Whether you’re an individual or an entrepreneur running a business, you cannot always be on hand to answer the phone when it rings. And ring it will, either from existing customers or prospective clients seeking a business deal. This is why you need to set up voicemail greetings on your business line, to act as a proxy that interacts with clients when they call.
Voicemail greetings are vital for your communication strategy. They can increase engagement with your clients, create rapport, and leave a good first impression when you’re not available to pick up the phone. With them, you can turn the frustration your customers feel when they miss you into delight with an interesting, high-value voicemail greeting. You can briefly explain why you can’t take up their call and what they should do next.
However, there is a marked difference between knowing the importance of voicemail greetings and knowing the right message to leave. Get it wrong or discard it totally, and you risk damaging your business relationships in your absence.
However, with the right words, you can retain your clients’ loyalty even without being present.
Key takeaways
- A good voicemail greeting is short and professional.
- It lets people know that you’ll get back to them and invites callers to continue engaging with a call-to-action.
- A professional voicemail greeting can not only get customers to leave a message, but it can also pave the way to a better customer service experience.
What is a professional voicemail greeting?
A professional voicemail greeting is a recording that informs clients, colleagues, and business partners that you’re not available to receive their calls. It is an essential part of any effective business communication strategy, especially if you are in sales. It helps you win deals from prospects and customers even when you can’t speak with them immediately.
Telling customers you’re happy to call them back if they provide their name, number, and message encourages them to trust you and your professionalism and competence.
A professional voicemail greeting should leave a positive impression right from the get-go. A well-crafted greeting can help you build rapport with the customers by giving them elevated customer service. At the same time, it establishes a sense of professionalism and confidence in your company.
Even if you cannot speak with your callers at that time, your voicemail can make a huge difference.
What to say in a voicemail greeting
Here’s what you should say in a professional voicemail greeting:
- A greeting
- Your name
- Your company
- A simple explanation for missing the call (e.g. you’re away from the phone or are on holiday)
- A rough estimate of when you’ll get back to the person
- An alternative person to reach out to (if you’re out of the office)
- An alternative mode of communication (if you prefer email or text)
- A call-to-action such as “Leave a message” or “Send me an email at me@example.com”
That’s the simple structure of a voicemail greeting. Overall, your greeting should be professional, but the wording can vary depending on the situation.
Tips for creating a professional voicemail greeting
A professional voicemail greeting is like your window to compensate for your absence to address your customer’s query. It showcases the right sales and customer service spirit. That is why the professional voicemail greeting must be framed appropriately.
To help you, I have listed a few business voicemail greeting tips:
- It is important to validate your customer’s interest in reaching out to you first. This can be done by starting with a ‘Thank you for reaching out to us’ and further expressing regret for causing inconvenience to them.
- Keeping it short and simple works best when giving customer support. In the case of already delayed assistance, a long professional voicemail greeting will not help at all. Ideally, in customer service, a professional voicemail greeting users will listen to and respond to should be about 10–30 seconds long.
- If the customer wants more information, you can always offer options in professional voicemail greetings, such as the next availability of your representative.
- To address the customer’s concern, you should ensure that your professional voicemail greeting asks for as many details as possible when they record the voicemail. The details should also include a suitable time to contact the customer.
Additional tips for voicemail greetings
You should also consider these tips to help you create a good voicemail greeting:
- Be specific. Include precise details in your voicemail message to create a positive impression and help the caller understand what to expect from you. For example, you may include your time zone, working hours, or the best times to talk on the phone.
- Create temporary greetings. Record new greetings to use temporarily, such as if you’re on vacation or parental leave. Include when you anticipate returning to work and who they can contact in the meantime. This helps to create a good communication experience for clients and prevents gaps.
- Lead with your information. Begin your message with your name to confirm to the caller that they dialed the right person. Follow this by asking for the necessary information to make a return call, such as their phone number and working hours.
- Keep it professional. Avoid using humor or being too casual in your greeting. While it is important to create a polite message, telling jokes in your greeting may create the wrong impression, appear unprofessional or offend the caller.
- Practice your message. Try leaving your greeting at different times, and record and listen to the versions. This can help you feel comfortable with a more natural tone and identify ways to improve your message to create a great voicemail greeting.
