Once your business opens, you’ll be itching for your business phone to ring. Startups and business owners go to great (and costly) lengths to create eye-catching marketing and advertising material, but all that hard work could be undone with just one phone call.
Business phone etiquette is essential to creating a good first impression with your potential customer – and we’ve got the secret sauce for the best greetings to put on your phone for a business.
While answering the phone is always better than leaving a message, it is after-hours or during periods when you or your employees are unable to take a call that a voicemail system is vital.
A voicemail system enables potential customers to reach you after-hours and it opens a door for you to potentially do business with them. How you engage and interact with your customers on the phone can definitely make or break your business.
Phone Etiquette is Customer Service
Customer service leads to brand building by creating a positive impression of your business in the minds of your potential customers. Business phone etiquette also shows your customers that you are professional and are eager to do business. After all, you want them to spend their money with your business.
There are essential ingredients to crafting the best first impression on your business’ voicemail system:
1. Clear and Concise Information
Let the caller know which business they’ve called, what your business is about, your designated employee’s name and department that will return their call, how to contact you in case of an emergency and how to leave a message.
2. Confirmation
If it is an after-hours call, be sure to leave your business hours. Thank the caller for their time and also always apologize for being unavailable to take their call in person.
3. Invitation
Invite the caller to leave a message and indicate that you’ll return their call at the earliest possible time.
4. Duration
Remember to keep your voicemail greeting as short and sweet as simple. A length of between 15 to 30 seconds is best.
When a customer calls your business, they are offering you an opportunity to do business. Your business phone etiquette is a form of customer service and you shouldn’t underestimate the power of it in dealing with customers. Proper and professional phone etiquette is extremely important in establishing a good first impression.
Creating a professional impression for your potential customers is easy. The first fundamental is to not let the phone ring more than 5 times. This would show that you’re too busy for your customers and you’re not available to talk – a bad sign.
When you’re on the phone with a potential customer or a repeat caller, try to avoid distractions such as your colleagues talking or other tasks that pull your focus away from your conversation on the phone. Be patient with the caller and let them know you’re listening. This shows that you care about their call and care about them as customers.
Always listen before trying to respond – if you interrupt a customer, they might not be able to reveal all their questions for you to answer and you might not be able to help them, thereby losing their business. Rather engage with your caller by asking questions to best understand their needs.
How to Create the Best Voicemail Greetings
As we have established, your business’ voicemail greeting should invite your potential customer to leave a message. Armed with the four building blocks of creating business voicemail greetings of clear and concise information, confirmation, invitation, and duration as outlined above, we’ll now walk you through how to create the best voicemail greetings.
As with many aspects of business, the best and most effective greetings are usually the simplest.
Here are 5 Tips on How to Create the Best Voicemail Greetings:
- The first thing you need to mention is your business name. You need to make this as brief yet clear as possible. If you advertise or share a specific person’s details – such as a salesperson – then mention their name too so that the caller knows who they can leave a message with. While it is important to appear professional, you don’t need to adopt a robotic message and tone: don’t use over-worked phrases such as “Your business is important to us – please leave a message.” Those will alienate your customers. People will form a bond with a greeting that’s more human and friendly in tone.
- Do thank the caller for their time and apologize for being unable to take their call at that moment. If your voicemail is for after-hours purposes, be sure to mention your office hours.
- Invite the caller to leave their message and indicate that you will follow up with their message at the earliest possible time.
- If your voicemail was created for after-hours purposes, offer additional information to the caller such as an emergency contact number and share your business’ website.
- Don’t speak for more than 30 seconds. In fact, 15 to 30 seconds is the best length for a business voicemail greeting.
Examples of the Best Voicemail Greetings for a Business
There is a multitude of business voicemail greetings on the Internet for you to look into and fine-tune for your business. We’ve taken the hard work out of that for you with our list of the best greetings to put on your phone for a business:
A. “Hello, you’ve contacted [your name] at [your business’ name]. Thanks for reaching out to me, but I’m sorry I’m unable to take your call right now. Please leave your name, number and a message at the tone and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
B. “Thanks for calling [your business’ name]. We apologize for not being able to take your call right now. Our office is closed at this time. Our usual business hours are Mondays to Fridays from 8 am to 5 pm. Please leave a message after the tone and we’ll be sure to contact you back.”
C. “Hello, you’ve contacted [your business name]. Thanks for your call; our office reopens at 8 am on Mondays through Fridays and we’ll call you back as soon as our office reopens. Please leave a message with your contact details and who you’d like to speak to so that we can best assist you. If this is an emergency, you can call [your name] on the number [your phone number]. Thank you!”
D. “You’ve called [your business’ name]. Unfortunately, our agents are busy assisting customers. We thank you for your call. We’ll do our best to get back to you as soon as one of our agents becomes available. If your call is to enquire about the status of your order placed with our office, please log onto our website at [your business’ website]. Alternatively, please leave your name and number after the beep and we’ll call you back as soon as possible. Thanks for reaching out to [your business’ name]!”
E. “Thanks for calling us at [your business’ name]. Unfortunately, all of our representatives are currently busy, but please leave a message with your name and number and we will return your call within the next [number of hours]. Thanks for calling!”
F. “You have reached [your business’ name]. We’re currently closed. Our normal office hours are from Mondays to Fridays, from 8 am to 5 pm. Please leave us a message with your name and number and we’ll return your call when the office reopens. Thanks for calling [your business’ name].”
G. “You’ve contacted [your name] at [your business’ name]. Thanks for reaching out to me. Unfortunately, I am not in the office right now, but please leave your name and number at the beep and I’ll call you back as soon as possible.”
H. “Thank you for calling [your name] of [your business’ name]. Unfortunately, I’m unavailable to take you call right now. Please you leave your contact details so that I can call you back as soon as possible.”
