5 Tips for Taking the Best Messages

At Image24, providing a personal virtual receptionist for your business is just the beginning of our comprehensive call centre services. There will be occasions when speaking to a representative isn’t enough, and sending a message along to you immediately is vital.

With Image24, you can be sure that each call will be handled with professionalism and care, and this includes taking a detailed message that can be sent to you via email, text, voice, or any other method of your choice. Whether you are away on vacation or out at a meeting, Image24 can handle all of your calls and make sure you get the most important information without wasting time. Here are our tips for taking best messages that we’ve learned over the years.

Get a timestamp

Whether you need a point of reference, a method of remembering the call, or simply doing it to categorize and track when you speak with clients, knowing the time and day of the call is essential. It will help the person you are sending it to because they will reference it to the client when they speak. If the business owner is away on vacation, chances are that they will have a great deal of messages waiting for them upon return. Knowing the time and day will help them prioritize.

Note the essential contacts

It should go without saying that you want the basic information about the person who is calling, but you should get more than just a first and last name. Also note their company name, telephone number, email address, and anything else you think might be important. For example, if you are a local business, note if they are out of town.

Subject, please

Ever notice how written communication always has a subject? Books have titles and genres, emails have subject lines, etc. Your message should have a quick snippet so that the message receiver knows what they are getting into. It might help spark a memory of a past conversation or help them put the message in perspective. A simple subject at the top could be “Mr. Johnson’s home loan situation.” A few relevant words can do a great deal of good.

Note the urgency

Is this a message that can sit here on the desk until the owner returns from vacation, or is it something that they need to be woken out of bed for? Noting how urgent the message is will not only help the company categorize messages and serve the customer better, it will help the message receiver know what their options are.

I’ll repeat

Once you have taken the message, repeat the details back to the caller and assure that they are correct. Check any spellings that you aren’t sure about, and make sure that the numbers and address are correct. Small mistakes can cause big problems.

When it comes to taking messages the most important things to remember are to be professional, courteous and understanding. Our agents at Image24 know a thing or two about high-quality call centre services, so their tips for taking great messages should be taken to heart. A call answering service is a great thing to have when you want to take time off or prioritize clients without having to get on the phone. We’ll get all of the necessary information and pass it along to you immediately.