Identify Yourself For Success in Business and at Work

In the course of my work for my business and clients, I continuously exchange emails and voicemails with many people, including but not limited to job candidates.

More often than not, when I leave a voicemail for a job candidate, this is the message I hear:

“Your call has been forwarded to an automated voice-messaging system. 5-1-8-5-2-7-9-2-6-1 is not available.  At the tone, please record your message.   When you’ve finished recording, you may hang up or press ‘1’ for more options.”

It’s the standard voicemail outgoing message that comes with your cell phone. When I get this message, I usually hang up and double-check the number I’m dialing, because without a name on the outgoing message, I don’t want to leave a voicemail for the wrong person. I then dial the phone number again and leave my message. It creates extra time and extra work.

This is my outgoing voicemail message. It’s friendly, informative and to the point:

“Hi! This is Deb Best, and you’ve reached 518-527-9261. Please leave your name, your phone number with area code, and a brief message, and I will get back to you at my earliest convenience. Thanks for calling and have a great day.”

My outgoing voicemail message accomplishes several things:

  • If you’re looking for me, it confirms that you’ve reached the correct number;
  • I let you know what information I need to get back to you at my earliest convenience;
  • I express my appreciation for your call, and I wish you well.

When I receive an email response from a job candidate, this is the signature I often find at the bottom of their email:

Sent from my iPhone

If I want to call them right back, I have to dig through earlier emails and/or their CV to find their phone number. It creates extra time and extra work.

Whether I’m initiating or responding to an email from my computer or my smartphone, this is the signature that you’ll see on my email:

 

Deb's signature

My email signature accomplishes several things:

  • It contains my phone number in case you want to call me back instead of emailing me;
  • It gives you links to my website and my LinkedIn profile, in the event you need more information on my background;
  • It gives you a short summary of the depth and breadth of my business services;
  • It reminds you that I’m a NYS-Certified WBE;
  • It reinforces my business brand.

Now, I’m not suggesting that I’m the ultimate outgoing-voicemail-message and email-signature maven.

What I am asking is for you to consider including enough information in your outgoing voicemail message and email signature so that you can maximize the chances of getting the response you seek from prospective employers, clients and business partners, in business and at work.

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