Do I have to “leave a message?”
For the longest time I didn’t have a voicemail message for my cellphone. I just left it on the automated, “This number is not available. Please leave a message after the beep,” or whatever the AT&T computer says. I prefer to do business by email so that I can draft what I want to say so getting phone calls were either from my parents or wrong numbers. Now that I’m on my way to being self-employed, I figured I should probably take another look at leaving a message. More people are calling me now then ever and being that I don’t always answer my phone, leaving a message to at least notify the caller that they hit the right person is probably a good thing.
Since the fully-automated message is out, that leaves two other options. A) A semi-automated message where you say your name like a zombie into your phone and let the computers do the rest or B) A fully-custom message. I tried option A a couple times (in private of course) and I never sounded like a real person. Option B it is.
Drafting a message is tough, especially for me since I over-think everything. Do I want to say something funny? Yes. Would that be good for business? Probably not. I also don’t want to sound too business-y and have my friends and relatives feel unwelcome. I decided the simpler the message, the better. “This is Matt. Leave me a message and I’ll call you back.” But wait, why do I need to say the “Leave me a message…” part? It’s 2010. Everyone knows to leave a message after the beep. The beep has been around since answering machines have been invented (The 30′s but not widely distributed in the US until the 60′s. Thanks Google.)
Why do we still say that? I left it in my message because without it all I’m saying is my name. I don’t want to just say “I’ll call you back,” because would really much rather send an email then talk on the phone and I’m not going to call someone back if they don’t leave me a message. I couldn’t figure out a suitable replacement. Anyone have any ideas?
“Hey this is Matt, aka Mr. Awesome. You can leave a message if you are awesome as well.”