This year, a staggering number of companies have moved their employees to full-time remote work in wake of COVID-19. Switching to remote work is a pretty attractive move, but not without its own challenges. You cut down on rent and other in-person costs, but it takes a lot of adjustments.
If you’re a business owner moving to remote work with the rest of the world, ease your burden by hiring a live virtual receptionist. Virtual receptionists are, well, exactly what they sound like! They do the job of a receptionist, but all over the internet.
If you run a small business, a virtual receptionist is essential right now. With an unsteady economy, ensure that your company can give clients that extra degree of personalized attention. You’ll also be able to stay more organized and turn more focus to managerial tasks.
What Does a Live Virtual Receptionist Do?
Though there are many services that offer automatic answering machines, a virtual receptionist is not a robot or piece of software! A virtual receptionist is a person who works through your chosen front desk program to answer calls, set appointments, and organize the office schedule.
Essentially, they do the job of a receptionist, but all over the internet! There are plenty of software programs and online phone lines that you can choose from to act as your “front desk”.
There are many live receptionist answering services, where you pay a fee to have a team of virtual receptionists at your disposal. You can guarantee round-the-clock receptionist service, giving your clients steady communication even when you’re not available!
The Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Receptionist
Many companies have already broached into the world of virtual receptionists. You don’t want to be left behind!
A virtual receptionist is a state-of-the-art way to make your business run better. They are also essential for small businesses that may not have much manpower. You won’t have to allocate valuable human resources to the simple act of answering calls.
Having virtual receptionists at your disposal will make your business run more smoothly and help energize your existing employees. Outsourcing customer service allows you to focus on the rest of your business.
1. Extra Customer Attention
Did you know that 72-80% of customers will hang up if their call goes straight to voicemail? However, less than 1% of callers will hang up on a live person!
Having a live receptionist shows your callers that you care about their experience with your company. From the get-go, they’ll be shown personalized attention. Having a pleasant interaction with your live receptionist will make customers far more willing to return.
You can also give your receptionists a guide on how to talk to customers. If you pride yourself on running your business like a family, your receptionists can be friendly and affectionate. If you want it to be purely professional, just let them know!
2. Free up Your Other Employees
Your employees are likely already spread pretty thin. Customer service and call allocation may be outside of their job description – and that’s okay!
Having a live virtual receptionist service takes the burden of customer service off of your existing employees. With more time and fewer responsibility, your workers can really focus in on what you hired them for. This will boost productivity on the whole and your company will benefit from it.
3. Screen the Spam
In the age of non-stop robocalls, filtering out the spam is a full-time job. So hire people who will do it full time! Your time is too valuable to spend it discerning between robocalls and the real thing.
Many virtual receptionist services can automatically filter out spam calls before they even reach a human being. This feature is a godsend. Your business won’t be distracted by a high volume of non-productive calls.
4. Extra Availability
Even if you have limited business hours for yourself, your live receptionists can work when you can’t.
Having a human answer the phone and take down a message, rather than a robotic voicemail, takes your customer service a notch above. You can also train your receptionists to ask important questions relevant to the call, to prevent repetitive conversations later on.
5. Outsource Your Scheduling
No wonder planners are such a hot sell these days: keeping track of meetings and appointments is exhausting. So outsource it!
Your virtual receptionists will be trained in schedule integration and will consider your preferences. You’ll receive great customer service from those you pay to do customer service.
Make the Transition to Remote Work Easier Than Ever
Let’s be honest: you’ve got enough on your plate right now. It’s a difficult time to be a business owner, and you want to make sure you rise above the competition. Don’t give in to the pressure!
A live virtual receptionist is invaluable to small businesses in a state of flux. Bringing on a receptionist to take some responsibility off your shoulders will smooth the transition to full-time remote work. Even if you’re staying in-office, a virtual receptionist service will give you more time to focus on what really matters.
Check through our website for pricing and other similar services. Look through what we offer and decide if a virtual receptionist service is right for you!