Tip # 1 for success in the workplace. Voicemail Etiquette

Voicemail is an excellent way to give your callers an up close and personal method of learning things about you that they might need to know before speaking with you. Voicemail messages can tell your audience specific times that you return calls or if your day is not one where you will be available to speak at length. As a professional, it is important to give your callers a reason to believe that you are competent and professional in your communication. Update your voicemail after returning to the office upon an absence, it will shine of your professionalism and your caller will not know unless they called you during your absences of your absence. It is an absolute must otherwise your caller might start to think that you are not so available, organized or effective in your communications. Your audience is anyone that calls your place of business. Updating your voicemail daily or when you are in the office is an effective form of communicating to your callers that you are available and they should expect a return call by a specified time period. When the call is returned, you gain credibility and trust of the caller. When it is not, your reputation can become tarnished along with the callers interest in working with you in the future. It frustrates potential clients/customers when they can not get a response to an inquiry. Believe it or not, it does not matter how much money that you make or how recognized you are by the world. One's personal response to life experiences carries worth in the workplace and I believe that is what employer's forget sometimes. Partially because people have become numb to workplace imperfections and as long as they subscribe to the concept of "my ship is not sinking" everything is fine concept everything is. I am a recruiter and a massage therapist. The phone is my friend in both instances. It is my life line to my candidates, my clients and my own service providers. My phone messages must be relevant to my lifestyle and my work arrangement. I am very good about returning calls. I listen to the message, I take note and I return calls generally within 2 hours or less. My reasoning is, my caller needs something from me and I am going to care for them. I also love what I do. Make your voicemail reflect that part of you by being credible, professional and speak clearly so that your words can be understood. If your audience is calling for a reason, they will appreciate it. When calling professionals cultivating business relationships, I take a note of voicemails of the people that I call. Do you sound like I want to call you back or am I a little nervous about whether you will appreciate my call? There are a lot of recruiters in the workforce and there are a lot of massage therapists in the workforce. But there is only one me, I believe in the "Golden Rule" & you should too (esp. when it comes to voicemail) Don't let that perfect opportunity pass you by because your voicemail is full or your message indicates that you are possibly not available or you don't return a call. Be focused on ensuring your success by determining to be available once you are called.