With all the new ways customers can communicate with you, it’s easy to forget about your company’s voicemail greeting. But despite the rise in popularity of email and social media customer service, phone calls aren’t going anywhere. That’s why it’s important to have a polished and useful voicemail message.
Regardless of the size of your business, your business phone should have voicemail set up. but what do you say in the recording? we have some ideas that you are free to use!
let’s get to it:
- why you need a voicemail greeting
- what makes a great voicemail greeting
- 10 examples of business voicemail greetings
- bonus: how to use voicemail for customer service
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why you need a voicemail greeting
Making and managing calls can be difficult during peak and busy hours, so voicemail is essential to reach callers who were unable to connect at the time. Customer experience is more important than ever, and providing a voicemail option shows the customer that you care about their question or concern and that you have a plan to communicate with them.
Your voicemail can be the first point of contact for the caller and you want it to be positive. Some larger companies, like Coca-Cola, are moving away from voicemail altogether, so having an effective voicemail message can be a way to set your small business apart and show that you value interaction between customers and b2b.
It’s still good etiquette to have voicemail on a business phone and can be an important point of contact with both your business community and customers.
what makes a great voicemail greeting
A good voicemail greeting is professional, short, and to the point. The most important part of your voicemail strategy should be having a well-defined plan to respond to all voicemails in a timely manner. your voicemail greeting should indicate that the call will be returned, and then you should go ahead and call back.
The message should also be tailored to your business, so don’t be afraid to let your brand personality shine through.
10 Examples of Business Voicemail Greetings
Don’t know what to say on your voice mail? we have you covered. Here are ten examples of great voicemail messages you can record today. feel free to use the one that appeals to you the most!
example 1: “hello, you have arrived at [business]. We’re sorry we missed her call, but we promise to get back to you as soon as possible. please leave your name and number and we look forward to speaking with you soon.”
example 2: “hello, this is the voicemail of [company]. no one is available now to take your call, but it is very important to us. If you leave your name and number, someone will contact you as soon as possible.”
example 3: “thank you for calling. you have reached [name], [position in the company]. either I’m talking to another client or I’m away from my desk. if it’s an emergency, call my answering service at [number]. otherwise, please leave a confidential and detailed message after the tone and I will return your call as soon as possible.”
example 4: “hello, you have contacted [business]. We value your call, so please leave your name, contact information, and reason for calling, and one of our team members will get back to you within 24 hours.”
example 5: “hi, this is [your name] at [business]. if you call for [x reason], [contact so-and-so] or [visit our website, email me]. For all other inquiries, please leave your name and a brief message and I will call you back within [one, two, three] business day[s].”
example 6: “hello, you have reached [name] at [business]. if you need a quick response email me at [insert email address] and I’ll get back to you by the end of the day tomorrow. If it’s not urgent, please leave me a message with your name and number and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Have a great day.”
example 7: “hi, this is [your name] at [business]. thanks for calling. please leave your name, number, and the reason you’d like to chat, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
example 8: “hi, you’ve reached [business]. unfortunately, we’re currently unavailable. but we want to speak with you, so please leave your name and number, as well as the reason for your call, and someone will call you back as soon as possible.”
example 9: “hello, you have reached [business]. We are available by phone from [time] to [time] [time zone] Monday through Friday and from [time] to [time] on weekends. You can also contact us by visiting our website, [url], live chatting or sending us an email. If you want us to call you back, please leave your name and number after the tone.”
example 10: “hi, you got in touch with [business]. if you are looking for information on [topic a], please visit our [facebook page, company website, etc.] if you want to learn more about [topic b], please have a look at page [c on our site, our youtube channel, etc.] if you still have more questions, or just want to chat with our team, please leave your name and number, and we’ll call you back as soon as we can.”
Voicemail done right is a great way to connect with customers. Be sure to record your voicemail professionally and return calls within the time period you specified in your message.
bonus: how to use voicemail for customer service
There are two easy ways to use your voicemail to serve your customers:
- Combine your voicemail with intelligent call routing to help your customers connect with the right person the first time. this improves the first call resolution rate, which is good for everyone!
- use interactive voice response (ivr) to let callers help themselves. you can include all sorts of information they might need while keeping your team free for more complex customer needs (eg “press 1 for store hours, press 2 for balance”, etc).
The good news: the right business phone system will come with these features built in! It’s a good idea to look for an all-in-one cloud communications platform that allows you to easily set up your voicemail within a mobile or desktop app. ringcentral offers these features and many more for your business phone. take a look:
you have (voice) mail. what now?
Connecting with your customers today doesn’t end with the phone and voice mail. If you’re looking for even more ways to connect with your customers, RingCentral can help. Check out Business Texting to see how texting can take your customer service to the next level.
originally published March 10, 2022, updated April 19, 2022