Tips for Creating Professional Voice Mail Greetings

If you have a home based business, chances are voice mail plays at least some part in your business. Is your voice mail greeting as professional as possible? Does it sound crisp, clean, and professional or is there a dog barking and a washing machine spinning in the background?

It's important to make sure your voice mail greeting sounds as professional as possible. After all, the greeting that your callers hear is akin to that all important 'first impression'.

Many home based business and small business owners try to record their own greetings. That's OK and it may work. Here are some things to keep in mind if you are doing the greeting yourself.

Built-in Greetings - Don't use them! They always sound automated, cold, and impersonal. I have yet to hear one that sounds warm and inviting.

Cell Phones - Don't use them! Use a wired phone for the recording of your greeting. Even if you have the best of cellular service, the quality rendered on a cell phone will likely not be as good as a wired phone. You don't want a crackly recording on your greeting.

Household Noises - Make sure there are no background noises when you sit down to record. Put that dog out and wait until the kids are asleep or out of ear range.

Have a Script - Be prepared with what you're going to say. For most people that means writing it down. Whatever you do, make sure you can get through the greeting smoothly without stumbling.

Don't have that professional speaker's voice? Or maybe you want a more professional touch on your voice mail greeting? ProVoiceGreetings is a company that provides custom recorded, professional level greetings for small businesses. They are surprisingly affordable - for less that $40 you can have a custom greeting recorded for you. They also offer a service that lets you upload the custom greeting to your voice mail.

A poorly recorded voice mail greeting can actually turn away customers, clients, or leads. Make sure your voice mail greeting invites your callers to leave their message and call back information.