>How to leave a voice mail message.

>This blog post is obviously about phone messages. As the person who gets here first every morning, it is my job to check the messages. This morning I had 18 messages. Here’s a breakdown:

• 11 were people hanging up after the tone.
• 3 were messages that I was able to understand.
• 1 was so rapid fire and mumbled that I listened to it three times and hoped for the best.
• 2 were only phone numbers shouted into the phone.
• 1 was a person yelling “ARE YOU KIDDING? I THOUGHT THIS WAS A BUSINESS!” into the phone.

It has become blatantly obvious that the majority of people on the planet are not clear on what makes for a successful voicemail message, so I am here to tell you. You could think of me as the voicemail messiah, but I think that might be a little blasphemous, even for me.

Step one: If you are calling you should leave a message.

If you are calling with a question or concern, I WANT to help you. Your question might seem silly to you, but if you need an answer it’s not silly. I want every customer to feel confident and comfortable.

Step Two: It’s all in the details.

When I call you back, I want to make sure I have your account pulled up and some basic history. It saves everyone time in the long run. At the absolute least, you should leave your name, your phone number, the reason you are calling. This is the best way to make sure I can call you back quickly and get the right person.

Step Three: Keep anonymous comments to yourself.

The voice mail inbox is not the place to anonymously air your grievances. I can’t help you because you haven’t given me the tools to solve the problem. I can speculate that you are one of the other callers, but I can’t make that assumption and address the issue. If you have a problem you want solved, you have to assume that I WANT to solve it and give me the opportunity to do so.

The Rise of Reason:

You might be saying that this is all common sense. I would have to say that I agree with you. I can tell you from experience that most people just don’t think these things through. I have people who wait ten seconds and then leave a message. If you know why you are calling you have all the tools you need to make a good message. Here’s a good message example:

“Hello. My name is Courtney Schoenfeld. My number is 727-555-1234 and I am calling to ____.”

In the blank you should state your purpose.

I am calling to:

• Check on the status of my order.
• Discuss my account with you.
• Ask a question about [a product or service offered by the business you are calling.]
• Clarify something I read on your website.

If you follow these steps to voice mail success I think you will have a lot more of your calls returned and many more of your issues resolved.