Three weeks ago I found myself standing outside my garage, recording a new voice-mailbox greeting on my mobile phone. Upon recording the new message, callers who were not fortunate enough for me to answer their call were greeted with, “Voice mails with no substance absolutely stink! So, if you don’t have a message — just go ahead and hang up. Otherwise, leave your message after the tone or I will see your missed call and try to call you back.”

Why so harsh?

The purpose of voice mail in my opinion: capture the telephone calls from people who actually require attention. Verbal messages are left accordingly, providing the recipient with a message to identify the caller, their issue and a means for which the recipient can return their call. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to receive a notification, “New Voice Message from ###-###-####,” just to call your mailbox and discover it is an individual saying, “Hey, hit me up!” I find that extremely irritating. Obviously I will see the missed call and try to return it.

How this relates to me..

Honestly, my friends and family know that I am pretty freaking bad about returning telephone calls. I am 10 times more likely to return your electronic correspondance(s) such as email and instant messages, prior to ever returning a phone call. Sometimes I get so irritated by people on the other end of such telephone calls that I opt to skip the live conversation all-together and just put myself straight into their voice mailbox. This makes it easy; avoid the annoying.

Too bad I am not experiencing this conflict with only my mobile calls. I have the same annoying scenario and complaints with messages from clients and messages at home. Callers phone my number and leave messages that are so broad and weak with useful information that I get irritated just listening to them. “Justin, this is John Doe, give me a call back please.” Would it really hurt to leave a little more information surrounding the topic of what your call is about John Doe?

As an example of what I consider to be a useful, to the point and helpful voice message:

Good morning, my name is Justin Shattuck and I am calling from Tulsa, Oklahoma. My call concerns the 72″ custom printed static adhesive wall-cling offered on your website, whatever-it-was.com. If I were to provide my artwork cropped and extracted from the background, could you possibly print and overnight the printed materials to me so I could receive no later than Friday, February 2. If you could follow-up with me by telephone at ###-###-####. I appreciate your efforts in advance. Once again my name is Justin Shattuck, interested in 72″ wall-cling, ###-###-####.

Now maybe that is a bit overboard, although it is how I leave voice messages. Straight to the point and usually as accurate as I can possibly be, unless I am intentionally trying to be broad and mysterious with the topic. I’m not saying that everyones’ voice messages are horrible and of under-par quality in substance; just most. I would like to check my voice-mailox and distinguish immediately a call that needs to be immediately returned or those that could wait until my attention is undivided.

The necessary elements

  1. Caller Name: including the name of any individual, party, organization or company being represented by the caller. If caller is associated with a specific organization, party or company, their name should be included as well.
  2. Subject of Call: Exactly what the message is concerning, as concise and short as possible while still delivering the required details to the recipient. Message content should consider objective questioning that could be assessed by the recipient.

    Imagine if the caller actually picked up the call, what would you ask, what would they ask and how would you answer it? Deliver responses to these questions within your voice message, giving the recipient a heads-up as to your reasons for calling.

  3. Contact Information: Give the recipient of your voice message the best method(s) for contacting you. No one enjoys phone tag. Such games get frustrating for both sides of the communication line and eventually someone is going to give up. If you believe that there is a slight possibility that you are going to be unable to receive a call on your primary medium of communication; leave the recipient an alternative, such as: email, fascmile or a mobile phone.
  4. Speak Clearly: Ensure your statement is clear and comprehensible. Voice messages are capable of becoming flagrant crimes of nuisance when individuals mumble their words, speak in extremely high pitched tones or whishpher their messages. Be heard! You are calling for a purpose, make sure the recipient can hear it.
  5. Verbal Tempo: When you speak, make sure your words are spaced out evenly. There is something very irritating about a voicemail message that seems to more-or-less be fluid, and not the fluid we prefer, fluid as in all the words wash together to make one constant sound. Its really very irritating..
  6. Reference Previous Conversation: Leave details and information related to any previous conversations regarding your current message. Whether between you and the recipient, the recipient and another individual or another individual and yourself.
  7. Referred By: If you were referred to this organization, individual or company, tell them by who. Sometimes this could score you a quicker call back, especially if the company has a great report with the referring individual. However, it could have some cons too — just hope your buddy didn’t stiff them somehow!

The above mentioned outline is simply my suggestion, a modest recommendation to leave the significant details everytime you leave a message within someone’s voice-mailbox. Give it a whirl, find yourself delivering useful, informative messages that are full of substance and reason. The recipient on the other end is sure to be happier because the more we know the more comfortable we are.

If you know why someone is calling, you’re more likely to return their call. At least I know I am. Write em down, memorize them, paint them on your refridgerator; I don’t care — just give it a try and let me know if you think they are worthy of your use.

Disclaimer

If you call me… you better utilize them! They are my guidelines to a successful call back from Justin Shattuck!