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.
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.