Can you hear me now?

[Aliza]

What do you have on your answering machine/voice mail for a message?My approach has been to stay more business oriented.  "Thank you for calling Northland Massage.  Unfortunately I cannot take your call right now but please leave your name, number and a brief message and I will return your call." Pretty boring so I am looking for something a little or a lot better.

 

[Peter G]

We say "Thank you for calling North River Body Therapies.   Please check out our website at http://www.blah blah blah.com  for the answers to most of your questions.  We are sorry we were unable to answer your call in person, but your message is very important to us.  Please leave us your name, # and reason for call and we will be happy to get back to you as soon as possible."We have a page for making appointments on the site, and that helps as far as instant gratification to make an appointment.  If you do not have a website you could say..."Our office hours are (blah blah blah).  If you are calling during business hours we are in session with a client. "Hope that helps!

 

[?RadSkully?]

How about your usual greeting, and "when I'm unable to take calls, I'm working diligently to help another client relax (etc). I return calls at 9, noon and 5PM daily, so please leave your name, number & which day or timeframe best suits you for your appointment. I'll be talking to you soon."ha. Its so hard to put words in another's voice, but anyway, ther's a suggestion or twver the holidays last year I said "Remember that Massage Gift Certificates are the gift that fits every body. And we have a great bargain if you purchase a series package of 6. Give some away, and keep at least one for yourself!" On one of the marketing websites I saw a phrase that I loved:  "prepare to be thanked twice! Once when you give the gift of massage, and again after they experience..." I thought that was an awesome sound bite.Jill/Sagetherapist

 

[MAR2009]

Mine says,"Hi...This is Traci____.  I am either with a client right now, or otherwise unavailable, but if you leave a message, I will call you back shortly.  Thank You, and have a great day".Mine is BLAHHHHHH too.... I think I will try the Success Beyond Work idea, where you say something like:"Thank you for calling ______.  Today is August 3rd, 2004.  We are open today, and we still have appointment times available at _:__ pm, _:__pm, and _:__pm.  If you would like to be scheduled for one of these times, or to be scheduled for another day, please leave your name, number, and the time and day you prefer.  Thank you and have a great day."I was just thinking about this a few days ago.    

 

[XEricac702X]

Can you hear me now?

I think that SBW suggestion is extremely useful. What would you think about the business practices of a therapist who bothered to update their message each day? Personally, I would be thinking, "now THAT person takes the time to do things well." I like that one alot, Traci.Jill/Sagetherapist

 

[Ree]

I like art of zen's message. I was thinking of using something like that.Sage's is funny. ""Remember that Massage Gift Certificates are the gift that fits every body." Ha!  ;D

 

[Pompal 09.]

Hi!   My voicemail message is boring but it does tell the client "I will return your call within 24 hours"I am only at my actual office when I have clients, all my business calls are via my cell phone, and giving them perimeters has been helpful.  I would get the people who would call repeatedly and get jumpy because they thought they could get a same day appt.  This fixed that.My friends tease me "what- are you on lock-down?"Or- "this is Nikki, you have 23hrs and 58mins to get back to me, better hurry!"

 

[DEBORAH C]

Not trying to be critical, but if I were calling to get a massage, and the message said that my call would be returned within 24 hours, I would immediately call someone else, because all I would hear is the "24 hours" part.  Even if I wanted to make an appointment later in the week, I would want to know TODAY that I had an appointment tomorrow at _:__ time.I recorded the message suggested in the SBW book.  We'll see what happens!

 

[*******Mel******* of DOOM]

My message is very "blah" right now.  Thanks for all the great ideas. I once called another therapist whose answering machine message started with the words "You've reached the pager of...." and ended with the words "and I'll return your call today."  I doubt it was actually a pager - since she sometimes answered that line and I don't ever recall seeing her with a pager.  My guess is her callers were much more inclined to leave a message, rather than just keep trying until someone answered... or call the next number on their list.

 

[Orchid Quynh Lan]

Can you hear me now?

I'm really not sure what to think of mine. One of my clients heared it for the first time the other day ( I hardly ever not answer my phone) and said he loved it. It goes something like: "You've reached Jeff Seforum.xxxg's Massage Therapy. I am located at Family Chiropractic on Hwy 365 behind Vacuum City. I am currently assisting clients at this time. If you leave your name, phone number, and a brief message, I will try to return your call within the hour. In the meantime, you can visit me on the web at http://www.jeffseforum.xxxg.com for more information. Gift certificates are available."It's kinda lengthy, and I'm sure my regulars get tired of it, so I really need to change it. I'm not sure, is there anything I should ad or take out?

 

[Henry Le]

Mine is also kind of typical and not real interesting, but then, I figure my clients called for info before entertainment The greeting says my name, my d/b/a, points them to my website, and then states that I am either in session or in class, but if they'll leave me their name, number, and the time they'd like a massage, I'll get back to them as soon as I can. Or something like that. I haven't listened to it myself in a while, but I'm picky and I was satisfied with it when I recorded it

 

[jaymax173]

what a super thread! and jill, your suggestion was great!

currently mine says: thank you for calling Living Well, the Comfortable Approach to Health. We ARE available today but are currently assisting in-house clients. Please leave your message and we will return your call within the hour. Thank you.

but, i'm the only LMT now (although a psychologist starts on friday, but has her own line. she's renting the front room from me). so i don't know whether to continue to be "we" or go back to "I"? i will most likely change the message to reflect jill's suggestion of when i will return calls.

anyway, thanks for bumping this - it's great!

 

[octavio247]

harperorium,
I like the "We" - you may be currently just one person... but as you indicated, your "Living Well" practice will soon be "expanding."
Including a psychologist in your office will expand the variety of therapies available to your clients. And who knows what other practitioners you will choose to have join you in the future!

 

[Praful]

so true, o wise nancy..

plus i like the 'we', i've never liked sounding like i'm alone.

doc started today - i think this really is a good move

happy new year!
amanda

 

[solvent]

i wnat to bump this thread to see what other people have on their answering machines.. i'm having lots of hangups lately and am looking for new ideas.

the problem is that right now, my message sounds *SO* good as far as my voice not being froggy or whatever - i hesitate to change it b/c it took me so long to get it to sound that good! sigh... it's always something.

anyway, mine says:

you have reached living wel, the comfortable approach to health. we are available monday through saturday, by appt only. to make an appointment or leave a message for amanda harper, licensed massage therapist, please press 1. for dr melanie ferguson, licensed professional counselor, please press 2.

 

[RayHere]

I just changed mine recently because I realized I was not taking full advaneforum.xxxe of my voicemail being a marketing effort.

On my landline I say:

"Hello! You have reached our names with business name. Please leave a message and one of us will get back to you as soon as possible. Or try my name on her cell phone at my cell phone number. If you have questions or would like to buy a gift certificate, please visit my website at my web address. Thanks and have a great day!"

My cell says the same thing except it does not say to call on my land line because I don't actually want a bunch of calls there.

Every time I try to sound soothing and calm and relaxing on my VM greeting I think I sound like such an idiot! This one I just had a genuine smile in my heart and it came through in my greeting, so it's a keeper.