Timely Tips© Volume 3, Issue 2; February 2006: Courteous Voice Mail Time Savers

This month’s Timely Tips is short and sweet – appropriate for the week of Valentine’s. I have to thank my friend and client from Ohio State University, Rob Chabot, for reminding me of this quick tip, after I left him an unintelligible phone number when leaving him a voice mail recently (as many of you know, I sometimes talk a little fast.) It is a tip I’ve heard before, but is one that makes for a good reminder now and then.

The tip is very simple. When you are leaving a voice message, at the end of the message, when you leave your phone number, recite it slowly and clearly, and then repeat your number again. By doing this, you make it VERY easy for people to get your phone number with only having to listen to your message once (how many times have you had to listen to an entire message two or even three times just to get the phone number that was left at the end of the message?) This is obviously a very considerate thing to do, and if we all started doing this, we’d likely save several minutes each week listening to voice mails. (By the way, why not always make sure to have a scratch pad of paper and a working pen available before you ever listen to any voice mail message? Be ready to write!)

When I was at Pace & Partners, one of my clients there would even repeat her name again at the very end of the message also, just so you would remember who it was that was calling. Another great tip, especially if you are calling someone new or someone that you may not interact with very often.

This month’s tips may not save you personally a lot of time, unless of course you spread the word (please do!), but these tips will definitely save time for the clients, vendors, and colleagues that you frequently call, and make your voice messages some of the messages they appreciate the most.

Until next month, Stay Timely!