You cannot make a guarantee that you will always be available on the phone when needed. Due to this uncertainty, it is prudent to have a voicemail recording, just in case you are not able to get to the phone. A voicemail recording should be able to entice the caller to leave a message, wait for the transfer of their call, etc.
For a business person, a custom voicemail greeting may help you generate more leads by targeting customers that may call after hours. Depending on the quality of your voicemail greeting, it can either alienate or impress callers. An investment in office telephone systems can be very expensive, and without a voice mail you are minimizing the return.
You have probably heard a voicemail recording that didn’t sit well with you, and you just ended the call without listening to it all, you wouldn’t want your callers to act the same way, would you?
The Basic Elements of a Good Voicemail greeting
Whereas there are various professional voicemail greeting service providers, you should be able to distinguish, good from lousy voicemail greetings. Below are the components to consider:
• Greeting: you can start by greeting the caller, Hello or Hi will do just fine.
• Name and Title if applicable: by stating your name and title, you are informing the caller of whose voicemail they have reached. If they have to leave a message, then one has confidence that it is to the right person.
• Company & Department Name: the two apply the same way as stating your name.
• Apology: it doesn’t hurt to inform your callers that you are not in a position to take their calls. You could be out of the office or in a meeting. Apologize for the inconvenience.
• Action to take: you can now invite them to leave a message, which you will attend to later.
• Other options: it also possible to give additional options to your customers. Maybe they can contact another person in the organization or can find further assistance on your company’s website. Inform them of this.
Different voicemail greetings can take various formats depending on the information that you would like to relay in your custom voicemail greeting generator . You have the option of tweaking and personalizing your recordings depending on your needs. Your choice of voicemail greeting will be played to both internal and external calls.
It is therefore essential to keep your message short and straightforward. Don’t overwhelm callers with too much information. Well, you don’t know when it will be played to callers.
Possibly, put yourself in their shoes, what is it that you would like to know or hear in a voicemail greeting?
What to Avoid
While it is essential to let the callers know when to expect a return call; refrain from giving specific dates or timeframes. You probably have no way of knowing when the caller will listen to your voicemail recording. Remember everyone who calls your line will listen to it.
Don’t give too much information. The optimal voicemail greeting should take approximately 25 seconds. Be brief and action-oriented. Let the callers know what steps they can take after.
If the call can be transferred, you have first to understand your phone system. Some systems allow the transferring of calls by just pressing 0 or any other digit. One doesn’t have to end the call and dial the different extension.
It comes in handy especially if other people in the organization can handle your calls while you are out of the office or away from the phone.
Conclusion
There are different examples of professional voicemail greetings that you can have, remember not to stray from the basics, though.
