Taking a Vacation. Any suggestions for a Voicemail Away Message?
Papa John
Lifetime Supportive Member
this is the main draw back to being an O/O. ----when You stop-- the money stops...
Lie and tell them you are taking extensive training classes and when you return you will be total awesome and well worth the wait.... Maybe leave a special Promotion Code on VM that entitles them to a discount for waiting for return which must be used within 4 weeks of your return...
To Become Awesome-- watch some of Mark Saigers videos on YouTube while on vacation and do your best to emulate him when you return...
Lie and tell them you are taking extensive training classes and when you return you will be total awesome and well worth the wait.... Maybe leave a special Promotion Code on VM that entitles them to a discount for waiting for return which must be used within 4 weeks of your return...
To Become Awesome-- watch some of Mark Saigers videos on YouTube while on vacation and do your best to emulate him when you return...
What Mark Saiger does is "work" Don't think I really can work that hard anymore...LOLthis is the main draw back to being an O/O. ----when You stop-- the money stops...
Lie and tell them you are taking extensive training classes and when you return you will be total awesome and well worth the wait.... Maybe leave a special Promotion Code on VM that entitles them to a discount for waiting for return which must be used within 4 weeks of your return...
To Become Awesome-- watch some of Mark Saigers videos on YouTube while on vacation and do your best to emulate him when you return...
Tired of lying...I think people understand you need a vacation, and good people will wait for the "King" ...LOL
Russ T.
Supportive Member
Just be honest and have fun with it. Your customers will be there when you get back.
We're about to leave for 10-11 days and YES it's expensive. The opportunity cost of me missing 8 full days of work is sizable.
But you just have to be able to leave sometimes. ESPECIALLY as an owner/operator.
Have a great time and SLAY IT when you get back!
We're about to leave for 10-11 days and YES it's expensive. The opportunity cost of me missing 8 full days of work is sizable.
But you just have to be able to leave sometimes. ESPECIALLY as an owner/operator.
Have a great time and SLAY IT when you get back!
Russ T.
Supportive Member
I like to try to get them to shoot us an email, with our voicemail message. It's easier for us to deal with emails at the end of a vacation day.
Mikey P
Administrator
Hi, this is.... With...
thanks for calling, we are closed between such and such dates for business. Please leave a detailed message and some one will get back to you _____ when we check our messages.
You can visit our website at _____ for more information and to contact us by email
Talk to you soon!
Have a great day
thanks for calling, we are closed between such and such dates for business. Please leave a detailed message and some one will get back to you _____ when we check our messages.
You can visit our website at _____ for more information and to contact us by email
Talk to you soon!
Have a great day
F
FB7777
Guest
Copy what Mike posted
I'm more interested in hearing about your vacation plans... longest time I've been away in 28 year in biz is 12 days when we travel to the Acores.
Have an awesome time!
I'm more interested in hearing about your vacation plans... longest time I've been away in 28 year in biz is 12 days when we travel to the Acores.
Have an awesome time!
Mark Saiger
Mr Happy!
Don't know if you might have a friend that could answer the phone also while away or family member.
We are lucky enough that we can hire our daughter (s) if needed to take calls and even schedule into Google Calendar while away... We could actually even answer for our 2 brothers business if they needed...
Simple phone script for them if you want them to actually book some appointments... Or even just a person answering vs message is sometimes nice and will keep some people interested until you return.
Or even if the person answering can take detailed message for you and let them know you will not be available until a certain day or time to return messages....
But... I totally understand if you have no one and as Mikey mentioned... His simple and short message will let the really interested leave a message.
And have some fun on your trip!
We are lucky enough that we can hire our daughter (s) if needed to take calls and even schedule into Google Calendar while away... We could actually even answer for our 2 brothers business if they needed...
Simple phone script for them if you want them to actually book some appointments... Or even just a person answering vs message is sometimes nice and will keep some people interested until you return.
Or even if the person answering can take detailed message for you and let them know you will not be available until a certain day or time to return messages....
But... I totally understand if you have no one and as Mikey mentioned... His simple and short message will let the really interested leave a message.
