When a potential customer calls your business, usually the first impression they get of your company is the voice of your auto attendant.

What's an auto attendant? An auto attendant is a voice recording that thanks your callers for making the decision to call your business and sets them at ease, making them comfortable with your company and what you can do for them as your customers.

The auto attendant often leads in to the IVR (Interactive Voice Response), a menu that gives the caller options, like press 1 for customer service, press 2 for sales, etc.

It's important to select a voice that best reflects your company's image, market, and customers.

When picking a voice for any purpose, you'll need to clearly identify your market and define the characteristics of your customer base in order to find the ideal talent to serve them.

Here are some simple questions you can ask yourself:

Does this voice compliment the demographics of my target market?
Can my customers relate to this voice?
Are they persuasive and genuinely convincing?

For example, if you were in the business of selling pizzas to college students, your auto attendant voice-over would need to reflect your target market.

A pizzeria that serves the college / university student market may sound like this:

Voice Requirements:

Age range: 17 - 23
Voice Type: Young adult
Characteristics: Friendly, approachable, trendy, go-getter

Script:

"Hi there, and thank you for calling Varsity Pizza and Calzones, the pizza joint that never sleeps, satisfying your cravings 24/7!"

Usually, the same voice that is hired to perform the auto attendant records your entire phone system. The auto attendant voice is likely the first impression a customer is given of your company, and consistency may be key when trying to retain them on-hold, particularly if the first voice representative (your auto attendant voice talent) really struck a chord with them.

The selected voice-over talent will assume the role of an audio companion that keeps your customers interested, and most importantly, on the line.

Finding the voice of your organization is as easy as posting a job or searching through the Telephone Voices at InteractiveVoices, the voice-over marketplace.

Shortly, we'll look at the IVR voice-over and on-hold messaging - don't forget voice mail!

Cheers,

David