- Remember who’s listening. Think about who your audience is when recording your voicemail message, and use this to influence what you say in your message and how you say it. While it depends on your job, it’s likely that colleagues, managers, potential customers and more may all hear your greeting, so it’s essential that it’s appropriate for all people.
- Use a script. Prepare a script or outline of all the necessary information you want to include in your message. Use this as a guide to record your greeting, helping ensure you don’t miss any essential points.
Voicemail greeting templates
Attached below is a template of 20 prompts that will help you leave a helpful, short, and actionable sales voicemail or greeting. While the words in each area should serve your purpose, I recommend that you modify the copy to better match your delivery and business.
Certain words in each template are in brackets; fill in these placeholders with your and your organization’s information to leave the best message.
Remember to keep the document open during your sales calls if you need to leave a voicemail.
BusinessYield Voicemail Templates
Voicemail greeting examples
I’ve compiled some of the best voicemail greetings you can use for virtually any situation you’ll come across. Here are some examples to review:
Voicemail greetings
- Sample Short Voicemail Greeting: Hi, this is [your name]. I’m either on a call or away from my desk. Please leave your name, number, and a brief message and I’ll get back to you. Thank you.
- Sample Work Voicemail Greeting: Hi, you’ve reached [your name] at [your company]. I’m unavailable right now—probably helping [type of company] get [X results, e.g., ‘double their leads in 60 days,’ ‘hire the best and brightest engineers,’ ‘convert 40% more customers’].
- Sample Business Voicemail Greeting: Hello, you’ve reached [X company]. We can’t take your call right now, but please leave your name, contact information, and reason for reaching out, and one of our team members will be in touch within 24 hours.
- Sample Funny Voicemail Greeting: This is Spongebob Squarepants. Okay, it’s really [your name]. I’ll get back to you as soon as I’m done making Krabby Patties, which will probably be tomorrow at the latest. Have a good day.
- Sample Holiday Voicemail Greeting: Hello, you’ve reached [your name, the office of X company]. The team is currently out of the office, but we’ll be back on [date] stuffed with good food and eager to speak with you.
- Sample Vacation Voicemail Greeting: Hi, you’ve reached [your name]. I’m away from [date] to [date]. If you need help with [X] before then, please contact [name] at [phone number].
Professional cell phone voicemail greetings
If you use a separate cell phone number for business purposes, setting a professional greeting voicemail is vital, especially when you are off-duty. Take a look at some of the professional voicemail greeting examples to greet customers on your business cell phone:
- “Hi, you’ve reached (your name) from (department) at (company name). I’m so sorry. I can’t take your call right now. Please leave your name, contact number, and the purpose behind the call so I can get back to you. If it’s too urgent, drop me a text on this number for a faster response”
- “Hi, you’ve reached (your name) from (company name). I’m servicing a client at the moment. If you could leave your name, contact details, and message, I’ll make sure to return your call.”
- “Hi, you have reached the voicemail of (your name) from (company name). I’m either on another call or in a meeting right now. Please share your details and the reason for calling. I’ll return your call as soon as possible. Thanks!”
Funny voicemail greetings
A word of caution before you use a funny voicemail for a professional voicemail greeting – use it only as long as it does not offend your target persona and matches your brand voice. Funny voicemail greetings are intended to be lighthearted and entertaining and are often used to inject some personality into your voicemail greeting.
Here are some witty and funny professional voicemail greeting examples you can consider using:
- “Houston, we have a problem! Can’t take your call right now. Please leave your name, contact, and the reason for calling. I’ll get back to you soon!
- “Hi, you’ve reached (your name). I’m having a very busy day. But don’t worry. I will find you and kil-! OOPS, sorry, I meant call you. Please leave your details and message!”
- “Hi, you’ve reached (your name). I’m not at my desk right now. Please leave your name and message. Go ahead, make my day. Tell me what you want to say. And don’t forget to have a good day!”
- Hey! It’s (your name). Wanna hear a joke? Knock, knock! Who’s there? Not me, so leave a message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!”
Voicemail greetings for customer support
The customer support department is usually the first and only point of contact for many businesses. This makes it necessary to have a proper professional VM greeting recorded by leveraging professional text message examples for your customer support department.
Professional voicemail greetings for customer support are an opportunity to provide a professional and helpful experience for the caller, even if you cannot answer their call.