And have some fun on your trip!
Kevin De Medeiros
Member
I would get someone to answer ur phone and let the client know you are booking three weeks out at the moment without telling them you are on vacation. Will make u seem like ur swamped and in demand , and you might have some of those people book if they really want your service.
Cleanworks
Moderator
I usually don't go away for more than 5 days at a time. My trip down to Vegas was my first vacation in a couple of years. I do take lots of long weekends and go fishing or camping. I let my customers know what I am doing and if I am in cell phone range, I check messages once a day and return the most important calls. These days I have cell phone service everywhere except in the bush.
Old Coastie
Supportive Member
Play this:
Fred I'll be in Phillipines...I was there in 83 and 85 (I was 17 and it was a party zone) when I was in the Navy...Manilla and Iloilo...
TomKing
Supportive Member
Do you have a regular customer that is computer savvy? stay at home mom, retired etc.
Tell them what you need and ask if they might take call for you.
Establish a per call pay rate. Such as
$1 per call answered
$10 per job booked.
Also offer to clean their entire home for free when you return. Make it so they cant say no.
Give them a pricing menu and a paper calendar to refer to. This way if you have technology problem she can still schedule jobs. Have her do a few trial days before you leave so you are available to answer questions. Maybe the week prior to your vacation.
Start a separate cell phone on your plan that they can carry. You can then forward to that phone and not theirs.
They can also turn that phone off at night. Place a message on the phone that Mrs. Jones is taking calls for me.
By having a cell phone that will be returned to you and not theirs you will have a record of every call that came in just incase they do a poor job.
You can then call through the missed calls and check in with clients.
I would ask her to keep a call log of every call that comes in. You can then use this to see if she has missed calls and try to catch any business you might have missed. You also have a record for paying her.
I would have her tell clients this. Mrs Smith we do not have a opening in our schedule until the date you return. Our first opening is this date. Would you like me to get you scheduled?
I would think your regular customers will be happy for you and understand that your new CSR might not be as knowledgeable as you are.
If your lucky you might find someone that can help you out on busy field days.
Enjoy your time off and good luck!
Tell them what you need and ask if they might take call for you.
Establish a per call pay rate. Such as
$1 per call answered
$10 per job booked.
Also offer to clean their entire home for free when you return. Make it so they cant say no.
Give them a pricing menu and a paper calendar to refer to. This way if you have technology problem she can still schedule jobs. Have her do a few trial days before you leave so you are available to answer questions. Maybe the week prior to your vacation.
Start a separate cell phone on your plan that they can carry. You can then forward to that phone and not theirs.
They can also turn that phone off at night. Place a message on the phone that Mrs. Jones is taking calls for me.
By having a cell phone that will be returned to you and not theirs you will have a record of every call that came in just incase they do a poor job.
You can then call through the missed calls and check in with clients.
I would ask her to keep a call log of every call that comes in. You can then use this to see if she has missed calls and try to catch any business you might have missed. You also have a record for paying her.
I would have her tell clients this. Mrs Smith we do not have a opening in our schedule until the date you return. Our first opening is this date. Would you like me to get you scheduled?
I would think your regular customers will be happy for you and understand that your new CSR might not be as knowledgeable as you are.
If your lucky you might find someone that can help you out on busy field days.
Enjoy your time off and good luck!
Old Coastie
Supportive Member
Outstanding, Mr. King.
Lee Stockwell
FOJL
Two weeks in Nicaragua couple of years back, left the biz phone with my daughter and didn't think about it until I got back. Will try to do it for 3 weeks next time to see if the work world ends.
smastio
Member
or you could let them book themselves online. Just a thought!
ruff
Member
Postcards can be powerful:
EdCleaning
Member
If you do a google search for call services, there are many excellent ones out there that will also manage a schedule, take notes and confirm with customers. This is what we use. That way, when we go on vacation, our call service simply tells the callers that we aren't available for cleaning that week. The positive side is that we have really busy weeks when we get back and the customers think we are in high demand (which of course we are!) because our next availability is a week out. We like Ruby's, based in Portland, OR.
