Can’t get to the phone? That might be fine for your personal number, but not for your business. That doesn’t mean you can’t take a vacation or let the office celebrate their holidays in peace. It just means that you need to create the perfect voicemail greeting. Customers appreciate custom greetings when trying to reach a company. Of course, they prefer to get through and reach someone, but it’s not always possible 24/7 if you’ve got a small business. However, when customers get the chance to leave a voicemail, you could end up with some questions unanswered. Making sure that your voicemail is straightforward and can help guide your customers ensures that you can return the call to your customer with the confidence that you understand the issue and how to resolve it. In order to stay in touch with all of your calling customers while you’re living it up on vacation, or away from your office on a business conference, here are some tips for creating the perfect voicemail greeting.
Create the Right Background
Try to find someplace quiet to record your greeting. Sounds of others chatting away in the background can come off as unprofessional. Plus, you want your customers to understand what you’re saying; if there are loud, busy, and obnoxious noises permeating through, your caller will be turned off. The whole reason that you are creating a virtual voicemail greeting for your customer is to walk them through the process that you would like them to adhere to when leaving a message, therefore the message needs to be heard and the customer needs to understand it.
Be Positive and Engaging
An easy way to emit positive energy through the phone is to smile while you speak. People can hear a smile in others’ voices. Use positive phrases instead of negative ones. Instead of saying “unfortunately, we can’t answer the phone” begin by saying “thank you for calling (name of the business) we look forward to returning your call.” It may seem like a very small change, but you will be surprised how better people respond to the same phrase when it is worded in a positive way.
Rehearse Your Greeting
Write down exactly what you want your perfect voicemail greeting to say and practice it. Once you’ve said it a few times out loud, you won’t stumble over your words. It will flow naturally even though you have written it down, and you will be able to practice the right tone of voice while delivering the message. The tone should be positive and happy, but not forced. There is no need to go overboard with the happiness in a message, just do whatever feels comfortable to you.
Let Them Know They’ve Reached the Right Place!
“Thanks for calling us! Please leave a voicemail and we will be sure to get right back to you!” This message is missing a lot of vital information. If a customer is dialing your business for the first time and they come upon a message that is very vague, they may think they have the wrong number. Especially if you don’t even mention the name of your business and what service/ product it provides. “Thank you for calling Dr. Thompson’s office. The #1 dental office serving Bridgeport and surrounding boroughs…”
Change It Up
You may have created the perfect voicemail greeting, but who wants to listen to the same voicemail greeting month after month? Change it up! Every season you could create a new message that can introduce new products or services, or can convey a seasonal attitude. For example, if the wintertime is full of fun, family holidays, and if your greeting doesn’t include a message, your customer may think that if your voicemail isn’t up-to-date, maybe your products aren’t either.
Customize Your Voicemail Greetings
There’s always room for creativity and fun in creating voicemail greetings. Your voicemail doesn’t need to be super professional sounding as long as it conveys the correct information. Creating a relatable and even witty message is a great way to reflect your brand and make the call fun for the customer.
