Voicemail greeting scripts for contractors

A homeowner has a damp patch spreading across the bedroom ceiling and three roofers' numbers from a search. The first call goes to the network's standard message, a recorded voice reading out the number digit by digit. She can't tell whether she reached a roofer or a wrong number, so she hangs up. The second plays "leave a message after the tone" and nothing else. The third says the firm's name, says the roofer is up on a job until four, and promises a call back before six. That is the one she leaves a message for.

A voicemail greeting takes ten minutes to record and runs for years. Below are eight scripts for the situations a trade business runs into every year. After them come the mistakes that make callers hang up, and what to put behind the greeting for the callers who won't leave a message whatever it says.

What a caller needs to hear in the first seconds

A caller who reaches voicemail decides quickly whether to stay. Four things keep them on the line:

Who they reached. The business name first, and your own name if you work alone. That tells them they dialled the right number.
Why nobody answered. "We're out on a job" is a reason a customer accepts. It also tells them the call reached a working business. Skip "your call is important to us", which every bank says and nobody believes.
What to leave. Name, number, the address or postcode and a line on the job, in that order. The number goes near the front because you can't return a call without it.
When they'll hear back. A time, such as "before 6 today" or "tomorrow from 7.30". "As soon as possible" tells the caller nothing.

Put them in that order and stop. Time the greeting when you record it. If it runs past 30 seconds, cut something.

Eight voicemail greeting scripts

Replace everything in square brackets. Read each script aloud once before you record it, and change any word you wouldn't say on a job.

1. On a job site, during working hours

Hello, you've reached [Business name]. We're out on a job and can't get to the phone. Leave your name, your number, the address and a few words about the job, and we'll call you back by [time] today.

This is the one most firms need most of the time. If you check messages at lunch and at the end of the day, make the time you promise the later of the two.

2. After hours

Hello, this is [Business name]. The office is closed for the evening. Leave your name, number and what you need, and we'll call you back tomorrow from [time]. If it's an emergency, ring [emergency number].

Leave out the last sentence if you don't offer emergency call-outs. A caller with water coming through the ceiling is better off ringing someone else straight away than waiting for your morning.

3. Weekend

Hello, you've reached [Business name]. We're closed until Monday morning. Leave your name, number and the address, and we'll ring you back on Monday by [time].

Weekend messages pile up, so promise a Monday time you can keep with all of them in front of you.

4. Holiday closure

Hello, this is [Business name]. We're closed from [date] and back on [date]. Leave your name, number and what the job is, and we'll call you back in the first [two days] after we reopen. For emergencies while we're away, ring [number or firm you cover with].

Record this one before you leave, and put a reminder in your phone to switch the normal greeting back on the morning you return. A Christmas greeting playing in February tells callers the firm doesn't check its phone. For the email auto-reply, website banner and Google holiday hours that go with it, see the Christmas closure message templates.

5. Emergency or call-out line

You've reached the [Business name] call-out line. If you smell gas, hang up, leave the building and call [gas emergency number]. For [burst pipes, no heating or no power], leave your name, the address and a number we can reach you on, and the engineer on call will ring you back within [time].

In Great Britain the gas emergency number is 0800 111 999. In the US, gas utilities tell customers to leave the building and call 911 or the utility from outside. Use the number for your area. If someone is on call, forward the call-out line to their mobile so the call never reaches voicemail. A customer with no heat at 11 at night wants to talk to a person.

6. When the mailbox is full or you don't take messages

Hello, this is [Business name]. We don't take voice messages on this number. We'll text you in the next few minutes so you can tell us what you need. If you're calling from a landline, ring back after [time] or email [address].

Some systems call this an announcement-only greeting. It plays and ends the call without recording. It beats a mailbox that says "this mailbox is full", which sounds like a firm that stopped listening. Only use the wording above if a missed call text back is actually set up and working, and test it from your own mobile first.

7. New business

Hello, you've reached [Business name], [trade] in [area]. I'm [Name], and I'm on a job right now. Leave your name, your number and what you need, and I'll call you back today by [time].

A new firm has few reviews for a caller to check, so the greeting is part of the first impression. Your own name and your own voice do more here than a polished recording would.

8. When your mobile is the business line

Hi, this is [Name] from [Business name]. I'm working and can't answer. Leave your name and number and what the job is, and I'll call you back after [time].

