Making Your First Impression Your Best Impression
We’ve all heard the cliché that you only get one chance at a first impression. However, just because a phrase has become trite does not mean it has lost its truth. When you’re meeting customers face-to-face, it’s much easier to engage with them and see how your pitch is coming across. But when they’re calling in to your business, you lose the ability to read their body language – and they lose the ability to read yours.
That’s why the greeting that your callers hear should present your company in the best possible way. Think of your phone greeting as the voice of your business. After all, it’s the first thing your current and potential customers hear when they call in. As such it should be worded succinctly and get your callers to the person or department they need to speak with quickly and correctly. And above all, the tone should be professional, friendly, and welcoming.
How to Put Your Best Voice Forward
Putting the best possible face on your company solely through a voice is daunting for many companies, especially when that voice is a recording instead of a live person. We’ve heard many, many times from potential and current customers about their trepidation in recording their own company greetings, either out of embarrassment or a fear of sounding unprofessional. But finding a professional, friendly, and welcoming voice for your company can be an intimidating and expensive proposition.
That’s part of the reason why AccessDirect offers free professionally recorded greetings as a feature of all our plans. Our voice artists are theatrically trained professionals who not only know the importance of making your greeting sound good, but making it sound like your business. We can customize your greeting however you like – either through a script you provide or by helping you craft the perfect message for your callers.
What the Best Greetings Do – And How to Make Yours Great
The best phone greetings not only present an air of professionalism, but quickly give your callers the information they need and assist them just as a live person answering the phone would. Here are some helpful tips on how to create short and sweet voicemail greetings for your callers:
- Say Only What Needs to Be Said: While this may seem like a no-brainer, it’s much more nuanced than you’d think. Some of our customers ask us what their greetings should say, and our answer is usually this: say what needs to be said, and no more. You’re trying to either get your callers to the person or department they need, or get them to information (like your address, website, or hours) in a timely and efficient matter. The more you try and pack into a single greeting, the higher the likelihood that your callers will grow impatient or annoyed. You don’t need to say everything at once – keep the initial message short and sweet.
- Write it Out and Listen to it: The best way to start crafting a professional phone greeting is to write it out. By writing down what you think it should say, and then saying it out loud, you’ll get an idea of whether you’re saying too little, or if you’re trying to pack too much information into a single short greeting for your callers. You might also ask others to read it or to listen to you say it out loud – there’s no better way to judge the quality of a greeting than by soliciting the opinions of others.
- Ask AccessDirect: We’ve helped thousands of businesses craft basic and specialized greetings. From main greetings, to voicemail greetings, to specialized media marketing messages for television and film campaigns, we’ve seen just about everything when it comes to phone messages – and we can use that expertise to help your business.
We have a vested interest in helping you create the best possible professional phone greeting for your callers. After all, if your phone system isn’t working for you, then we’re not doing our best to help your company. As the only major virtual phone service provider that offers to help you create and record short and sweet voicemail greetings at no additional charge, we uniquely understand how to give your company the professional voice it deserves. Contact us today to find out how we can make your company sound more professional!
