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TMCNet: Good call: Put thought in your outgoing voice mails

[July 18, 2010]

Good call: Put thought in your outgoing voice mails

Jul 18, 2010 (Greeley Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Boring, boring, boring.

We all hate being boring when it comes to our outgoing messages on our home or cell phones.

I went through a phase years ago with my outgoing messages of putting on background music, like Enya, or some such artist, playing popular movie theme songs.

Then I decided I didn't need to explain myself to callers wanting a piece of my time, and I felt no need to tell them I wasn't available or that I was out of the office. Shouldn't they know that when I don't answer the phone? So I went with short and sweet: "Please leave a message and I'll call you back." Since I spend most of my time on the phone, I have an ear for a good voice-mail message. I have a strong appreciation for those who try to make their messages memorable rather than the standard system greeting in which you hear a person's voice say their name, and a computer finishing the sentence by saying, "is on the phone." Boring. Since many of us are not funny or cute, or even remotely creative, we just stick to the basics. "I'm not able to take this call right now, so if you leave a message, I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Boring.


But there are some businesspeople out there who make almost an event out of their daily messages, and I have an increasing appreciation for them. Though, in doing so, they do run the risk of disappointing their callers if they miss a day, some make the call worth the while.

Try Ken Whitney, for example. Every day, this Greeley CPA records a different message for his callers, all with a personal touch. For example, on July 2, he left this message: "Good morning, it's Friday, the second of July, and it's surprisingly overcast today. It's supposed to be sunny and hot in the morning and thunder boomers in afternoon, but that's not working out, and that's OK. This is Ken Whitney, and I'm in the office all day today. The office does close early. Please leave a detailed message, as long as you like at any time. ... Have a good day and enjoy the holiday." One day in April, Whitney's voice mail greeted a morning call: "Good morning. It's windy but we could have worse. I talked to a farmer, who asked not to get rain for a while." For Whitney, the messages are a way to reach out to his out-of-state clients.

"Accountants are noted for being stodgy, stale and uninteresting," Whitney said. "I just hate to get these recorded messages, which are so impersonal." So every day, he mixes it up, reporting on the weather and his impressions of the day, and leaving details as to his schedule.

"It just seems to be the thing to do if I were sitting there talking to them," Whitney said of his messages. "I have a lot of clients in the south, Arizona, Utah, and one in Nevada, and they want to know how the weather is here, because they have a house here. Two have said, more than once, 'You know, I can't wait 'til you get off the phone, so I can tell you what my message is. ... You're wasting my time, here.' It's all in gest." Brian Werner, the public information officer for the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, feels he owes it to callers, either from the media or the public, to keep it fresh.

"I have people who think I'm crazy, believe me," Werner said of his different daily voice mail messages, that always end with "Thanks and have a great day." "There are very few that do this. As part of my job as public information officer, one of my roles is to respond to the public. I've just always held that since day one." Werner said he hears good feedback from callers who appreciate his upbeat tones, and he'll get reminders if he misses a day.

"I also think it's important to do," Werner said. "You can call someone and get the same message, and you don't know if they're in the office or not. I think it's important to let people know if I'm out of the office or not." Becky Safarik, community development director at the city of Greeley, updates her outgoing messages with soothing tones, "Hi, this is Becky and I'm sorry we've missed you. ..." I have been guilty of forgetting to change my voice mail during days off or vacations -- that old faulty memory of mine -- and I know my sources and colleagues have been frustrated when I return their calls days later, either missing an event or an opportunity for a story. I promise to do better, as I have good examples to follow.

My hat is off to all of you who have the discipline to record such messages daily, and an extra tip of the hat to make it creative.

My workplace neighbor, Mike Peters, for example holds the prize for that -- "If you're listening to this message, I'm on another line, in another office or taking another nap at my desk. Please leave a message." Sharon Dunn has been the business editor of The Tribune since 2004. Contact her at (970) 392-4439 or sdunn@greeleytribune.com.

To see more of the Greeley Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.greeleytribune.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Greeley Tribune, Colo.

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