Voicemail is one of those extremely useful tools in the workplace that often gets ignored and is so often misused. I am a champion of voicemail when used properly and correctly. Too often people take voicemail for granted and often blatantly express to others, through their voicemail messages, that they are liars and don’t actually care about others who are attempting to contact them.

Have you recently been a victim of a voicemail liar? Have you recently come across any of the following? Are you a voicemail liar? Maybe you should take a moment and review what you are saying in your messages and what you truly mean.

VOICEMAIL NO NO’S:

“Sorry I missed your call…”

Are you really sorry that you missed this call? Most times people are not. If they were, they would really respond to the message left by the caller. Too often people are screening calls, or just simple ignoring them, or sometimes, having secretaries or receptionists transfter callers straight to voicemail. If this is the case, you’re not really sorry that you missed the call, you don’t really want to take it in the first place.

“Leave a message and I’ll call you back…”

Will you really call the person back? So many times people carelessly state that they will return the call when they have no intention of doing so. If you do this, but have the tendency to not return the call, callers will know that you are not an honest person, since you say things you really don’t mean. If you say you’ll call the person back, do it.

“Today is (some old date)”

If you are going to tailor your message to include a date, you’ve got to keep the commitment to this type of message. Think of it as your cellphone plan, or your mortgage, you’re locked in to staying on top of it. If it becomes too much, change your message back to a more generic message that you can handle.

VOICEMAIL HONESTY:

“I rarely check my voicemail messages, please email me at: <EMAIL@ADDRESS_COM>”

I’ve come across these type of messages from time to time. At first, you’re almost inclines to laugh at it, but I respect the honesty of the individuals who have this type of message. It’s brutal in a way, but you know what to expect. The individual won’t really be checking messages or be calling the person back, but you know that if you REALLY need to reach them, shoot them an email.

Next time, you’re recording your voicemail message, remember what you’re trying to accomplish with the message. Do you want to portray yourself as a liar, or someone who is professional? Take the higher road, be professional, leave a good voicemail message that the caller can know what to expect and when they can expect to hear back from you.