With all the various ways that we can now get in touch with someone it is easy to forget that we still value personal connection. In many cases that initial personal reaching out might be voicemail.
So how much time have you spent thinking about the impression you leave someone with your voicemail? And not just the voicemail I would get if I called you, but also the voicemails you leave for someone else.
Take a few minutes to craft a personally branded voicemail that reflects how you deal with people and react to their requests. If you pride yourself in getting back to people the same day, say so on your message - but make sure you deliver on it. If your reaction time is longer do not say something like "Today is November 24th" - and its now January!
Consider also what you say on someone elses voicemail, especially if this is the first time you are connecting. Very often we make the call expecting to speak to the person and 9 times out of 10 it's voicemail - all of a sudden we struggle with leaving a clear, concise message that says to the other person - wow they are on the ball, I should get back to them. A little preparation will not hurt.
This is the voicemail you will get if you contact a PR expert, Peter Shankman. He is very clear about the fact that he would prefer you not to leave a message and try any other way to get hold of him (but apparently he also deletes badly constructed e-mails too!).
"Listen to this message. Do not leave me a voice mail. TEXT ME. Email me. Do anything else before you leave me a voice mail. Unless I'm on a plane, I promise to return your text in mere minutes, if not seconds. But if you leave me a voice mail, you're looking at a few days, perhaps a week."
What does your voicemail say - tell me in the comments section of the blog. Take a moment to add your toonies worth by going to the Just My Toonies Worth blog. If you thought this was a toonies worth please consider making a donation. Thank you to those that already have.
Paul Copcutt - Square Peg Solution
paul@paulcopcutt.com
web: www.squarepegsolution.com
