Voicemail greetings for a small business, with scripts to copy.

What a good greeting does

A caller who reaches voicemail wants four answers before they decide whether to speak: did I ring the right place, will someone call back, when, and what should I say. A greeting that answers those keeps more of them on the line. One that opens with "Your call is important to us" loses them.

Build every greeting from the same parts, in this order:

• The business name, and your name if you are the one who calls back.
• Why nobody answered, in a few words: on a job, with a client, closed for the day.
• When you will call back, as a time you can keep.
• What to leave: a name, a number and what the call is about.
• A faster route, if there is one: a text reply, online booking or the on-call number.
• Where to go in an emergency, if your work has them.

Here is the whole formula in one greeting for an electrician: "Hi, you've reached Northgate Electrical, this is Sam. I'm on a job right now. Leave your name, your number and what's happening, and I'll ring you back by the end of the day. If you've lost all power or can smell burning, say urgent at the start of your message and I'll call between jobs."

Keep it short, and name the call-back time

Read your greeting aloud with a timer. If it runs past about twenty seconds, cut it. These lines can nearly always go:

• "Your call is important to us." The caller can tell how important it is from how fast you ring back.
• "We're either on the other line or away from our desk." They only need to know nobody is free.
• "Please leave a message after the tone." Everyone knows what the tone is for.
• Your full website address spelled out, or a list of every service you offer.

The call-back time is the line that matters most. "As soon as possible" tells the caller nothing, so they ring the next business on the list. "By 4pm today", "within the hour on weekdays" or "first thing tomorrow morning" gives them a reason to wait. Pick a time you keep on your busiest day, not your quietest.

During opening hours

When you are open but nobody can answer, the greeting should sound like a short pause, not a closed door:

• A sole trader on a job: "Hi, it's Dan at Dan Ellis Plumbing. I'm with a customer and can't pick up. Leave your name, number and what the problem is, and I'll call you back within the hour."
• A busy front desk: "Thanks for calling Willow Lane Dental. Our team is with patients right now. Leave your name and number, and we'll call you back before the end of the day."
• A solo professional between meetings: "You've reached Priya Shah at Shah Bookkeeping. I'm with a client until 3pm. Leave your name, number and a line about what you need, and I'll call you back this afternoon."

If your business phone forwards to a mobile when the desk is empty, make sure the mobile's greeting is the business one. A caller who rings a clinic and hears "Hi, it's Jo, leave a message" wonders whether they dialled the wrong number.

After hours and at weekends

Out of hours, the most useful thing a greeting can do is say when you open and what the caller can do now:

• A salon: "Thanks for calling Harbour Hair. We're closed now and open again at 9am tomorrow. You can book any appointment on our website, or leave your name and number and we'll call you in the morning."
• A cleaning company: "You've reached Brightside Cleaning. The office is closed until Monday at 8am. For a quote, use the form on our website and it'll be waiting for us first thing. If you're a regular customer changing a clean, leave a message and we'll confirm on Monday."
• A garage: "Thanks for calling Oakridge Garage. We're closed and open again at 8am. If you've broken down, call your breakdown cover first. To book a service, leave your name, number and the car's registration, and we'll call you back."

Say the opening time in words a caller can picture: "9am tomorrow" or "Monday at 8am". "During normal business hours" makes them guess what yours are.

Holidays, closures and time off

A holiday greeting needs the date you are back and what happens in the meantime. Say the day and the date, because "next week" means nothing to someone who hears it after the holiday has started:

• Public holiday: "Thanks for calling Fernside Physio. We're closed for the holiday and open again on Tuesday the 2nd at 8am. You can book online any time, or leave a message and we'll call you back on Tuesday."
• Owner away, with cover: "This is Mark at Ridge Roofing. I'm away until Monday the 14th. For anything urgent, Tom is covering, and his number is on our website. Otherwise leave a message and I'll call you when I'm back."
• Unplanned closure: "Thanks for calling Tidy Paws Grooming. We're closed today because of the snow. If you had an appointment today, we'll text you to move it. Leave a message and we'll call you tomorrow."

Set a reminder to change the greeting back on the day you return. A Christmas greeting still playing in February tells every caller that nobody checks the phone.

When a call might be an emergency

A voicemail box is never the right place for an emergency, because nobody hears the message until later. If your work has urgent calls, the greeting has to send them somewhere that answers now:

• Trades with an on-call service: give the on-call number, or say "press 1" if your system offers it. If you have no on-call service, say so plainly, so the caller can find someone else.
• Clinics: "If this is a medical emergency, hang up and call 911." In Europe, the number is 112.
• Vets: name the out-of-hours emergency clinic you use, and say where its number is.
• Property managers: "If there's a gas smell, leave the property and call the gas emergency line. For a burst pipe or no heating, call our out-of-hours line on our website."

Then test it: ring the number at 9pm on a Saturday and follow your own greeting. If the emergency route ends at another voicemail, fix that before anything else.

