{"id":51,"date":"2018-03-16T16:18:26","date_gmt":"2018-03-16T16:18:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.coaches.homeworkcoach.com\/?p=51"},"modified":"2018-03-16T16:19:01","modified_gmt":"2018-03-16T16:19:01","slug":"51","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coaches.homeworkcoach.com\/?p=51","title":{"rendered":"Fix your Voicemail Greeting!"},"content":{"rendered":"

One in an occasional series on professionalism:<\/p>\n

Creating voicemail greetings is becoming an ignored art.\u00a0 Too often, we call a tutor and get, \u201cThe user has not set up their voicemail,\u201d or a robot voice will invite you to leave a message for \u201c404-xxx\u201d, a phone number which leaves you guessing as to whether you have reached the right number.
\nIdeally, all our tutors will leave a professional voicemail message,<\/p>\n

\u201cHello, you\u2019ve reached <tutor name>. I\u2019m sorry to have missed your call, please leave a message and I\u2019ll get right back to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even better from our viewpoint but totally optional would be<\/p>\n

\u201cHello, you\u2019ve reached <tutor name>, a coach for HomeworkCoach. I\u2019m sorry to have missed your call, please leave a message and I\u2019ll get right back to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Please fix your voicemail.\u00a0 Avoid jokey greetings, they are unprofessional and even your friends will get bored with them really quickly.\u00a0 A bad greeting can really hurt your chances with any recruiter or person contacting you for professional reasons (read this article<\/a>).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not hard to record a greeting, Typically, just call your voicemail and listen for the option to change your message. On my AT&T phone you get to the menu by pressing * then 4.<\/p>\n

And while we are on the topic, do not let your voicemails build up. Speaking personally, there is nothing that drives me more crazy that a message that the user\u2019s voicemail is full.\u00a0 I am not saying that this would cause us to stop offering you tutoring assignments; it won\u2019t. But yes, it does impact our enthusiasm for making you the first coach we call.<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading. Comments below are welcome.<\/p>\n

Dennis Freeman<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"