This article is about the second main type of greeting – the voicemail greeting. All businesses should have professional voicemail greetings at the company level (i.e. your general business number), department level (e.g. customer service), and employee level, where applicable. It’s important that each of these voicemail greetings align with the brand and personality of your company to ensure that every caller has a consistent experience. Let’s dive in!
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1. Hello, you’ve reached [your name]. I’m currently unavailable, but leave your name and number and I’ll return your call as soon as I can.
Typically, a good business voicemail greeting should comprise the following elements: A warm greeting. Your name, the name of your company and department name. Make an apology for being unable to take the call. Ask the caller to leave a message. Let the caller know when to expect a return call.
Thank you for calling ABC Company. We are currently closed for the holiday. Our normal business hours are 8 am to 8 pm, eastern time, Monday through Friday. Your call is very important to us. Please leave your name, phone number, and a brief message regarding your call. We will return your call on our next business day. Thank you.
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.
Your clients don’t have a lot of time, and neither do you. Use the following short voicemail greetings to get to the point quickly and invite them to leave a message.
Your voicemail needs to have relevant information such as your name, who the prospects are connecting to, the department you work in, why your not available to assist your prospects, when you will call them and related information, this is what the prospects would prefer hearing instead of dragging the voicemail messages speaking about your brand and more.
And best of all-- you can usually set it to forward the call to your cell phone when you are away from the office, thus preventing the need to ever give out your personal cellphone number.
The following templates for voicemail messages are available for departments and individuals to customize and use. We appreciate everyone following a standard format to convey consistent messaging to students and external constituents who may be trying to reach us during this time.
Are you on the hunt for more great business tips? Why not take a look at some of our other blog posts, like how to waste less time and boost efficiency? And remember, you can always get in touch with all your queries.
For example, callers shouldn’t reach a business-as-usual voicemail, and therefore expect a return call within the business day, if the subject they’re calling is out on vacation for two weeks. Such a lack of communication is a recipe to lose that caller’s trust and tarnish the brand’s reputation. Related: Business VoIP Providers
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10. Hi, you’ve reached (name)’s answering machine. He/she is not in right now, but I’m totally open for suggestions.
Hi there! You’ve reached the sewer on the next street. I can’t get to the phone right now, but if you take a wee walk, I’ll be at the sewer grate with the red balloon…floating. Please feel free to join me.
In short, more often than not, voicemail greetings feel bleak and boring to callers. If you’re a business, boredom is an awful way to start off the conversation with potential customers. Since the attention span of a human being fluctuates around 8-10 seconds, filling them up with a standard voicemail greeting is the worst idea you can have.
10. "Hello, you've reached [X company]. We can't take your call right now, but please leave your name, contact information, and reason for reaching out, and one of our team members will be in touch within 24 hours."