A clear and focused voicemail greeting is important for your business's callers.

Often, the first exposure your customers, prospects and colleagues have of you and your business is what they hear in your voicemail greeting. Is it caller-centric, clear, focused, helpful, lively and professional? When was the last time you listened to it? 

If you’re not sure, call in and hear what they hear. If you like what it says about your business values, style and personality… fine. Leave it alone. If not, it might be time for a makeover. 

These best practices can help tell callers what they want to know and not waste their time.

Take this example:

‘Hello, this is Ralph Schmoozer, president of Ralph Schmoozer and Associates. I’m sorry I can’t take your call right now. I’m either on the other line or away from my desk, but your call is very important to me. Please leave me a message with your name and number at the tone and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you and have a nice day.’ (69 words, 40 seconds) 

Areas for improvement:

• Let go of the ego. Your callers probably don't care what you're the president of.
• Consider a brief branding statement. With a concise statement, your caller will know what you and your business are all about. 
• Omit useless information. You never want to waste your caller's time. 
• Don't lock yourself into an unreasonable time to call back. What does "as soon as possible" mean? Your caller may have a different definition than yours. It's better to say nothing or give a reasonable expectation of when they should expect a call back. 

Like this one better?

‘Hello, this is Ralph Schmoozer with Schmoozer and Associates, your one stop shop for small business technology needs. Please leave a detailed message and I’ll return it within four business hours. Thank you.’ (34 words, 20 seconds) 

We already know which one is shorter, but which one projects a more positive image of the business and the person? Which one is more courteous and caller-friendly? Take a few minutes to enhance the quality of your voicemail greeting today. I’ll be calling you soon to find out how you did. 

Phil Stella runs Effective Training & Communication, 440 804-4785, empowering business leaders to reduce the pain with workplace communication and sales pitches. A popular trainer and executive coach on writing, communication styles and sales presentations, Stella is also on the Cleveland faculty of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program