As technology advances, so do our communication practices and outlets.
For instance, we can write social media posts and publish them within seconds.
Still, many people may opt to contact you through phone calls.
When you make a call, the other end won’t always pick up, and you may hear a voicemail message.
How often have you called a business only to find the phone ringing over and over with no end in sight?
Professional Voicemail Greetings
A voicemail recording is important for all businesses.
Whether you’re a business owner, team member, you need to ensure your clients stay happy.
It allows you to make a return call to missed contacts.
Although creating a short message sounds simple, it takes time and effort to craft a perfect voicemail greeting.
We’ve compiled a list of contexts where voicemail creation is essential for professional environments.
We’ve also made several guidelines to help you differentiate each one.
Plus, we have a few templates to inspire your personalized messages!
Voicemail Greeting Best Practices
There are many things to consider when recording a professional voicemail greeting.
It would be best to see which techniques work best for you to make an effective one.
Ideally, it’s wise to keep your voicemail message up to date.
That means altering it whenever necessary, such as when you have unexpected office absences or if you change your line of business.
Most people use a brief message for their voicemail.
An ideal duration ranges between 20 to 30 seconds, which should be enough time to prompt callers to leave their message.
When recording your voicemail, make sure to speak as clearly as possible!
You’ll also want to watch your tone and pace your talking speed to meet your preferences.
Before you start recording a voicemail message, it’s wise to create a voicemail script.
Doing so can help you know what to say, and thus keep your message’s flow consistent and natural.
Thankfully, there are several templates available for you to construct a message if you need help making one.
After writing your voicemail script, take some time to rehearse your message.
This way, you can really hear if it works or not.
If it doesn’t, you can tweak it as many times as you need!
You may also ask a coworker to make a test call and give you insight into your voicemail’s quality.
When recording your message, it’s best to record it in a quiet space to reduce unnecessary background noise.
These sounds might make your message unclear.
Some people may avoid talking loudly to ensure the phone doesn’t amplify the volume.
Another thing to consider is implementing a phone system that all team members can use easily.
If you want to enhance phone communication through the Internet, it’s possible to find a VoIP service that works for your business.
They may even handle other factors, such as costs, mobile applications, and unification.
Even in a work environment, some people find it convenient to track voicemails on their cellphones.
Typically, they can access their voicemail through their device’s phone app.
The voicemail boxes on their phone show which missed calls left messages and are awaiting responses.
Business Voicemail Greetings
It is essential to incorporate a voicemail system for your business.
It allows potential customers to know your availability and gives them general knowledge about your business, such as business hours.
Plus, clients can field questions to you, giving you an opportunity to attract potential customers to your business!
Several companies use voicemail to enhance their operations.
For example, a voicemail message allows you to connect with clients and prepare a response before calling them back.
Some businesses might use these messages if they have busy phone lines and can’t answer incoming calls due to traffic.
Others might use a business voicemail to let callers know they’re in a meeting or running an errand.
No matter what you use it for, having a professional voicemail in place is a must.
What to Include in a Business Voicemail Greeting
No denies that setting up a voicemail for a business can be a challenge.
After all, you need to balance being cordial with a professional tone.
When recording a message for your business phone, you should include a few staple things in your brief message.
By adding these prompts into a voicemail message, the recipient can get the information they need from whoever tried to call.
One element you should include is your business’ office hours.
For example, it’s probable that a customer may call a small business during the weekend or on holiday.
In such cases, it’s wise to say which business days you answer your calls and what time frame clients can contact you.
When leaving your detailed message to customers, you should notify them with the company name.
This lets them know that your company is still active and available to call you back as soon as possible.
You can also ask them to state their name and phone number to make the callback more efficient.
Giving these small prompts will make it all the easier to call clients back later, after all.
If you have a company that works nationwide, you may want to indicate which time zone you’re in to ensure that a caller won’t call you out of hours.
In case someone wants to leave an urgent message, refer them to your answering service number if you have one.
Business Voicemail Greeting Example
If you want to incorporate a compelling message in your business voicemail, consider using this outline as an example to follow:
“Hello, thank you for reaching out to [company name].
