I was chatting to Matthew Mewse (the telephone man ) the other day. We were talking about hang-ups, and the high numbers we get on our answerphones and how tricky it is to get callers to leave messages.
Matthew gave me some pointers that I thought to share with you. He said "before I give you a proven message technique, let me explain how callers feel when they hear an answer phone message recorded on a business line that may go something like this:
"You've reached the answer phone of Spanners Limited."
Does a caller really want to hear they've reached an answer phone? No. At least 40-percent of hang-ups occur right there. They go on:
"Sorry, but we're busy at the moment," or "All our operators are busy," or "Sorry we can't take your call right now."
Callers and prospects are busy, too, and they don't care if you are or not. Plus, once they hear you can't take their call another 40-percent hang up! The fact you're sorry about it means little to them except you're apologising so it must be your fault you're not answering. So far the message has all been about your problems but nothing the caller wants to hear.