Powerful Business Tools

Voice Mail Can Be a Powerful Business Tool

By Eugene Peterson

I used to hate voice mail, but recently I have learned that it can be a useful asset to improve productivity in my chaotic life.  Everyone knows that time is money, yet when new technologies like voice mail come along most of us lack the understanding of how powerful a tool it can be and how to best use it.  If you are like me, you probably have used voice mail simply to request a return phone call. And if the other party was also like you, they left the same message – resulting in an interesting round of phone tag.  Why not become a little creative and think outside of the box how best you can use voice mail to save time and money. To start you thinking, may I suggest?
• That you encourage callers to leave a detailed message. Tell the caller what you are looking for, from them. Get enough information that you know why that person called and what they are looking for from you.
• Then armed with their information, respond quickly and intelligently.
• And if it happens that you get their voice mail – GREAT – you can leave the information they requested, specific, to the point in a shorter period of time.