We can’t answer the phone right now.
If you need to chat with us, leave your name, contact information, and a detailed message about why you called.
When business hours begin, we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you.”
If you want to personalize an individual message for your clients, consider this:
“Hello. You’ve reached the desk of [name] at [company name]’s marketing department.
I’m currently away from my desk at the moment and can’t answer your call.
If you leave your name, phone number, and a brief message, I’ll call you back as soon as possible.
Thank you, and have a great day.”
Vacation Voicemail Greetings
Voicemail messages are also ideal to say that you’re unavailable at the office when you use vacation days.
These voicemails are easy to personalize because you can alter them to match specific contexts.
Many team members don’t want to inconvenience their clients.
A voicemail shows etiquette by ensuring callers you’ll get back to them once you return.
By setting this message, it reduces frustration when someone they want to reach is unavailable.
What to Include in a Vacation Voicemail Greeting
If you’re on vacation, it’s best to refer customers to another team member.
If you can’t, say how long you’ll be out of the office.
Then, ensure you’ll get back to them as soon as you can.
Vacation Voicemail Greeting Example
“Hello, you’ve reached the voicemail box of [insert name here].
I’m out of the office from [date] to [date].
If you need to converse with someone in the accounting department, please contact [coworker name] at [phone number or email address].
If you need anything else, I’ll get back to use as soon as I return.
Thank you, and have a nice day.”
Holiday Voicemail Greetings
When holidays approach, several businesses may close or limit their opening hours.
This type of voicemail allows businesses of any size to let their customers know about their establishment’s work hours or when they reopen.
When it comes to federal holidays, it’s normal to be closed.
Employees taking time off for religious holidays may also find a holiday voicemail message helpful in letting others know they’re not available.
What to Include in a Holiday Voicemail Greeting
Ideally, you can inform the caller what your business’s operating hours are and what dates they can expect the business to reopen.
Like the other greeting templates, keep your tone professional and informative.
Although several people personalize different types of voicemail messages, many wish callers a happy holiday at the beginning or end of the message.
You can create several holiday messages throughout the year.
Holiday Voicemail Greeting Example
“Happy holidays! You have reached [company name].
We’re closed for Christmas and New Years’ and will reopen on January 4th.
If you have any questions about our operating hours, feel free to browse our company website.
If you have an emergency inquiry you want to discuss, please contact [employee name] at [phone number] or leave your name and contact information, and we’ll reach out to you directly.
Have a safe and wonderful holiday.”
Funny Voicemail Greetings
Sometimes, people might prefer adding humor to their messages to differentiate them from others.
These types of voicemails aren’t preferable for professional or conservative work environments.
However, many people create them as inside jokes between close companions or family members.
What to Include in a Funny Voicemail Greeting
Although your humor might be subjective to others, there’s no concrete way to construct a funny greeting.
Some people interject sarcasm or hyperbole to their messages to subvert callers’ expectations.
Ideally, you should include a salutation, state why you can’t answer the phone and prompt the caller to leave their message.
Though comical, the message’s structure should match with professional ones.
Funny Voicemail Greeting Example
“Hey there. You’ve reached [name]’s phone.
I can’t answer right now since I’m too busy with my cat.
Unless you want to tell me something more important than writing my award-winning screenplay or a sales meeting, keep your message short. I don’t want to overwork the beep.”
Conclusion
Voicemail is an essential tool to embrace in any professional field.
Creating a short voice message may intimidate others less if they have something important to tell you.
There are several types of voicemail messages suitable for different contexts when implementing a professional voice message for callers who need to contact you.
Of course, you’ll want to pick the one most appropriate for your work ethic.
Although each voicemail type is different, they all follow a similar structure.
When recording a voicemail, you should include:
- A greeting
- Name or company’s name
- The reason you can’t pick up
- When you will be available to answer
- A request for the caller’s contact information
- Reassurance you’ll call back.
Many businesses might install VoIP services to answer frequently asked questions for customers, allowing them to save time and resources.
This also increases productivity for other work priorities.
Creating the perfect professional voicemail is a trial and error practice, so experiment with several of these categories!
