Never disregard the power of your office phone voicemail greeting. It is your secondary point of contact, your assistant, your first impression, your 24/7 contact line — and you better believe clients are judging you based on your greeting.
You can’t personally answer every call, but a voicemail can still leave your mark on a client. Here five tips for great voicemail.
1) Smile. Yes, it’s “voice” mail. But your body language makes a huge difference. Research has that found people can actually hear a smile. Your attitude will make a huge difference in the tone of your voice.
2) Change your greeting. Your personal availability should dictate how often you change your voicemail greeting. If you’re out of the office a lot or in a job field that keeps you away from your phone for extended periods, you may want to change your voicemail to let callers know when you’ll be back to return their call.
3) Record your own message. Some argue that using a generic voicemail says you don’t care or don’t know how to change your greeting. Even worse is letting a secretary record your voicemail.
4) Leave useful content. The content of your message needs to give people what they want. Your name, title, department, as well as an alternate way to get a hold of you (e-mail, cell phone) and the name of someone to call for immediate assistance. Always close with a “Thanks for calling!”
5) Practice. Once you’ve figured out your message, write it down. Practice a few times until you can say the message clearly and concisely without any awkward pauses.