Voice Recordings for Phone Systems come in two different types:
- Greetings and Prompts
- Messages on hold
Which type of voice recordings do you have on your telephone system? If you’re not sure, you’re probably not getting the results you need. Find out more now:
Voice Recordings for Phone Systems
Telephone Greetings
Every phone call to your business starts by greeting your caller. If your office is busy, this might be handed by an “automated” greeting built into the phone (PBX and VoIP systems both offer this feature). You only get one chance to make a great first impression, so when an important customer calls, or a potential customer, you make a better first impression when you have a greeting that sounds great.
Unfortunately, too many companies don’t plan for these messages, and end up with a greeting recorded by:
- the phone installer (often with an accent)
- your secretary (who really doesn’t want to do it…and you can hear it in her voice)
- How many top pros in your industry have the boss answer the phone?
- a computerized voice. This is probably the worst, but it’s free, right?
There’s a better solution: you can have a professional greeting and well-planned directories and prompts. Your phone installer probably doesn’t have the time to do this, but we do. After planning and writing a script, your greeting is recorded with a professional voice over. Informer Professional Greetings and Auto Attendant prompts have helped companies like Swissair, Paychex, Citibank, and Doubletree Hotels sound more professional. You can sound just as professional! Find out about these affordable voice greetings for your phone system.
Messages on hold for your phones
The second voice recording for phone system is a marketing message on hold. More than half of all business phone callers are placed on hold. If you’re like me, you may get bored or frustrated, and may hang up. Most callers who do hang up never call again.
Offering your callers interesting information on hold helps. In fact, a US West study finds that:
Providing information on hold results in a 40% increase in retention of callers on hold… a 15% increase in inquiries… a 12% direct increase in requests for products and services mentioned on hold.
Two ways to write messages on hold
There are two ways to write messages on hold: the right way and the wrong way. The wrong way…
- uses a “template” and adds your name and products to a generic sounding script
- just wastes your callers’ time with information they’re not interested in, like they
- that you were founded in 1492
- that you won the president’s award 432 time
- that you’re “proud” to represent your distributor
- that your team is “well trained” and “knowledgeable”
- that you accept all major credit cards
- starts most messages with your company name, your product name, or “we”
- are filled with clichés like “your call is very important to us,” “we’ll be right with you,” and “higher than normal call volumes.”
- just try to sell, sell, sell. People hate to be sold (but they love to buy)
There’s a better way that helps you sound more professional, and focuses on your customers and their needs. It provides information that actually helps the customer, and helps the customer make the right choice (choosing you!)
Messages on hold are a marketing investment. They should have a specific goal, and should be evaluated like every other marketing expense: do they accomplish their goals?
Do you have professionally recorded voice recordings on your phones? Do they help you and your customers? Maybe it’s time to take another look. Contact us for a “First Glance” Analysis: click here for information, or call us right away: In Connecticut call 203-655-3920. In New York call 212-355-6980. Nationwide call 800-862-8896.