You should not rely on voicemail as your main way of catching calls, because most people with an urgent job hang up and ring the next number rather than leave a message. Voicemail catches the patient, non-urgent callers and loses the urgent, best-paid ones, which for a trade is the wrong half. If you do use voicemail, keep the greeting short, say when you will call back, and offer a text as an alternative, because people will text who would never leave a message. Better still, have something that actually answers.
Voicemail feels like a safety net, and it is better than a phone that just rings out. But as your main plan for catching calls, it quietly loses you the work you most want.
Why voicemail loses the good calls
Think about who leaves a voicemail. It is the patient caller with a non-urgent job, who does not mind waiting for a callback. Now think about who does not: the person with a burst pipe, a lockout, or no heat, the urgent, high-value emergency. They hear "please leave a message," hang up, and ring the next number, because they need it sorted now, not after your callback. So voicemail systematically filters out the best jobs and keeps the ones that could have waited. It is the same reason a call divert to your mobile does not fix missed calls: neither one actually answers.
If you do use voicemail, make the greeting work
Voicemail still has a place as a backstop for the calls nothing else catches. If you use it, a good greeting does three things:
1. Keeps it short. Nobody listens to a 30-second speech. Name, business, one line. 2. Sets a callback expectation. "I'm on a job, I'll call you back today" is far better than silence, because it tells the caller it is worth waiting. 3. Offers a text. "Or text me what you need and I'll come straight back to you." Plenty of people will text who would never leave a voicemail, and a missed-call text-back automates exactly this.
A workable greeting: "Hi, you've reached [name] at [business]. I'm on a job right now but I'll call you back today. Or text me what you need and I'll get straight back to you."
The better answer
Honestly, the best fix is not a better voicemail, it is not needing one, because something answers every call in the first place. That is what an always-on front desk does: it picks up, qualifies and books, so the urgent callers who would have hung up on voicemail actually get dealt with.
Frequently asked questions
Not as the main plan. Most urgent callers hang up rather than leave a message, so you lose the best jobs. Use it as a backstop, not a strategy.
Keep it short: your name and business, that you will call back today, and an offer to text you instead.
Something that actually answers, so urgent callers are dealt with instead of hanging up. See what a missed call costs.
Want the calls answered, not sent to voicemail? Talk to Daisy.
Hear Daisy answer a call.
The AI front desk that answers every call, qualifies the job and books it while you stay on the tools. Try to catch her out.