Phone Etiquette

Is it possible to have a bit more personality on your answering machine, especially if you are a business? Boy, I sure would like to use the services of John Q. Businessowner, cuz his answering service is so lively and professional. How many calls have I made where the message states, "We are not currently available @ this time..." I think currently will suffice. You can't speak proper English, so I am going to trust you to take care of my rain gutters? How about this? Get someone to answer your phone that has some support in their diaphragm. It would be nice to hear them speak, then you can confirm you have called the correct location. Or why not hire someone that can take messages faster than your overweight, arthritic pet tortoise? How about someone that seems excited, or happy to accept possible calls for future business? Hmm? My personal favorite is the folks that clearly don't know why I am calling, so for all they know I could be a multi millionaire, looking for their particular service. So when they take down my #, which the norm is to say, "yes" after each section of the digits, it would be nice if they would actually do it. So many times they are not writing down the # and I ask them to repeat it back. 9 out of 10 times, they either hang up after I ask them to confirm the #, or they repeat some gibberish that is not even close the phone # I provided. At least lie better when you are not writing the # down. So many failing small businesses in this country. Let's blame the economy, the government. God forbid we should blame ourselves for hiring some nitwit that cannot even get a phone # right. "Why is our business doing so poorly? Do we ever get phone calls from potential customers?" Yes, you do, but if the message never gets past the dim reception desk, you can kiss your receivables goodbye.