When leaving a message, how long is too long?

August 17, 2009|Mary Jane Copps
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There’s no ”cookie cutter” answer to this question, but here’s a few guidelines. It’s important to treat voicemail as receptionist or executive assistant in order to “make things happen”. If you are returning the call of a known business contact and need to confirm the date and location of a meeting or your interest in proceeding with a project, then a detailed message is totally appropriate. You want to leave enough information so a return phone call is not needed. This way you eliminate the dreaded game of “phone tag”. When you are calling a business contact for the first time, or you are in the early stages of your business relationship, lengthy voicemail messages are not effective because you haven’t yet built a foundation for how you will communicate. Future posts will focus on more of the when’s and why’s of leaving messages.

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