Sometimes it's the Little Things

This past week I was struck by some contrasting voicemail greetings when I called a few agents and had to leave a message. Finally, I realized that the various greetings really created a strong impression on me, and that the agents could project a very different impression based on their greeting!

One of the agents simply had that 1980’s robotic voice saying “You have reached 123-555-1212” and I felt like I had reached the IRS or my bank or something. Hard to believe a real estate agent couldn’t be bothered to even record an actual greeting. Not good!

The next call reached an agent who had actually taken a few seconds to record a greeting but it felt like someone who only thought about their pals and being way too cool: “Joe here, you know what to do.” Click. Now if I’m under a certain age and just one of Joe’s pals, maybe that greeting raises my esteem level for Joe. Unfortunately, I’m well above that certain age—actually, several certain ages—so my esteem for Joe as a professional goes the opposite direction.

Next, I got to a voicemail greeting where the agent seemed to be multitasking: “This is Joe Smith . . . with Trust Me . . . Real Estate . . . and Used Cars . . . Buy Here Pay Here . . .uh, I’m not, uh, here . . . available right, uh . . . don’t do that now Sally . . . right now . . . so if you, uh, leave me . . . leave me a message . . . stop that . . . I’ll, uh, get back . . .uh . . .” followed by another five or ten seconds of silence and then, at last, “ . . . oh shoot,” followed by the beep letting the caller know they could stop cringing—if they hadn’t already hung up!

Finally, I called one of our top agents and was delighted to hear a crisp, professional, upbeat greeting that clearly reflected professionalism AND personality. “Hi, this is Joe Smith with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Indiana. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.” Boom. Simple, all that’s needed, and delivered in a practiced, upbeat tone of voice that says “I love this business!” and invites the caller to communicate and begin to trust.

Yes, trust!

Remember, for many folks, including that potential new client, your voice mail greeting just might be their first contact with you as a person. Someone sees your number on a house they like; someone gets flyer or email or stumbles onto your website and decides they want more info so they pick up the phone; or someone at a party meets one of your advocates—a client or friend who is happy to recommend you highly—who passes along your business card. And we all know that first impressions can make a huge difference in relationships and, more importantly, whether we even get a chance to develop a professional relationship!

So, please, take a minute and listen to your own voicemail greeting and make certain it’s not acting as a roadblock but is truly serving your professional goals. And also, remember that Uncle Warren likes to hear the company’s name pronounced “BERKshire” with a short “i” in that second syllable, not “berkSHIRE” with a long “i.”

Anyone familiar with the power of that corporate name who calls you and hears your voicemail greeting mispronouncing your own company’s precious name will probably not be impressed, so don’t let that greeting be a swing and a miss!

David M. Hassler

VP, Director of Business Development