An article by Bob Walters.

Your outgoing voice mail message tells a lot about you. In fact, it may be the first impression that you make with a new client. Here's how to appear successful.

1) Present a Positive Image

Your outgoing voice mail message should be simple, positive, and professional. State your name and company followed by concise directions. You may want to leave a daily message because it shows that you check your messages and tells callers what to expect.

For example, "This is Bob Walters from BWT. Today is Monday the 1st December and I'm currently out of the office conducting property inspections. Please send me an email at bob@bwt.com.au with your query OR please leave a detailed message after the tone signal and I'll call you before the close of business today."

This message lasts approximately ten seconds.

Make sure that your outgoing message is unencumbered by music (turn off the radio), rustling papers (sit still), and background noise (close the door).

These sounds make it difficult for callers to understand your outgoing voice mail message. Similarly, avoid gimmicks such as trying to be funny, or citing long lists of credentials. These appear unprofessional.

2) Practice Professional Courtesy

Some people use voice mail to screen calls. Although this may control interruptions, it becomes rude if you never respond to the messages. Those messages are very important to the people who left them. That's why they called.

Set aside a time each day to return calls. If the messages were left by people whom you do not want to talk to, have an assistant return the calls.

The brief moment that you spend on a return message helps the caller continue business and frees you from receiving additional unwanted calls.

For example, it takes ten seconds to say, "Hi, Chris. This is Bob Walters from BWT, your tenant phoned today reporting a leaking kitchen tap; I will arrange for our plumber to contact the tenant direct to check all of the taps. Should the job be under $100, I will ask him to proceed, otherwise I will be in touch with you."

It doesn't take long to keep people informed, but it could save you losing the business, let alone your sanity!