6½ Tips for a Powerful Auto Attendant

Use your auto attendant to impress your customers. Dialing a number only to be greeted by a recording does not need to be a frustrating experience. Implement these 6½ tips to help greet customers, route calls, and provide needed information.

  1. Most of your customers are likely calling because they’d like to speak to a person. Make sure that your greeting is inviting, it’s easy to dial an extension, and include an option to press [0] for an operator.
  2. Limit your auto attendant categories. The first dialing options should connect customers to the most frequently requested services or information.
  3. Keep your message simple. In the greeting, state your company name and tagline. Then, move straight into the choices. Avoid excess, and repetitive, wording when describing the available options.
  4. You really don’t need to inform customers that your menu options have changed. But, if you feel strongly about including this message, remove it after two weeks. Callers that haven’t reached out in that time won’t remember which order the options were in before anyway.
  5. Keep your greeting friendly and your tone inviting. Don’t forget, you’re trying to solve your customers problem and you want them to stay on the phone long enough to be directed to the appropriate department.
  6. Practice your auto attendant script before recording. If you decide to record the messages yourself, find a quiet area and speak slower than your normal pace, but include your own personality and professional style. 6½. You can also consider hiring a professional to record your greetings. If hiring a voice actor appeals to you, try to keep your branding consistent and use the same voice for your videos, messages, and website.

Auto attendant options

What tips would you give your fellow business owners?

For more on this topic, check out our Ultimate Auto Attendant Guide.

You might find these related articles helpful:
The Business Advantages of a Phone System
The Importance of First Impressions in a Virtual World