The greeting when missed-call text-back is on

With missed-call text-back, every caller you miss gets a text from your number a moment later, so they can reply or book without waiting for you. The greeting should tell them it is coming, or the text looks like a stranger's:

• A trade: "Hi, you've reached Northgate Electrical. We're on a job. You'll get a text from this number in a moment: reply to it and we'll pick it up between jobs. Or leave a message after the tone."
• A salon: "Thanks for calling Harbour Hair. We're with clients. We'll text you in a moment with a link to book, or you can reply to the text with your question."
• A clinic: "Thanks for calling Fernside Physio. Our team is with patients. If you're calling from a mobile, you'll get a text from us shortly with a link to book. Otherwise leave your name and number. If this is an emergency, hang up and call 911."

Three details make it work. Keep the voicemail route, because callers on a landline cannot receive the text and callers who hide their number cannot be texted. Make the greeting and the text promise the same thing, so a caller is not told "we'll call back" and then sent "reply here". And say "from this number", so they recognise it.

GGSites sets up missed-call text-back with a text within a minute to every caller you could not answer. The greeting is yours to record, and these scripts are a fair start.

More scripts by trade

• Dog groomer: "Hi, it's Tidy Paws Grooming. I've got my hands full with a dog in the bath. Leave your name, your dog's name and what you'd like, and I'll call you back after this groom."
• Accountant in tax season: "You've reached Marsh and Reed Accountants. We're busy with returns this month, so call-backs are within two working days. To send documents, use the client portal, and we'll confirm when they've arrived."
• Tutoring centre: "Thanks for calling Northfield Tutoring. We're teaching right now. Leave your name, your child's year and the subject, and we'll call you back after 6pm."
• Restaurant: "Thanks for calling The Lantern. We're in the middle of service. For a table, book on our website. For a group of more than eight, leave your name and number and we'll call you back tomorrow morning."
• Personal trainer: "Hi, it's Leah. I'm with a client. Leave your name and when you'd like to train, and I'll call you back after my session."

Whatever your trade, ask for the one detail that lets you call back ready: the car's registration, the dog's name, the child's year. It saves a second call.

What clinics and law firms should leave out

Some greetings invite callers to say things that should not sit in a voicemail box. For a dental, medical or physiotherapy clinic:

• Ask for a name, a number and a short reason such as "booking" or "question about an appointment". Do not ask callers to describe symptoms, medicines or test results.
• Do not give clinical advice in the greeting, such as what to do about pain, beyond the emergency number.
• Keep the emergency line near the start, before the caller decides to wait.

Health information has extra rules: HIPAA in the US and the GDPR in Europe. Agree with whoever advises you on privacy who can listen to the voicemail box and how long messages stay in it.

For a law firm:

• Ask for a name, a number and the type of matter, such as "a family matter" or "a contract question". A voicemail box is a poor place for the details of a legal problem.
• Do not say anything that sounds like advice, such as "you have rights here" or "don't sign anything".
• If deadlines matter, ask callers to say so: "If you have a court date or a deadline this week, say that at the start of your message."
• Leave disclaimers to your website and engagement letter. A long one in the greeting makes callers hang up.

Record it so callers can hear it

• Record in a quiet room, with the phone close to your mouth, not on speaker.
• Speak a little slower than feels natural, and say the business name clearly.
• Leave out background music. It sounds muddy on a phone line.
• On an iPhone, open the Phone app. In the unified layout tap Calls, then Edit, then Edit Voicemail Greeting. In the classic layout tap Voicemail, then Greeting. Then tap Custom and Record. Not every network supports a custom greeting.
• If the business number is a second line or sits in a phone app, record the greeting for that number, then ring each of your numbers from another phone and listen to what callers hear.
• Listen to it once on a cheap speaker. If you cannot catch the call-back time, re-record it.

If you are still setting up the number itself, how to get a business phone number compares the options.

Look after the messages it collects

A good greeting promises a call back, so the box behind it needs an owner:

• Decide who checks voicemail, and when, including on days off.
• Empty it every day. A full voicemail box tells callers to give up.
• Turn on transcription where your phone or system offers it, so you can read messages between jobs.
• Call back in the order messages arrived, apart from anything marked urgent.

When you ring back, open with their name and the reason they gave: "Hi Mrs Patel, it's Sam from Northgate Electrical, returning your call about the fuse box." How to answer the business phone has scripts for the call itself.

Mistakes to avoid

• The network's default greeting, a robot voice reading out the number. Callers cannot tell whether they reached a business.
• Your personal greeting on the business line.
• A holiday greeting that is still playing after you are back.
• A full voicemail box.
• "As soon as possible" instead of a time.
• A menu of options for a business with two people.
• An emergency route that ends at another voicemail.
• Promising a text or a call back that nobody sends.

If voicemail is doing too much of the work, the question is who answers when you cannot. AI receptionist, answering service or text-back compares the options.