Writing the first ten seconds
Your greeting is the single most-repeated sentence your business has — said more times in a month than anything on your website is read. Most are written once, in a hurry, and never looked at again, which is a strange thing to do with your most-used piece of copy.
What has to be in it
Said clearly, first. Callers with three tabs open genuinely need to be told who picked up.
Plainly, in the opening seconds. Discovering it three sentences in is what makes people feel tricked.
Before they have said anything they would not have said knowingly.
People hesitate when they are not sure whether it is their turn. "How can I help?" ends that instantly.
Getting the disclosures in without sounding legal
The instinct is to bolt on a paragraph of terms, which makes a thirty-second call feel like a bank. Both disclosures fit comfortably in one natural sentence, and the point is to be understood rather than to be thorough — a greeting nobody listens to has technically disclosed nothing at all.
What to leave out
Your opening hours, which they can ask for. Your website address, which they are not writing down. A promotion, which is advertising at somebody who already chose to ring you. Anything that delays the moment they get to say what they want is working against you, and every word before that moment is charged to your patience budget.
Match how you actually answer
If your shop answers with "morning, Clarke’s", do not write "thank you for calling Clarke and Sons Limited". The greeting sets the register for everything that follows, and the mismatch between a formal opening and a normal conversation is more noticeable than either would be alone. Write it the way you would say it, then read it aloud once — you will cut something.
Frequently asked
Your business name first, that this is an automated assistant, that the call is recorded, and an invitation to speak — in about ten seconds.
Yes, and early. Discovering it three sentences in is what makes callers feel tricked; said plainly at the start it is a non-event.
Both fit in one natural sentence. The aim is to be understood, not thorough — a greeting nobody listens to has disclosed nothing.
Opening hours, your website address and promotions. Anything delaying the moment they say what they want is charged to your caller’s patience.
As formal as you actually are. Write it the way you would say it, then read it aloud once — you will cut something.