What's Your Voice Mail Bounce Rate?

A thought just came to me as I was leaving a voice message for a law firm.  The greeting on their voice mail stunk, it made me want to hang up.  The attorney stuttered, sounded dis-jointed and not very awake.  This got me thinking.  On the web we worry about a website's "bounce rate," the percentage of visitors that leave, or bounce, after seeing the homepage, what about the people that actually call a law firm?  Do callers "bounce" if they aren't impressed by the greeting they hear? Unfortunately, unless you have a pretty advanced phone system it's hard generate hard data on the number of callers that hang up while being asked to leave a message or dial an extension. Best just to avoid the possibility by having a killer greeting.

Here are some thoughts on how to lower the bounce rate of your callers

1. Have your spouse or trusted friend listen to your voicemail greeting and get their honest feedback.
2. Avoid fillers like "umm", "ah", "like", "err"
3. Let callers know that messages are checked frequently throughout the day
4. Sound positive, energetic and upbeat
5. E-nun-ci-ate
6. Write a short script instead of winging it from memory
7. Assure callers that their call is important and will be returned promptly
8. State your name or firm's name so callers know they called the right place
9. If your voice mail system is confidential, let them know it is
10. Give your business hours
11. Be concise

Here a some sample scripts:

You have reached <Law Firm Name>. Sorry that we missed your call. Be assured that messages are checked throughout the day and we strive to return calls promptly. Our voice mail system is confidential, so please leave your message after the prompt. Thank You.  --beep--

Thank you for calling <Law Firm Name>. Messages left here are confidential and we work to return calls promptly.  Our hours are from 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday. Please leave your name, number and message after the prompt.  We look forward to speaking with you soon. --beep--