The golden rules
- Four options at most. With more, callers forget the first option before the list ends and have to replay the menu, or they hang up.
- Most chosen option first. Put the question eighty percent of callers have on option 1, not option 4.
- Subject first, then the number: "For opening hours and directions, press 1." Callers who hear the number first have forgotten it by the time they know they need it.
- Always an exit to a human. End with "For all other questions, press 0" or forward after a pause. A menu without an exit feels like a trap.
- One level deep at most. A submenu behind a submenu loses almost everyone.
Example script
“Welcome to [company name]. For opening hours and directions, press 1. For questions about an existing order, press 2. To make an appointment, press 3. For all other questions, press 0 or stay on the line.”
“Welcome to [company name]. You are calling outside our business hours; we are available on weekdays from [time] to [time]. Leave a message with your name and number and we will call you back on the next business day.”
Note that a phone menu technically consists of several separate recordings: the menu itself, the after-hours greeting and usually a queue message. Your phone system plays the right file for each situation.
Once your menu options are written down, have your phone menu recorded along with the other messages. Configure the key destinations in your phone system.
Common mistakes
- "Please listen carefully as our menu has changed". This line costs two seconds and makes nobody listen more carefully.
- Advertising inside the menu. The caller has a question; let them choose first and save promotions for the queue, sparingly.
- Spoken too fast. In a menu the caller is taking mental notes. A calm pace matters even more here than in other messages.
- Options that lead nowhere ("press 4 for administration" when nobody ever picks up there). Every digit needs a proper destination.
Taking it live
Write out your menu, count the separate recordings (menu, closed, voicemail, possibly a queue message) and have them voiced in one session so everything shares the same voice and tone. With us you order them separately or as a package; files arrive in the right format for your phone system, with upload instructions.