Top 5 Tips to Thrive with Voicemail

Is voicemail your best friend? Or your worst enemy? Or possibly a little bit of both? Is it a convenience that boosts your efficiency? Or, is it just one more reason to not pick up the phone in the first place? The one thing that you can count on is that voicemail is here to stay. So why not make the most of it?

Here are my top 5 tips to surviving (and thriving) with voicemail:

1) Be specific

Whatever you say, don’t say “It’s me, please call me back.” You’ll need to provide a benefit or an intriguing reason to call you back. “I’d like to tell you about a new product we’re introducing that will save you hundreds of dollars over the course of a year” is much more likely to get a return call.

2) Be brief

If you can’t say it briefly, don’t say it at all. Voicemail is not “story time.” Leaving a long message is an invitation to have the entire message skipped. The optimal voicemail message is between 8 and 14 seconds.

3) Repeat your phone number twice

If the person can’t quickly write your number down, you’ve given them a perfect reason to not call back.

4) Pick the right time

Messages left on a Friday afternoon are the least likely to be returned. For most people, Monday mornings are very busy and, as a result, only high–priority activities will get their immediate attention. The best hours to leave voicemail messages are from 6:45 to 8:00 a.m. and from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Driven people are usually working during these time periods, and the person receiving your message could potentially view you as one, which is good.

5) Don’t wing it

If you need to make a series of calls relaying similar information, create a script. You’ll boost your call productivity and effectiveness. Your script can take the frustration out of voicemail and turn it into an ally.

Pick up the phone with confidence! Be conscious of the way you are using voicemail and use it to its fullest so that you won’t just survive it — you’ll thrive with it!

At our workshop, we’ll actually help you build and test your own personalized script. You’ll role-play with other participants, get coaching and peer feedback. You’ll walk away at the end of the day with confidence, a proven script and a list of people to call the very next day.