12/15/2006
How to Compose a Voice Mail Greeting
Most people don’t think about their voice mail greeting as a thing that needs formal composition, but sometimes, a voice mail greeting is every bit as important as a sales proposal or the home page of your Web site.
For instance, the man pictured above (let’s call him Mr. Grim) has a problem. Maybe the order you were supposed to deliver yesterday never arrived. If he doesn’t receive it in an hour, his plant will shut down and he’ll lose a $100,000 customer.
1. If you compose your voice mail greeting with Mr. Grim in mind, you’ll be 3/4 of the way there, especially with regard to the tone of your greeting. The tone should be straightforward and professional, never syrupy or cute.
2. Start by identifying yourself quickly but completely. “Hello. My name is Amanda Jones, ABC. Company, extension 1411.” If your office location or department is important, mention it. The point is to get to the point. Mr. Grim is in no mood to hear a prologue.
3. State your whole name. It’s amazing how often a voice mail message will say, “This is John,” or “This is Julie”. What if the caller needs to talk to you again? Do you really want to put Mr. Grim in the position of asking your switchboard operator if he can talk to “John”? If the switchboard operator replies, “Which John? We have thirty-seven,” Mr. Grim’s next call will probably be to your competitor.
4. Mention your extension. Seems obvious, but how many times do you hear it? Make sure your caller has your extension–that way, if she needs to call you again, she won’t have to wait on hold or go through an annoying search-by-name routine on your automated switchboard. Imagine how grim Mr. Grim would be if he had to call a second time and go through that.
5. Give callers bypass instructions. After you identify yourself, say, “If you want to go directly to my voice mail, press the star key.” A return caller or frequent caller doesn’t need to hear your whole message–she just wants to leave her message and get on to something else.
6. Forget the fluff. Some people, especially in sales and customer service, are tempted to include a long-winded personal pitch. Their motives are noble–they want the customer to know how much he is valued. However, if the caller is a satisfied customer, she already got the message. If the caller is a new inquiry, she might want to hear it, but then again, she might want to get on with it. When the choice is between selling and speed, pick speed. Finally, if the caller is Mr. Grim, the absolute last thing he wants to hear is a boilerplate sales pitch or personal fluff.
7. Conclude with a commitment. If Mr. Grim leaves a message, he wants to know what to expect. A solid voice mail greeting will say, “Please leave a message at the tone. I will call back before end of business today, or first thing in the morning.” Obviously, don’t over-commit! But don’t be overcautious, either. Even if your callback commitment is unacceptably long to Mr. Grim, you’re doing him a huge favor by stating it. Now, Mr. Grim knows he needs to get someone else on the line–now.
In corporate communication, a few bad threads can unravel the whole garment. Incredible as it sounds, the best customer service department in town can be undermined by a few terribly poor voice mail greetings. If you reflect on your own experiences dealing with customer service, you you may recall a time when your service rep’s greeting was, in reality, a goodbye.
4 Responses to How to Compose a Voice Mail Greeting
Also watch the speed of your speech! Some people talk so fast (and the connection may not be the best) that information gets garbled. Critical information, especially numbers, should the caller want to write them down) should be repeated somewhere in the message.
And you hit the nail on the head up there at the top, Brad – TONE!
Bob, thanks for de-uncommenting these posts AND adding some excellent advice!
OK; I know you’re a word nerd and all that, but “de-uncommenting” must violate a rule somewhere!
I’m shocked; simply shocked! :-O
Also, thought to add, once you have your script written and really want to enhance your image, voicemail greetings recorded by professional voice talent makes a big difference. Our company works with small business owners as well as large corporations and provides custom voicemail, auto attendant, voice prompt recordings for all types of phone systems, even mobile phones.
Lecia Macryn Voice Services http://www.Macryn.com