First things first. If you don’t have an
answering machine of some sort, run, don’t walk, and
go get one. Nothing will kill an enquiry faster than a phone that rings with no
answer. Unless you can guarantee to be home 24/7 to answer phone calls, you need
to have something that will do it on your behalf—otherwise callers will simply
move on to the next number in the Yellow Pages.
If you spent less than an hour designing and recording your answering machine message, you weren't taking the task seriously enough.
Simply having the machine is only part of the story though.
When prospective students hear your recorded message, they will establish first
impressions about both you and your studio. If that impression is not good, they’re
likely to just hang up, and your relationship with the student is terminated even
before you meet.
It can take months of bad lessons to lose an existing
student. But you can achieve the same unhappy outcome with a prospective student
in less than ten seconds if your phone message is weak.
We’ll look in a moment at some dos and don’ts for your
voicemail message, but in the meantime, here’s a simple test:
If you spent less than an hour designing and then recording your answering
machine message, you weren’t taking the task seriously enough.
The receptionist test
Ask yourself this. If you were hiring someone to
answer your studio’s phone, what expectations would you have of their
telephone manner? Remember, this person will be talking to potential students
long before you get a chance to weave your magic at an interview, so they need
to be friendly, polite, confident, clear, articulate and welcoming. Otherwise
there’s not going to be an interview in the first place.
Not only that, you should think carefully about what they
say when they answer the phone. How would you react if you overheard your
receptionist answer the phone like this?:
"Hello. I don’t really have time to listen to you at
the moment. Tell me some way of getting in touch with you, and I’ll get back
to you when I don’t have better things to do."
With that statement ringing in your ears, now think about
your existing outgoing message. Does it sound like the following? (A lot of
music teacher’s do!):
"Hello, this is Sandy. I’m not able to take your call
right now. Leave your name and number after the beep."
Look at this message for a moment from the caller’s point
of view. There are plenty of problems, and they start with the first sentence:
"Hello, this is Sandy."
You may well be Sandy, but if your studio is called
"Happy Flutes Music School", then callers are going to be confused by
a greeting that doesn’t refer to that. With nothing else in the message that
identifies you as providing music lessons, there will be some doubt as to
whether or not it’s actually the right number. At that point, a lot of people
will simply hang up.
Even those who proceed regardless will be struck by the fact
that the message sounds alarmingly like a residence phone message (rather
than a business one), creating an impression of an amateur home based operation.
Even if your studio is home based—and most music
teachers do work from home—if your phone number is also the studio phone
number, then the message has to be for the studio too.
So instead of:
"Hello, this is Sandy."
Add on
"Hello, this Sandy, and the number for Happy Flutes
Music Studio."
A lot of music teachers don’t refer to their studio at all
in their message, because the telephone line also doubles as a personal line and
such a message feels inappropriate for family and friends who might call. You
can’t afford to be coy like this—teaching is your business, and your
voicemail message needs to clearly confirm that. If a dual-function message like
that still feels uncomfortable for you, then consider taking out a second phone
line, dedicated to your studio.
