Timely timing from this East Coast reader’s e-mail message:
“Just wanted to let you know that I shared your June voice mail blogs w/my co-workers today. Listening to some folks leave messages and hearing the greetings to their own voice mails, I thought it might be useful. VERY useful.”
We’ll leave this writer’s name out, so her co-workers don’t know at whom she’s pointing fingers. But let me thank her for opening the door to allow me to revisit the topic of voice mail (Smile, June 18, Voice Mail Speaking, June 4).
I read her e-mail following a meeting with a financial advisor who’s considering my consulting services. We spent part of our meeting talking about how he could make his voice mails more effective and why every business person should focus on outgoing messages as a form of business communication. He thanked me for my suggestions, and I was glad he took this newfound insight so seriously. He promised he would get back to the office, immediately listen to his voice mail, and re-record his message.
Some quick tips if you decide to follow his lead and analyze your business voice mail:
1. Ask yourself: Is this someone with whom I’d do business?
2. Identify the tone of voice you hear in your outgoing message.
3. Decide if that tone will help you gain a client, maintain a client, lose a client, or insult a prospect.
4. Does the sound of your voice convey the “real” you?
Feel free to send me questions and comments as you go through your own personal Voice Mail overhaul.
