How Does Voicemail Impact Customer Experience?

Customers today are more demanding than ever. They are more inclined to share their dissatisfaction with others in the form of reviews on social media platforms. 39% of consumers actively provide feedback to organizations online while 31% make pre-sales enquiries. This can have a far-reaching impact on a business.

Even with the introduction of new channels of customer support, 54% of customers still prefer phone conversations for customer service. However, customers continue to face the same issues with phone calls – of which the most frustrating one is waiting on hold for a long time.

What’s the solution to this? Simple! Implement a voicemail system.

A voicemail system offers customers the option to immediately drop a message when the line is busy or agents are unreachable. It demonstrates that the business values their customer’s time.

What is Voicemail?

A voicemail is a computer-based system that enables users to deliver voice information. It refers to a voice message that a caller leaves when the person they call is either unable to receive his call or busy with another conversation.

As more powerful and cost-effective computer processors and storage devices came into the market, telephone equipment manufacturers began developing more sophisticated features. This gave rise to a platform that supported voice solutions like voicemail. Moreover, the adoption of this service started broadening with every passing year. In recent years, voicemail has become integrated with the internet; thus, allowing users to receive incoming messages on traditional computers, tablets, and even mobile phones.

Importance of voicemail for customers

With businesses expanding their global reach, the volume of calls that customer support desks receive daily is also increasing. Customers now call from across the globe, and through the day – which means that businesses need to provide 24/7 support. Therefore, it is virtually a necessity to have voicemail these days.

  1. Voicemail can save your customers’ time

As previously mentioned – the most important benefit to setting up voicemail for your business is saving customer time. Customers cannot afford to wait on hold indefinitely or continue to try to call you throughout the day. In such scenarios, voicemail allows them to leave a message and let you return their call.

  1. Voicemail ensures accuracy

With the digital revolution, customers are more comfortable communicating via channels such as emails, messages and social media instead of calling in due to the convenience of sending messages whenever they need to. 

Additionally, most of us have been through experiences where we have been made to wait on hold, been passed around to different agents in order to solve simple messages, and worst of all – have had to repeat ourselves multiple times before reaching a solution.

With voicemail, it ensures accuracy. As it is a digital recorded message of what the caller said, there are low chances of agents misunderstanding the message delivered. Thus, customers can rest assured that you will hear their problems accurately and be able to solve them quickly. Moreover, your customer support representatives can offer the best support when they understand the context of the issue before calling back.

Things to keep in mind when implementing voicemail

Maintaining a professional voicemail can be an incredible conversion technique for your business phone. Nevertheless, they can be trickier than you might think. Here are some sure-shot strategies to help you deploy the righteous voicemail technology.

  1. Keep your voicemail greetings short and simple

A customer’s attention span is limited, and they expect to hear a concise message when they encounter your voicemail message. So, make sure that your greeting does not exceed 20-25 seconds. This much time should be enough for you to convey all that you want to your customers. 

  1. Make sure your voicemail greeting is are clear and nice to hear

Business voicemails must be professional and respectful at the same time. As it is often the first message that a customer is hearing from your company, and is replacing the option of being directed to an agent immediately, ensure that the message creates a positive impression on your clients.

Many companies get their voicemail greetings done by a voice professional so this is something that you might want to consider as well. Don’t forget that even if you employ an external voice, your message should still reflect your company’s culture and services. 

  1. Provide all the essential information

Providing all the vital information in a voicemail is crucial. It helps customers immediately confirm that they are leaving their message on the right number. Hence, you can provide every detail that your customer on voicemail might expect. This includes:

  • Your first name, last name, and also the job title if you think it would be relevant
  • Your company name and tagline
  • Your business hours
  • The reason you weren’t able to attend the call
  • Provide an expected time to call back
  • Ask them to leave a message
  • Make sure you ask their identity and take a contact number
  • Never forget to thank them

Keep the voicemail recording up-to-date. Anytime there are changes in your contact information, working hours, products, or services, make sure you update the message so that your customers obtain the correct details.

  1. Don’t forget to offer alternate contact information in your voicemail

Another important thing you must consider including in your voicemail is an alternative way to reach you or your customer support representatives. Especially in cases where your clients require reaching you urgently your website email address, work email address, or the phone number of the main office can be of great help. 

Some people might find it unnecessary to add the contact details of other members of their team in their regular voicemail. For instance, if you are planning to go on a vacation, or are unreachable for an extended period of time you can add alternate contact details along with your tentative return date in your recorded message.

Here’s an example of a professional voicemail –

Keeping in mind the points mentioned above, let’s frame a professional voicemail -.

“Hi, you’ve reached Mark Swift at Brainstorm Technologies. I’m unable to attend your call right now. But, you can feel free to leave a message after the tone, or you can email me at mark@brainstorm.com. I’ll contact you within one business day. If you need assistance instantly, please call on 116-856-9700 and get in touch with our main office. Thank you. Hope you have a great day!”

As you can see, a simple message that quickly offers the most relevant information works best.

How can businesses improve their Customer Service with Voicemail?

To ensure better customer experience, it is crucial to redefine your customer support. With customer support software like Freshdesk, you can streamline all your customer conversations across channels in one place, automate repetitive tasks, collaborate with other agents to resolve issues quickly, keep track of conversations and more. This helps your business improve customer service. But, how can you give it a personalized touch? Integrate it with a sound business phone system!

Customer support software like Freshdesk offers capabilities to integrate with efficient calling systems. It works like a cherry on the cake for your business. For example, Freshdesk offers integration with CallHippo. It enables agents to have a personalized conversation with customers as every detail of a customer’s previous interactions and communication will appear when the call is initiated. Further, for each voicemail received on CallHippo, a ticket is generated in Freshdesk. This helps the agents resolve issues quickly. Moreover, as the call details will automatically get logged into Freshdesk, agents can provide better customer experience.

You can head to the Marketplace to check if CallHippo is the best fit for you. 

Don’t miss out on providing exceptional customer experience to each of your valuable customers by paying less attention to voicemail greetings and messages. Ensure that you deliver excellent messages, address your customers in a timely fashion, and provide incredible value to your customers.