Get the most from your answerphone message

Being in the business of Call Management we have collected some quite impressive data about the frustrations of leaving a Voicemail message. One frustration is that it isn’t actioned or worse, No Voicemail at all leaving customers unable to contact you.

 

It is essential that a good Voicemail is used to promote a professional first contact if you want to avoid your customers calling someone else. While reviewing our data for GDPR we have found that the most frequent gripe for customers was Voicemail ” .. aaahhhh!!!

 

Some figures from our own stats –

 

80% of callers will not leave a message on a Voicemail/Answerphone, this increases to 90% when it is a new business enquiry. By adding your own personal message at the beginning of the call you can improve these percentages by offering customers a reassuring message that their call is important to you and you will call them back. You can even go one better and say you will call back within a certain time frame.

 

75% of small, one-person-businesses do not offer their customers a Voicemail or an Answerphone; leaving their phones to just ring until timed out; definitely not a very good first impression for your customer. 65% of those who left a sales enquiry did not receive a return call within 1 hour, 75% did not receive a reply within 4 hours, 20% received no reply at all. Lastly, consider the poor salespeople as they only have a 4% chance of someone returning a sales message.

 

So consider this, if you do not offer your customers an  answerphone option or have one but with no personal message then 80% of your business enquiries will go elsewhere. This wastes your valuable advertising expense.

 

These stats are interesting in so far as it would suggest that having a Voicemail/Answerphone option is pretty pointless if you are not making good use of it. How many times have you called a number only to receive the message “Please leave a message after the tone <BEEP>”, no message to confirm you have called the correct number and that unmistakable feeling that you will be lucky to receive a call back.

 

So what else can you do? Well if you cannot always answer every call, make sure your caller hears you rather than the standard rather impersonal voiceover supplied by your phone supplier. Even better get a real person to answer all your calls when you cannot with a Call Answering Service – Your own Virtual Receptionist to answer your calls as your company; creating for your customer a professional first contact.

 

Here are six of my best tips for creating a Voicemail your customers will appreciate!

 

1) Tell People Who You Are – A little bit obvious, but it does not take a second to confirm they have called the correct person and business.

 

2) Keep it short and simple – A welcome, who you are and a guarantee you will call them back, giving them a rough time frame if possible. 

 

3) Write your greeting down and prepare before recording – This will make you sound more relaxed and re-record if you “Um” or “Er” during your recording.

 

4) Be Creative – Consider that most people are hoping  to speak to you so create a message that will get them to stay on the line until the beep as most will leave a message if they hear this. Try a bit a humour or empathy for their issue. If you are a plumber how about “Welcome to Bill’s Plumbing Services, I’m up to my ankles in water at present, but please leave your name, number, message and I’ll return your call in a splash”. You do not have to be a comedian just make it relevant to your trade or business. Your callers will find this amusing and you will stand out from other calls they have made.  They are also more likely to leave a message and wait for you to call back.

 

5)  Change your message periodically to reflect your availability and changes within the business. When dealing with a client there is good chance they will call you back a few times and nothing shows a forward-thinking company than a new relevant message. If you want to really impress them you could record a daily message stating the time and date you recorded the message and offering a time when you are able to call them back.

 

6) If you have an Auto-Attendant option already i.e. “Press One for Sales” make sure you getting the most out of it by recording relevant information to your caller such as what number to press to reach the correct person/department or stating your business opening hours, website, alternative number or email address is also useful. 

 

I hope you have found this blog informative and check out our blog  “Mobiles Verses Landlines to Promote your Business” 

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