It can be tempting to turn off your voicemail service, in the age of social media and instant connectivity. After all, when customers can contact you on Twitter or Facebook who needs voicemail, right? Wrong!
Even when you offer all these choices, many customers still prefer to call you. While you strive to provide the best customer experience, you will have situations when you can’t answer the phones. If you don’t have a professional voicemail greeting, callers will simply hang up. Most of them will not bother to call you back and are more likely to call your competitor.
With a bit of time and effort, you can turn this situation to your advantage and use it as an opportunity to cultivate a relationship with potential customers. Your audience will respect a business with a professional voicemail greeting, especially when you follow through and reach out to them later.
The purpose of business voicemail greetings
When was the last time you updated your business voicemail greeting? It’s not something business owners spend time thinking about unless it becomes a problem. Here’s a quick way to figure out if your current greeting is working for you:
- Find out how many calls you get regularly (daily or weekly) where callers are unable to talk to a person or hang up due to long hold times
- Track how many voicemail messages are left by callers at your service numbers
If you get 10 missed calls per day and only 2 callers leave a message, then your current greeting is not doing its job. Your goal is to ensure customers leave their contact information so you can call them back. From a customer’s perspective, leaving a voicemail message certainly isn’t ideal but it’s better than the frustration of not knowing when or how you should contact the business again.
A good business voicemail greeting creates a favorable impression on the customer, whether it’s their first or fifteenth time calling your business.
What to say in a business voicemail greeting
At the very minimum, you want to say the name of the person or department, and company name so the caller knows they have reached the right place. You could give a reason for not answering the phone such as you’re away from the desk or that all your service reps are busy with customers. But you should definitely apologize for not being able to talk to them right away.
Depending on what kind of greeting you’re using, you can also include information such as:
- Business hours if you’re recording an off-hour greeting.
- Latest promotions if the greeting is for the sales or service department.
- Alternative contact information such as an email address or website for a general number.
Finally, make sure to invite callers to leave a message. It might seem intuitive but many people hang up instead of leaving a message if you don’t ask them. Reassure them that you will call them back in 1 or 2 business days and follow through on that promise.
Tips on recording business voicemail greetings
If you want a voicemail greeting for a person such as a manager or CEO, then it’s quite ok to ask the person to record their own greeting. But for business voicemail greetings such as your sales or service department, you might want a professional. If not a professional, at least make sure to have the same person record all greetings for consistency.
The greeting should be in high-quality audio without any distortions or background noise. Avoid jargon and use language that is familiar and comfortable for your audience. If your target audience is multi-lingual, you may need to record several versions in different languages.
Here are a few guidelines on recording a professional voicemail greeting:
- Do not use canned phrases such as ‘Your call is very important to us..’ Most people don’t like it as it’s overused and sounds insincere. Instead, speak directly to the caller and say ‘We don’t want to waste your time on hold, so please leave a message.’
- Never forget to mention the person or department whose voicemail they’ve reached. Voicemail can feel impersonal at the best of times, don’t add to the customer’s frustration.
- Apologize for not answering their call but again, avoid using cliched words. Use a warm voice and sound sincere when saying it. Try to avoid an impersonal and monotonous tone.
- Avoid adding too many details. If you want to offer alternatives, keep it simple like a website or another phone number. Callers don’t need to know your business hours, directions to your office, and all your social media information in the greeting.
- Keep the greeting short, preferably within 25 seconds or so. Longer than that and no one’s hanging around to leave you a message.
- Always invite the caller to leave a message and don’t forget to mention when and how you will call them back.
- Try to avoid humor or other personal touches unless you know it reflects the values of your brand. If you think even a few people may not like the funny words, it’s better to use straightforward language.
Test and refresh voicemail greetings
Once you’ve recorded the various greetings, it’s time to test it out. Don’t wait for customers to call and leave you a message. Ask employees or other trusted contacts to call your number and listen to the voicemail greeting. Listen to their feedback. If they say the volume is too low or the speaker is going too fast to understand, you may need to make adjustments.
Be sure to update your business voicemail greetings if necessary. With time, your business will grow and change. Your audience may be different as well. So a greeting that worked well when you were a small business with 2 employees may be inappropriate when you have a 10 person customer service department!
Remember that you need different voicemail greetings for various purposes. You cannot use the same one for an employee and an entire department. A vacation or holiday voicemail greetings may need different content than an off-hours message.
Sample professional greetings
Hello, you’ve reached the “X” Department at “ABC company”. We can’t take your call right now, but please leave your name and contact information. One of our team members will be in touch within 24 hours.
Thank you for calling “Company name”. All our representatives are currently helping clients achieve “goal”. Please leave us your name, phone number, and message after the beep, and we will assist you within the next 24 hours. Have a wonderful day.
You can also include a website or email address they can use or another phone number in case it’s an emergency.
Sample holiday greetings
Holiday greetings are essential as your callers would like to know when you will open for business again or when they can expect a response.
Hi, you’ve reached “name” at “company”. Our office is closed until “X date”, but please leave us your name and phone number and our team will get back to you as soon as possible. Enjoy “X holiday” and thank you for calling!
Happy holidays! You have reached “X company”. We are unable to answer the phone right now but will get back to you right after the holidays on “date”. Please be sure to leave your name, phone number, and a brief message. Thank you.
Sample personal greetings
If your employees have a close and direct relationship with clients, then the voicemail greeting can reflect it. If not, a more general greeting is appropriate.
Hi, you’ve reached “name” at “company”. I’m helping “type of company” get “goals or results” Leave your name and number, and we can discuss getting similar results for your business.
Hi, you’ve reached “name” at “company”. I’m on vacation from “date” to “date”. Please contact “colleague” at “number” or send an email to “email address”. Have a great day and I’ll see you in “Y days or month”.
Off-hours greetings
If you’re recording a greeting for times when your office is closed, callers will appreciate alternate means of communication. So be sure to include your website, email address, or social media pages. Don’t include every available option, keep it short and simple.
Hello, you’ve reached “XYZ company”. We are currently closed and our office hours are from “x time” to “x time” “time zone”. Please visit us at “company website” for more information, or leave us your name and phone number and we will get back to you on “X day”. Thank you for calling “X company”.
Thank you for calling “business name”. We are currently unable to answer your call as our office hours are “business hours” Monday to Friday. You can always contact us via live chat on our website “URL” and our store is open on weekends from “X time to Y time”. If you’d like us to call back then please leave your name and number after the beep.
Start using VoIPstudio in your company’s phone system and we’ll help you set up the best voicemail greetings.
