In a perfect world your customers would be cheerfully greeted by your dedicated Phone Dispatcher(s) as they follow our SFS Phone Formats. And yet…
Inevitably callers (at times) will hit your voice mail message! Bummer!
Yet far too many cleaning and restoration contractors make it even worse with truly awful voice mail messages! So today, right now I want you to call your number and…
Listen carefully to your voice mail message through your caller’s ears!
Here are some common ‘voice mail sins’ I’ve recently been subjected to:
1. Music in the background! Nope, your caller doesn’t want a ‘musical interlude’. If they can’t talk to you (Remember, this IS why they called!) then record a crisp, professional, SHORT message. And please, no more …
2. “Hey Dog! Wassup? Leave me a message”! Potential customers don’t want to ‘hang out’ with you. (And yes, your friends can endure a professional message. If they can’t… find new friends!) And PLEASE stop…
3. Boasting about “we’re da best”! Don’t start out with “Thank you for calling the finest cleaning service in the Tri-State area-blah-blah-blah…” BORING! And even worse …
4. No message at all! Just a generic, deadly dull recording that says “you have reached ###_###_#### MORE blah-blah-blah. No business name! No business info! And finally…
5. Stop recording your phone messages while drinking heavily and/or being blearily hung over! Doubt me? Then start tracking future phone messages you’re forced to suffer through! At least 50% appear to have been recorded by someone in the midst of a 3-day drunk! (Now listen to your current message.)Hmmm…
Folks, as your prospect I would NEVER respond to any of the ‘voice mail disasters’ profiled above! Instead, I’d hang up and call a company that either A) actually answered their phone or B) at least had a professional voice mail message!
Here’s how to improve your voice mail message:
1. Make sure there is no background noise when you record your message. Speak naturally. Put enthusiasm and life in your voice! Enunciate clearly and don’t slur your words.
2. Immediately clearly (and slowly) identify yourself. First name/last name and company name.
3. Don’t state the obvious! After all, your caller already KNOWS you can’t answer your phone because you “are serving other clients”! (DUH!) Instead, simply…
4. Offer other “contact me options”. Explain that “If you prefer you can text me at this number or email me at (slowly give your email address) and I will respond within …”
5. Develop an outline of the key points. (But don’t read a manuscript.)
6. Now LISTEN to your completed phone message. Did you stumble, sound a bit lifeless or omit important information? Then DO IT OVER again! This is important stuff!
Restoration HINT: Flooded home owners standing in 3″ of water won’t wait for a return call! So your message should include, “If this is an emergency press #1 for immediate service…” and have your on-call technician handle the loss right away!
Dramatically increase your ‘booked jobs ratio’ with our 3 hour online SFS: ‘Winning over your caller’! LIVE seminar. Click HERE for upcoming dates. And BEFORE you get slammed with your new ‘Lead Conversions’ you better implement the ‘recruiting strategies’ in our SFS: ‘Hiring the Very Best’! LIVE seminar. Click HERE for dates and/or to learn more…
Steve
Thanks for these tips and including me on your distribution. Another idea I use is to give callers a short cut at the beginning of my recording to leave their message immediately. By pressing ‘#’ they can go there directly and avoid the rest of my message all together. This really works well for my wife ; ) Thanks
Thanks, Mark! I apologize I missed your comment earlier! That is a GREAT idea! People are so impatient nowadays! (Yes, Sioux tells me I am sounding more and more like an old curmudgeon!)
Let’s hear back from everyone who implements Mark’s “short cut” idea and how it works for them. One of my favorite sayings is, “We are all in this together!”
Steve