Hi everyone, Zarte here.
I just thought I'd see how you all are, because I'm waiting for a bus. Except, perhaps unsurprisingly, it's late. There's also no indication of where it is, or how long it'll be, which is just infuriating. I'm kind of tempted to give up and call a ca- oh. It just came round the corner, bear with me, I'll need to get on.
"Yeah, just a single cheers. What was the delay? ...ah, fair enough. Do wish they'd put those information boards on the bus stop though... ta mate."
OK, I'm back with you. You can understand when things go wrong, but I always find it frustrating when there are little things which would improve service tenfold.
Take calling a business. How frustrating is it when you call and all that happens is that it rings... and it rings... and it rings some more. Most people would be reasonably happy to leave a message given the option, but if you don't have the option to, it's just baffling. In 2019, EVERY business should have some kind of voicemail service. If you don't, honestly, you MUST sort it out, because you'll be losing so much business to companies who can be aware of who is trying to get hold of them, and respond to both enquiries and issues with greater attentiveness and efficiency.
It isn't solely about having an voicemail message though. It's also about the wording of the message. And more importantly, what that message says about your business.
One of the worst which you could realistically have, would be to stick with the default voicemail message of your provider. 'Welcome to Generic Telecoms voicemail' is pretty awful to hear for a business, because it doesn't give an impression of a business that pays attention to details.
Furthermore, if the person calling you is unfamiliar with your business, they can't be sure that they've actually even got the right number. So unless they immediately redial and hope you pick up, they're unlikely to be comfortable enough to leave a message. Again – you risk losing business.
The next step up is to record your own personalised greeting. This does have advantages – it presents a personal touch, which for many businesses is a really wonderful thing. Particularly those going for a local, homely feel. They are, however, inappropriate for businesses trying to give off an air of being larger, or more established.
Let's face it, how many voicemail messages have you heard which don't have a stutter, or some background noise, or a smidgeon of word missed out where there's been a little crackle. It suggests a lack of attention to detail which to more discerning professional customers, may well put them off.
So why not invest in a professional recording artist for your voicemail message? It might sound like an extravagant investment, but in reality it could cost as little as £25. And you're likely to recoup that several times over from people feeling more comfortable and confident in leaving a message. And just the sheer volume of people who are likely to hear that message over a period of time will make it a pennies per person purchase.
You don't simply have to engage them to do your voicemail messages either. It could be that you want to add a message for callers whilst they're on hold. Or record a menu should you have different departments that you want to direct callers to. However you choose to proceed it will just give a distinguished air to your call handling.
So follow our advice and add some professionally recorded messages to your call handling, and feel the positivity multiply!
For more on this, or any of our articles, feel free to drop the team a call on 023 9298 8855.
Until next time,
Zarte