Ever called someone only to get their message bank? Of course, we all have!

As a coach, I get to hear people's voice mail A LOT! I have heard some beautiful messages and I have also heard some shockers.

Often the FIRST point of contact your clients have is with you is your voice mail. If the first way that people interact with you is a voice mail that’s not a match to who you actually are – then that could very easily turn them off – like a hair dresser with a bad haircut.

Professor Mehrabian combined the statistical results of 2 studies around communication and discovered that only 7% of how we communicate is Verbal – and 93% is non-verbal. Non-verbal component is made up of Body language (55%) and Tone of voice (38%).

So if when you are recording your voice mail, you are sounding distracted or bored or even confused by technology – often that will come across in your voice.

So what SHOULD your voice mail sound like?

It should be friendly, professional, and informative and you need to say it with a SMILE on your face. Literally smile as you record it! It's amazing the difference it makes and people can hear it in your voice.

Write down your message first if you need to.

This is what we had at OG Massage and it worked really well:

You have called insert your business name, We are currently with other clients right now and we would love to help you when we can. Our opening hours are Monday to Friday 9am - 8pm. To book online visit our website at [web address] or please leave a message and we will answer your call as soon as possible. Thanks for calling and have a great day! :D :D :DDDD

Ok – so maybe not quite that much joy but the smiley faces help you get the point.
Don’t be afraid if it takes you a few times to get this right. Keep persisting  until it’s perfect.

Listen to it again and again and make sure you refresh it every 6-12 months.
This is such an easily overlooked step that won’t cost you anything and might just make the world of difference to your booking rate.