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Leave Me a Voice Mail - Let Me Tell You How
By Dr. Carol Fleming

I'll bet you like your voice mail messages to be complete, clearly spoken, to the point and lasting not one second longer than they have to be. So do I, and so do most people I know. Together, we can elevate the level of voice mail messaging with the following points. I will go over the beginning, the middle and the end (how original!) and await your perfectly designed calls.

The Introduction

Identify yourself clearly. Even if they are regular customers of yours, do not assume that they will know you immediately by your voice. It really is a discourtesy to make them guess your identity (which will distract them from the content of your message). State your name and connection with care. Overdo it if you have an unusual name. What is so familiar and easy for you to say may be a smear of unintelligible sounds to another. Imagine that it is written in bold face or underlined to get a more deliberate speaking style. Pause ever-so-briefly, before and after you say it to allow for processing.

Even if you are a friend, please understand that people know a number of Joan's, John's and Mary's. Do not put their patience to the test.

Always say your complete phone number right after your name. You should not assume they know the area code. Here again, you must remember that your return phone number, so familiar to you, is new information for your contact: say your phone number with clarity and deliberation. Remember, people have hearing losses, rooms have noise, and lines have static. And if you leave just one number unintelligible, the whole effort is wasted. When that happens to me, I have a choice of dialing all ten possible guesses,....or just giving up. Guess which one I'm likely to choose!

The Message

When we make phone calls these days, we know better than to expect to actually get the person live on the line. It pays to think through a voice mail message before you pick up the phone. Since this is a one-shot deal, with no one there to ask questions, you have to take the responsibility of organizing the necessary points of your message by imagining what your listener will need to know.

For heaven's sake, do leave a message. Do not just say, "Call me".

Say:

"I want to have that lunch I promised you. Would Thursday or Friday next week work for you?"
"I'm calling to discuss a delicate personnel issue. I'll be at this number for the rest of the afternoon."
"I want to report a leak in the water cooler."

By leaving a message, you're advancing the communication efficiency.

Get right to the point. I like it when the caller gets to the bottom line right at the beginning ("Carol, we have to cancel our meeting. We'll need to reschedule for tomorrow. Could you call me right away? I'm at..."). Explanatory details may be added at this point, but don't make me listen to a narrative, winding path going heaven-knows-where. Drives me nuts.

Speak to just one topic at a time. We have only so much attention capacity. You are more likely to get a prompt response if your stimulus is efficient. Also, consider the possibility of your message being forwarded or accessed by someone else. You may not want that additional topic to be broadcast. Voice mail is not a secure medium.

Indicate the urgency of a response, or that you're expecting a return call, if appropriate. You can also indicate, "there's no need to call back, if...".

The Closing

Again, repeat your name and phone and the best time to catch you at the phone. Make it easy for them to return your call. This way, they can check the accuracy of your phone number and not waste any more time than necessary with fruitless phone tag. Respecting the time of the person you have called is the first step in telephone courtesy. And courtesy is never a waste of time.

Contact us today to discuss how our workshops, coaching and training products can improve your Personal Professionalism and Communication Impact.

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