Here are a few professional voicemail greeting samples for greeting customers who come with their queries:
- “Hello, you’ve reached the Customer Service department at (company name). We’re unable to take your call at this moment. In the meantime, please leave your name, contact number, and the preferred time slots during which we can get back to you.”
- “Hi, this is the Customer Support department at (company name). We’re pleased to help you with your query, but I cannot take your call now. Please leave your name, contact number, and the purpose of the call. We’ll make sure to call you back as soon as possible.”
Out-of-office voicemail greetings
When you are temporarily unavailable from your point of connection for a predefined time, it is a good practice to have an Out-Of-Office professional VM greeting recorded.
In your out-of-office voicemail greeting, it is important to be clear and concise and to provide the caller with a way to reach someone else in the event of an emergency or urgent matter. This is for those who contact you, both colleagues and customers included.
To help you, here are a few examples of professional voicemail greeting examples for when you are OOO:
- “Hello, you have reached (your name). I will be out of the office until (date and time). Please leave me a message, and I will return your call upon my return. Thank you for calling.”
- “Hello, you’ve reached the voice mailbox of (your name). Please note you can bypass this message at any time by pressing 0. I am out of the office on vacation until (date). If you need immediate assistance, press 1 to have your call redirected by the receptionist.”
Vacation/business holiday voicemail greetings
If you will be out of the office during the holidays, you should let your customers know. Besides, you can use this as an opportunity to wish holiday greetings to customers.
A vacation/business holiday voicemail greeting is a way to let the caller know you are not available and provide any necessary information or instructions for them.
Here are some professional voicemail greeting examples for holiday greetings:
- “Hi, thanks for calling (company name). Our office is closed for (festival/holiday) till (date). Please leave your name and message, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we become available. Have a good (holiday)!”
- ” Hello, you’ve reached (company name). We’re closed from (date) to (date) for (holiday) celebrations. Leave your name and message so we can get back to you as soon as possible. If it’s too urgent, you can text (name of team member) at (number). Thanks and have a great week!”
- “Thanks for calling (company name). We’re not available to take your call right now. But we want to speak with you. Please leave your name, contact number, email address, and message. We’ll get back to you as soon as we reopen.”
Alternative contact voicemail message
“Hey, this is [your name]. If you’re calling for [X reason], please [contact so-and-so] or [go to our website, send me an email]. For all other inquiries, leave your name and a brief message and I’ll call you back within [one, two, three] business day[s].”
Receiving constant calls on behalf of another person, or for routine inquiries, can be a huge timewaster. With this voicemail script, you can provide alternatives to the caller, especially if you get calls for a common reason that you’re not responsible for.
Email option voicemail example
“Hi, you’ve reached [name] at [company]. If you need a quick response, please shoot me an email at [insert email address] and I’ll be in touch by EOD tomorrow. If it’s not urgent, leave me a message with your name and number. Have a great day.”
Prefer to be contacted via email? Make that clear in your voice memo so that listeners reach out to you through your email instead. This particular voicemail script makes email even more desirable by implying that it’s a faster mode of communication.
Sales results voicemail example
“Hi, you’ve reached [your name] at [your company]. I’m unavailable right now — probably helping [type of company] get [X results, e.g. ‘double their leads in 60 days,’ ‘hire the best and brightest engineers,’ ‘convert 40% more customers.’] Leave your name and number, and we’ll discuss how your company can see similar results.”
If you’re a salesperson, you can continue your lead nurturing process via your voicemail. In this voicemail script, you have the option to include a brief description of what you help customers do, so that your callers don’t forget your value proposition. And even if it’s not a sales prospect, it can help wrong callers understand whether they’ve reached the right person.
Final word on voicemail greetings
Professional voicemail greetings play the role of an auto attendant, especially when no one is there to answer the huge volume of calls. Depending on the situation, your brand voice, and ICP, you want to frame your voicemail greetings that engage customers.
Recommended Articles
- VOICEMAIL MESSAGE: Top 15+ Messages Greetings, Change, and Record on iPhone and Android
- VOICEMAIL APP: Best Apps for Verizon, Android, iPhone, and T-Mobile
- OPEN VOICEMAIL: Meaning, How to Open It & Guide
- Benefits of Using Voicemails and Voice Messaging for Your Business
- Visual Voicemail: How Does It Work, And What Are The Benefits?
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