How to Make Voice Mail Your Friend

This blog entry is taken liberally from one of my favorite printing industry consultants, Bill Farquharson who claims to love voice mail more than warm, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

Personally, I think that’s a little crazy, mostly because I am a cookie fan, but I understand where Bill is coming from. Although many people dislike voice mail because it keeps them from speaking immediately to the person they want to speak with, the prevalence of voice mail is large and growing, and most likely will not abate over time.

This may fall under the category of “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

So, if you accept the fact that voice mail is part of your life, how can you use it to your advantage?

Bill has a few ideas.

If you can’t get through to your “live” person, at least by leaving voice mail messages, you can demonstrate that you are persistent, diligent, and have a strong desire to speak to the person.
If you leave a voice mail message, at least you can refer to that in a future message.
Voice mail is a discrete way to clue your person in on why you are calling.
Voice mail gives you the opportunity to be a little unorthodox or creative, leaving interesting messages that may get returned quicker.
When you listen to a person’s outgoing message, you can pick up clues that may help you make a better impression, such as how they liked to be addressed.
You can show how reliable you are by leaving a message indicating when you will call back, and then call back at that day/time.

Personally, I don’t care for voice mail. I am always in such a hurry that I would much prefer to get a live person to help me. That is why we don’t use voice mail here at Curry Printing. Although I see its value, I don’t think it fits in here with our personalized service and attention.

However, I try to use the above 6 points when I am leaving voice mail messages, as well as always trying to S L O W D O W N when I am leaving my phone number.

Hopefully, these few pointers will make you a more effective user of voice mail in the future!