Voicemail messages that help your business stand out from the crowd

“Hey, it’s Joe, you know what to do.” Beep.

Loud snippet of a popular rock song. Beep.

“Hi, we’re helping customers at the moment, so please leave a message and we’ll return the call as soon as we can.” Beep.

While the third voicemail greeting is head and shoulders above the other two, it still misses the mark by a country mile. Why? It omits a number of key components a business voicemail recording ought to include.

Voicemail messages that showcase your business

If you run a small business, you need to have a professional voicemail greeting on your main business line, particularly if your business uses VoIP technology. You may think a phone greeting for business is no big deal, but remember the words of American humorist Will Rogers: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

A business voicemail greeting can be the first step in your communications strategy. When you’re unable to answer the phone, a voicemail greeting shapes your customers’ initial perception of your business. Done well, your business voicemail greeting will not only assist your existing customers with questions they have—it can help bring in new business.

A professional voicemail greeting should include the following characteristics:

1. Be short: approximately 15-30 seconds in length
2. Is clear and distinct, without distracting background noise
3. States the name of your business
4. Says when they can expect to hear back from you
5. Delivers a call to action

Ideally, a business voicemail greeting should anticipate what your callers need, so where possible they can get the information they seek and don’t even have to leave a message. This saves time for both the caller and your staff. Most of all, you want to create a voicemail greeting that’s engaging, so your callers are motivated to take action.

For example, if you’re having an annual sale at your boutique shoe store, consider creating an upbeat message inviting callers to the sale with the dates, times and location, with an enticing close such as, “Save up to 70 percent off the shoes you’ve been wanting the whole year! Come early for best selection. We’ll have coffee and snacks, too!”

Aren’t you ready to hop in the car and drive right over?

Script ideas for your business voicemail greeting

While you may never make a movie or seek to become a Hollywood star, you may still need a script or two to craft the ideal voice message greeting. Voicemail scripts come in many flavors, depending on your specific business needs. Here are five voicemail script examples that you can adapt to suit your unique business needs. They cover:

• Entrepreneur’s professional voicemail greeting
• Small business voicemail greeting
• Vacation greeting (always let customers know when you’ll be closed, as a common courtesy)
• Emergency voicemail greeting (life happens!)
• Closed for the season (if you have a seasonal business, such as a ski lodge or sailboat rental business, for example)

What if you’re a healthcare provider? It’s equally essential for doctors, dentists and other medical professionals to have a brief, clear greeting that puts both new and existing patients at ease and gives them the information they need. Here are some dental office voicemail messages that can help your professional office strike just the right tone to answer inquiries and calm callers’ concerns.

Make a voicemail greeting? Not with my voice!

But what if, despite the tips and scripts, you just don’t feel your voice is the best choice for a voicemail message greeting? No worries! If you don’t have a great speaking voice, and no one else on your staff feels like the right fit to record a professional voicemail greeting, some business phone systems (like Ooma Office) give you the option to type your greeting and select the voice you’d like to record it.

For instance: When you activate your Ooma Office account, your Virtual Receptionist will automatically be set up with a text-to-speech greeting and will default to using the Virtual Receptionist menu option. You can change how the Virtual Receptionist handles incoming calls or update your greeting at any time by following these instructions.

You could also try using AI, but if the voice isn’t good enough it might rub customers or clients the wrong way.

Another option is to hire a professional voice actor to record your greeting in either a .wav or .mp3 format. Gotta love technology!

A professional voicemail greeting is just the beginning

Once you’ve created your professional voicemail greeting recording for your business, whether with your voice, a team member’s voice, Ooma’s Virtual Receptionist, AI or hired talent, you’re ready to focus on responding to the voicemails you receive.

Handling voicemails is an art. Set aside a time that works for you to listen to and respond to voicemail messages. This might be the end of the business day, during a lunch break (you do take those for your sanity, right?), or first thing in the morning.

Once you play back the message, take action in one of the following ways:

• Return the call.
• Delete it if it’s an automated message or otherwise unimportant.
• Archive the voicemail if it relates to a sales order, or forward the message to the proper department.
• Send yourself a reminder text to respond once you’re not so pressed for time. Obviously this is the least favorable alternative, as it’s always best to respond to customer inquiries promptly.

Test your business voicemail greeting: a cautionary tale

It’s especially important to check your voicemail greeting at least once a year to make sure it’s still accurate—and that your phone system is working properly. We just had an experience that highlights the potential business damage phone issues can cause:

We were staying in a coastal town that caters to tourists, and wanted to eat at a more authentic, “off the beaten track” restaurant the locals frequent. We spied some glowing reviews for a cafe that offered breakfast and lunch from 8-2, and dinner from 4-9. Since it was evening and the digital map was ambiguous, we phoned. Three times. Each time, after numerous rings the voicemail recording asked us to input our access code.

Huh?

We ate elsewhere. In the morning we called again and got the same voicemail greeting, so we decided to be intrepid and sleuth out the eatery on our own. We found it in a mini-mall, where the sign clearly stated, “Breakfast and lunch.”

First issue. They are not open for dinner service as stated online.

We entered, and the owner greeted us pleasantly. I explained what had transpired and suggested, “You might want to check your phone system, and also the websites that indicate you serve dinner.” He thanked me but didn’t seem concerned. The meal was delicious and patrons kept arriving, so perhaps in this case his phone problems aren’t much of a problem.

But why waste this opportunity? Although our first impression was lousy, we were curious enough to pursue dining there anyway. However, many people, upon getting a dead-end when calling, will likely just choose another restaurant.

This is a cautionary tale about the value of ensuring your phone and voicemail greeting are up to date and fully functional!

A phone greeting for business is your digital welcome mat

Voicemail isn’t rocket science, but it is a vital aspect of your business persona. Plan to make a professional, welcoming first impression that will place your business or medical office in the best possible light with customers or patients.

With a professional voicemail greeting, you’ll be ready to listen and respond to the voicemail messages you receive with confidence and clarity. And as our experience illustrates, that will already set you apart from businesses that don’t make the most of their voicemail potential.