If you run the business from your personal mobile, friends and family hear this greeting too, so keep it neutral. And check that your network's voicemail is switched on. If it's off, a missed call rings out and the caller has nowhere to leave a word.

Mistakes that make callers hang up

The network's default greeting. A recorded voice reading your number back gives the caller no reason to believe they reached a business. Replace it before anything else on this list.

Hours or names that are out of date. A greeting that names an office assistant who left last year, or opening hours you changed in spring, tells the caller nobody has listened to it in a long time.

A long list before the tone. The services you offer, or the website address spelled out letter by letter. The caller wanted to describe a leak. Every extra sentence is a moment for them to hang up and dial the next firm.

A mailbox that fills up. If the box is full, the caller hears an error and the message is never left. Clear it at the end of every day, or switch to the announcement-only greeting in script 6.

A promise you won't keep. "We'll call you back within the hour" sounds good until a day in a loft with no signal. A missed promise does more damage than a modest one you keep.

Background noise. Record in a quiet room with the phone close to your mouth, not in the van with the engine running. Then ring your own number from another phone and listen to it the way a customer does.

Why many callers hang up instead of leaving a message

A good greeting gets more of the callers who are willing to leave a message. It does little for the ones who aren't. Someone with a leaking tap and a list of five firms has no reason to wait for a tone and talk to a machine when the next number is one tap away. Some people never leave voicemail for anyone.

You can see how many of your own callers do this. The one-week missed-call audit has you count the missed calls, then the messages, and the gap between the two is the number of callers who moved on without a word. Do that before you spend money on anything below.

Then work on what happens around the greeting:

Keep the call-back promise. Pick two fixed times a day to check messages and ring back, and make the greeting promise the later one. A caller who leaves a message and hears nothing has no reason to try you again.
Text the callers who hang up. A missed call text back sends the caller a text when nobody answers, so it reaches them whether they left a message or not. It needs a caller who rang from a mobile and didn't withhold their number.
Send the call somewhere before voicemail. Conditional call forwarding moves an unanswered call on after a set number of rings, to a colleague, the office or a service. Voicemail then catches only what is left.
Let someone answer. When missed calls run into double figures a week, a person or software that picks up beats any recording. AI receptionist vs answering service compares the two, including how each is billed.

If you take bookings online, one line in the greeting, "You can also book a visit on our website", gives the caller who hates voicemail somewhere to go. The guide to online booking for tradespeople covers setting that up.

When the greeting is the problem

A voicemail greeting asks the caller to wait. Our AI receptionist answers the call instead. It picks up when your team can't, tells the caller from the first sentence that they are talking to an AI, takes the name, address, callback number and what the job is, and books a slot in your calendar if you want it to. The caller gets a text confirming the appointment, and you get a written summary of the call. The calculator puts a figure on what your missed calls cost, using your own numbers.

The roofer who got that job never heard the other two greetings. His told the homeowner who he was and when he would ring, and he rang at half past five.

Frequently asked questions

What should a business voicemail greeting say?

Your business name, why you can't answer, what the caller should leave and when you will call back. Ask for name, number, address and a few words on the job, in that order. Give a real time for the call back, such as "before 6 today", and keep it.

How long should a voicemail greeting be for a small business?

Short enough that the caller doesn't hang up before the tone. Time it when you record it, and if it runs past 30 seconds, cut the website address and the list of services first. The four things the caller needs fit in four sentences.

Should I record the voicemail greeting myself?

For an owner-run trade firm, yes. Your own voice tells the caller they will speak to the person who does the work. Record in a quiet room, read from the script, and listen to it by ringing your own number from another phone. A paid voice-over makes more sense for a firm with an office team and several lines.

What should an emergency call-out voicemail say?

First, tell anyone who smells gas to leave the building and call the gas emergency number for your area. Then ask for name, address and a number, and say when the engineer on call will ring back. If someone is on call, forward the line to their mobile so a person answers before voicemail does.

Do I need a different greeting for evenings and holidays?

Yes. An evening caller who hears "we'll call you back today" knows the greeting is wrong. Most phone systems let you set a separate out-of-hours greeting that switches on at a set time. Record the holiday greeting before you close and set a reminder to switch it off the day you reopen.