tips4you

Strategic thinking applies to all that we do in business. Our business communications are one area where there is always room to be more strategic and therefore be more effective. Take a moment and think about some of the voicemail messages you receive each day. How many of them are effective? How many of them are efficient and contain the information and/or questions you really need to respond? How many of them are rambling and incoherent? And how many of them are downright annoying and a waste of your time?

Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach has some ti=ps to share that will help you leave more effective and efficient voicemail messages and become a more strategic business communicator. Those tips include:

Tip #1: Always plan ahead. Prepare for your call and the possibility you will be asked to leave a voicemail message. Research your subject and your clients and/or prospects before you make your call and be prepared to reference that research in your voicemail message.

Tip #2: Practice delivering your voicemail message prior to placing the call so you are will prepared to deliver a well-planned voicemail message.

Tip #3: Do your homework to get to know the person who will get your voicemail message.

Tip #4: Make it a habit to leave your contact information up front in your voicemail message. This will make sure the receiver of your message knows how to contact you if the message gets cutoff before you finished. Always repeat your contact information at the end of your message (unless you have gotten cutoff).

Tip #5: Discipline yourself to focus on one topic in your voicemail message. If you have too many topics, please consider e-mail to be a more effective communications tool for multiple topics.

Tip #6: Provide enough detail in your voicemail, without using up all the available space for your message, so the receiver has what he or she needs to respond to your message and so you will not waste time playing phone tag.

Tip #7: Always speak distinctly and clearly to ensure your voicemail message will be understandable to the receiver. You should slow down and pronounce words carefully.

Tip #8: Please spell your name and/or any difficult or unusual words if your name is hard to pronounce or unusual, or if an unusual word may be difficult for the receiver to understand over the phone.

Tip #9: Always state who the voicemail message is for since some voice mail system may serve multiple people.

Tip #10: Keep your voicemail message simple and concise. A business message should be to the point and in as few words as necessary.

Tip #11: Always correct yourself if you misspeak in your voicemail message by starting that part of your message again and repeat it correctly.

Tip #12: Never leave the same voicemail message twice. Always change your voicemail message to include another great point or piece of information.

Tip #13: Leave yourself a voicemail message and listen to it carefully. Listen to the tonality of your voice. Ask yourself if you are not speaking in a monotone and if you sound boring. Avoiding the monotone and boring speaking will increase the effectiveness of your voicemail message and will increase the probability that it will actually be listened to by the receiver.

Tip #14: Set a goal to try to keep your voicemail message to under 60 seconds.

Tip #15: Make sure to state a reason for the recipient of your voicemail message to return your call.

Tip #16: Always speak with enthusiasm when leaving your voicemail messages. You should actually smile when leaving your voicemail message since your smile will come across on the phone.

Tip #17: Always know what you want from the receiver of your voicemail message and what specific action(s) you want that person to take.

Tip #18: Always reflect the appropriate emotion in your voicemail message.

Tip #19: Never state in the message that you will plan to call them back. Again, this only gives the person an excuse to ignore your message.

Tip #20: Consider the timing of your voicemail message. Do not leave voicemail messages at odd hours of the night. Most voicemail systems offer a time stamp and the person hearing the message may immediately suspect you really did not want to talk to them. The best hours to leave voicemail messages are from 6:45 AM to 8:00 AM and from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. Aggressive people are usually working during these time periods, and the person receiving your message could potentially view you as one. And make wise use of time zone changes to make as many calls as possible during the optimal voicemail periods listed in the previous tip.

Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach encourages you to fully realize the benefits of strategic thinking in making you a more effective and efficient business communicator. If you would like to learn more about how a strategic thinking business coach can facilitate and guide you in that endeavor, please contact Glenn Ebersole today through his website at http://www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, ?Glenn?s Guiding Lines ? Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach? and has published more than 275 articles on business.

To find out more about the benefits & rewards of effectively working with a strategic thinking business coach, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his web site at http://www.businesscoach4u.com or jgecoach@aol.com