We have worked with lots of clients who wanted to use creative greetings to WOW callers, and we actually encourage that. Our rule of thumb is that as long as your greeting has the following five elements, you can say whatever strikes your fancy:

1. A warm hello.

2. The name of your business.

3. The name of the person who answered the call.

4. An explanation of your mission.

5. A request for the caller’s name and

6. phone number.

Now let’s put these five elements into action so that you can see what they look like in entirety.

Let’s take a dental practice for example. Here’s a proper greeting that could be used that incorporates all five elements:

“It’s a great day at ABC Dental. My name is Sally and my job is to help you achieve a brighter smile.  Can I please start with your first name?”

Now let’s take a look at an improper greeting that only contains two of the elements:

“ABC Dental, this is Sally speaking.”

Do you notice the difference here? Which of these greetings do you think would most impress callers? (we hope you said the first one!)

Here’s why the first greeting is so effective:

It immediately gives callers the impression that the office is unique. The person answering the phone comes across as warm, friendly, and inviting — and also demonstrates that he or she is ready, willing and able to produce desired outcomes. Finally, by starting the intake process right from the greeting, the caller is one step closer to committing to doing business — and after all, isn’t that the desired result of the call?

On the contrary, the second greeting does little to achieve a desired outcome. The only two things achieved by the improper greeting are the caller is able to verify that he or she has called the right business, and the caller learns the name of the person answering the phone. That’s it.  Is that any way to produce a positive first impression for the caller?

Succeeding in today’s business climate is about standing out from the crowd, not getting lost amongst it. So take a look at the way your office is answering the phone and see how you can tweak your initial greeting to include the five key elements we outlined above. You will be amazed at how quickly the use of a proper phone greeting impacts your bottom line!