Telephone Greetings & Messages

If you're thinking about updating your phone system why not consider using a professional voiceover artist to record your company voicemail, phone prompts, telephone greetings and on-hold messages. A professional voice over artist, can provide your company with a customised phone message in as little as twenty four hours.

1. Select a Voice which gives a good first impression of your company. A voice that sounds trustworthy, clear and projects a professional image.

2. Acheive a consistent voice throughout the company. Not everyone likes to record their own voice onto their voicemail and telephone greetings, why not take away this anxiety and use a professional voiceover for all voicemail box recordings.

3. A professional voice on a interactive voice response (IVR) can inform the caller of the options available to them and interact with the caller through a series of frequently asked questions. This can save the customer time by directing them to the most helpful person or service applicable to them. This method also saves your live telephone attendants unnecessary calls therefore increasing their efficiency.

4. Consider the benefits of using a voiceover artist to deliver a creative and persuasive on-hold message. On hold messages are a good way to target your marketing to a captive audience. Telephone marketing campaigns are capable of promoting both sales and support for customers as they wait on the line. They can be devised to answer frequently asked questions about products or services, saving both time and money. An on-hold message provides an opportunity to introduce new products or partnerships as well as cross-selling offerings that a sales force may not have time to mention on the telephone with a customer. Not only does a good on-hold message increase customer knowledge about a given business, surveys have shown them to enhance a company's image, retain callers who would otherwise hang up, and increase overall sales.

5. Remember your phone system recordings are an excellent opportunity to leave a positive impression with your caller. Assure your callers that their call will be returned promptly during regular business hours, and that your company really values their interest and business.

When you set up your company phone system its worth paying extra attention to the messages you script and your choice of voice artist to read them. Each phone message or greeting is an opportunity to positively present your company and the voice actor you choose can reinforce your company image and brand.

Here are 7 types of phone message you may consider using on your telephone system:

1. Welcome greeting/Auto Attendant - An auto attendant is the first voice that a caller will hear when they dial through to your company phone line. The auto attendant greets the caller and establishes trust while branding your company.

2. IVR: After the caller has heard the auto attendant, the same voice usually guides them through their options, e.g press 1 for sales and press 2 for accounts etc. This element of your voice over script is called an IVR or Interactive Voice Response. These prompts can direct callers to the most suitable extension and also provide useful information such as regular office hours. It is useful to give callers the option to dial zero at anytime so they can skip the prompts and talk directly to a 'real' person.

3. On hold message: These are a great opportunity to get your marketing message across to your potential customers. Inform your callers of all the products and services you offer and also any current promotions you have on offer. You have a captive audience so use this time effectively. Research shows that this time on hold can postively affect your callers purchase decisions and so increase your sales. An on hold message is far more effective in caller retention than silence.

4. Courtesy messages: You can alternate these messages with your on-hold marketing messages. Remind your callers that you appreciate their time and their business. If you can answer any frequently asked questions such as general office opening hours, this will make your callers feel that their on hold time is not wasted.

5. Voicemail messages: Consider recording a company voicemail message to act as a generic greeting for messages left outside of personal voicemail boxes. You could choose to use the same voiceover artist to record the company and your staffs personal voicemail greetings.

6. After Hours Message: set up an after hours message that will thank the caller for phoning and provide instructions to leave a message or phone back on the next business day.

7. Holiday Messages: Consider recording a message prepared for statutory holidays, you can customize the message for your customers and present it to them at the appropriate time.

Instead of using "Bob from accounts with the nice voice" to record your company telephone system greetings and messages, why not employ the services of a professional voiceover artist. They will provide you with quality recordings to give your business a professional sound and image. So when deciding which voice should represent your company here's 4 factors to consider.

1. Gender : The majority of all telephone system recordings are recorded by female voice talents, however, you may find that a male voice is more suited to your industry or organization, especially if you represent an industry traditionally associated with men.

2. Age : This refers to the age of the voice rather than the age of the voice actor. Some voice artists have a younger sounding voice than their age in years, others, for example, have a middle-aged sound even though they are only in their early twenties. What sound would reflect your customer base the best? Would a young, funky, street sound work better than a mature, sophisticated, informative style?

3. Style: Depending on what your company offers, you may want to consider matching the style of voice to your products and services. If your company is a health-care provider for example, would a warm, comforting voice be a more suitable style. Alternatively, if you're a Sports wear retailer, an upbeat, energetic voice would better reflect your company services.

4. Accent: What accent would your customers prefer to hear? Would a local or regional accent be expected by your callers? Would they prefer to listen to a dialect that matches their own? Alternatively, maybe you would like your phone system to have a more exotic sound. Several US companies deliberately choose to employ a British accent voice artist to bring a global feel to their recordings. It may also be worth considering employing a bi-lingual voiceover talent if your customer base has a large foreign language bias. Many companies choose to record their phone prompts in both English and Spanish for example.

You could say that your voice over will only be as effective as the voice talent that you cast, so script and choose wisely!