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Voicemail 101 – Simple Steps That May Save You Hours
First and foremost, read the book that came with your voicemail system. Over the course of a
year, you may waste a few hours repeating whole messages if you don’t know the simple
commands for forwarding and rewinding calls. What? You’ve lost the book, or they never
gave you one? No excuse: www.google.com. Search for your phone model, and you will
probably find the manual. No time to read it? Bring it with you to meetings, on airplanes, the
grocery store – find a minute here or there to pick up a new tip.
Your Outgoing Messages
Identify your name, organization, and telephone number in your outgoing message.
“Hi, this is Karen Smith with Adcomine at 713-555-1234.”
State that you are not available and any other important information.
“I’m out of the office today, January 3rd, 2006. I will be returning January 5th, 2006. I will not
check voicemail until I am back. If this is an emergency or you need immediate assistance,
please call Bill Withers at 281-555-6543.”
Tell people how to leave an appropriate message. That’s right, if you want good information,
ask for it.
“Please leave a brief message stating how I can help you, along with your phone number,
and I will call you back.”
If you prefer email, offer that as an option to callers. If you have an unusual name or company
name, spell out the email address.
“You may want to email me at ksmith@adcomine.com.”
To cut down on repeat calls if you work in a high-volume call area, state that you will return
calls within 24 hours or whatever time period your organization’s policy on return calls
requires.
If you update your message when you go out of town, don’t forget to update it again when you
get back.
If your system allows callers to bypass your message by hitting the pound key, tell them that,
especially if you have an unusually long message.
When to Check and How to Check Voicemail
The number of times you check voicemail each day will vary depending on your job function
and industry. However, if you have not told people differently, at a minimum you should check
messages once a day and return those calls. Here are some other helpful tips for checking
voicemail.
Leaving Effective Voicemails
When leaving messages, have mercy on your listeners and do the following:
Sample of a Perfect Voicemail
“Hi, this is Karen Smith with Adcomine at 713-555-1234. I’m calling to let you know that we
have received your package and will have a response to you by Friday. If you have any
questions, please call me. Again, Karen Smith with Adcomine at 713-555-1234.”
There you have it: Voicemail 101 in a nutshell. A little careful planning and attention can free
your time and help you view voicemail as the useful tool that it is rather than the torture it can
be.
Kate Zabriskie is a communication skills trainer, author, and media expert. She and her team of trainers at
Business Training Works, Inc. work with the Fortune 500, government, and small businesses to improve
business results. Questions? Comments? You can reach Kate and her team at www.businesstrainingworks.
com or info@businesstrainingworks.com.
First and foremost, read the book that came with your voicemail system. Over the course of a
year, you may waste a few hours repeating whole messages if you don’t know the simple
commands for forwarding and rewinding calls. What? You’ve lost the book, or they never
gave you one? No excuse: www.google.com. Search for your phone model, and you will
probably find the manual. No time to read it? Bring it with you to meetings, on airplanes, the
grocery store – find a minute here or there to pick up a new tip.
Your Outgoing Messages
Identify your name, organization, and telephone number in your outgoing message.
“Hi, this is Karen Smith with Adcomine at 713-555-1234.”
State that you are not available and any other important information.
“I’m out of the office today, January 3rd, 2006. I will be returning January 5th, 2006. I will not
check voicemail until I am back. If this is an emergency or you need immediate assistance,
please call Bill Withers at 281-555-6543.”
Tell people how to leave an appropriate message. That’s right, if you want good information,
ask for it.
“Please leave a brief message stating how I can help you, along with your phone number,
and I will call you back.”
If you prefer email, offer that as an option to callers. If you have an unusual name or company
name, spell out the email address.
“You may want to email me at ksmith@adcomine.com.”
To cut down on repeat calls if you work in a high-volume call area, state that you will return
calls within 24 hours or whatever time period your organization’s policy on return calls
requires.
If you update your message when you go out of town, don’t forget to update it again when you
get back.
If your system allows callers to bypass your message by hitting the pound key, tell them that,
especially if you have an unusually long message.
When to Check and How to Check Voicemail
The number of times you check voicemail each day will vary depending on your job function
and industry. However, if you have not told people differently, at a minimum you should check
messages once a day and return those calls. Here are some other helpful tips for checking
voicemail.
- Have a pen and paper ready when you begin dialing.
- Listen to all of the messages before you start returning calls.
- Remember that you don’t have to return them in the order they were received.
- Sometimes it’s easier to return calls when you are pretty sure the recipients won’t
pick up the telephone. You can answer their questions on their voicemail and move
on with your day. - If you are super busy and have the luxury of an assistant or some other kind soul, ask
this person to return some of your phone calls. This is especially good if it is going to
take an unusually long time for you to get back with someone. - Don’t save messages you really don’t need. If you wrote down the information from
the call, most of the time there is no reason to save the original recording. After all, do
you really want your box so full no one can leave a message? That’s embarrassing
and unprofessional. Imagine that you are charging clients big bucks, and they can’t
leave messages because you can’t get your act together well enough to leave them
adequate recording room. Pitiful.
Leaving Effective Voicemails
When leaving messages, have mercy on your listeners and do the following:
- Speak slowly and leave your phone number at the beginning and the end of the
message. - Limit your comments to one or two subjects. Voicemail is not a one-person show.
- If you are rambling, for the sake of others and your reputation, stop yourself and
rerecord. - If you need action of some sort, state what you need. Voicemails that simply say, “call
me” are irritating at best. - If the recipient of your messages tends to fall into the trap listed in the previous point,
tell him or her, “When you return my call, please leave a message on my voicemail to
let me know the status of the project if I’m not able to pick up the phone.” - If you are using a group distribution list that lists everyone’s name on the message,
read the manual for your phone system and put the list at the end. If people want to
listen to it they can.
Sample of a Perfect Voicemail
“Hi, this is Karen Smith with Adcomine at 713-555-1234. I’m calling to let you know that we
have received your package and will have a response to you by Friday. If you have any
questions, please call me. Again, Karen Smith with Adcomine at 713-555-1234.”
There you have it: Voicemail 101 in a nutshell. A little careful planning and attention can free
your time and help you view voicemail as the useful tool that it is rather than the torture it can
be.
Kate Zabriskie is a communication skills trainer, author, and media expert. She and her team of trainers at
Business Training Works, Inc. work with the Fortune 500, government, and small businesses to improve
business results. Questions? Comments? You can reach Kate and her team at www.businesstrainingworks.
com or info@businesstrainingworks.com.