As a business phone system manager with over 15 years of experience, I can‘t emphasize enough how important it is to craft customized, professional voicemail greetings. This vital branding touchpoint can directly impact your bottom line.
According to statistics from VocalReferences, 60% of consumers said a positive voicemail greeting improved their perception of that business. Additionally, 79% of callers are more likely to leave a voicemail when they hear a personalized greeting.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explore all aspects of creating exceptional business voicemail greetings that drive sales and boost customer satisfaction.
A well-crafted voicemail greeting provides many benefits:
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Conveys Professionalism: An automated, crisp voicemail greeting makes your business sound polished and established. First impressions matter.
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Routes Callers: An effective greeting gives callers menu options to route them to the right department or person.
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Provides Key Details: Your greeting should share your business name, hours, address, and contact information.
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Sets Expectations: It lets callers know when to expect a return call and alternate contact methods.
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Captures Leads: Clear greeting prompts help capture contact details from leads who call after hours.
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Manages Call Overflow: During high call volumes, greetings prevent missed calls and lost business.
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Branding: A consistent, on-brand greeting reinforces your brand identity and messaging.
Here are some of the most common scenarios where you‘ll want to set up tailored voicemail greetings:
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After Hours: For calls outside your business hours.
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Lunch Break: Midday break greetings.
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Holidays: Custom greetings for holidays and closures.
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Inclement Weather: Greetings for snow days, storms, or emergencies.
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Summer Hours: Alternate greetings for seasonal hours changes.
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Call Overflow: Busy signal greetings during high call volumes.
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Vacation: Out of office greetings when you‘re away.
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Conferences: Greetings when staff is at an event or conference.
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New Product Launch: Promotional greetings for special sales or offers.
Follow these tips when writing your script:
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Be Concise: Keep it under 30 seconds. Get to the main menu options quickly.
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Sound Natural: Avoid sounding robotic. Have a conversation.
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Smile: You can hear a smile through the phone. An upbeat energy engages callers.
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Speak Clearly: Enunciate words fully without rushing.
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Add Some Personality: Feel free to showcase your brand personality and voice.
To ensure high-quality voicemail greetings:
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Use a Professional Recording: Hiring voice talent is worth the investment.
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Record in a Quiet Space: Reduce background noise interference.
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Use a Good Microphone: Invest in a high-quality audio recording mic.
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Listen Back Critically: Review recordings and re-record if needed.
To get the most from your greetings:
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Use Call Tracking: Analyze greetings with your phone system‘s analytics.
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A/B Test: Test out 2-3 different greetings. Keep what performs best.
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Change Seasonally: Refresh greetings for holidays, events, and promotions.
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Update Annually: Rerecord greetings regularly to sound updated.
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Train Staff: Ensure all employees can record personal greetings.
For larger businesses, consider combining your voicemail greeting with an IVR (interactive voice response) phone menu. This allows callers to self-serve for common requests like:
- Hours/locations
- Directions
- FAQs
- Contact info
- Appointments
Just make sure menu options are concise and limited for simplicity. Offer to repeat menu choices.
VoIP business phone systems make setting up customized, automated voicemail greetings easy. Top choices include:
Nextiva: Offers VOIP with unlimited calling, texting, advanced call management tools, and voicemail transcription.
RingCentral: Provides enterprise-level VOIP phone services with mobile app integration and voicemail-to-text.
Ooma: Delivers a budget VOIP solution for small businesses with customizable voicemail greetings.
8×8: Features cloud-based VOIP with unlimited calling, global coverage, and built-in greetings.
Mitel: Offers customizable hosted VOIP with mobile twinning, IVR menus, and voicemail management.
For professional voicemail recording, consider hiring voice over artists, including:
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Fiverr: Freelancers offer voicemail recording gigs starting around $5 per greeting.
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VoiceBunny: Over 45,000 voice actors available with price quotes starting at $100 per greeting.
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Voices.com: Manages over 125,000 voice talents. Voicemail greetings start around $100.
I hope this expanded guide provides helpful tips and best practices for creating exceptional voicemail greetings that impress callers and boost your bottom line. Let me know if you have any other questions!
