Virtual receptionists and other answering services can be a huge benefit to your business, especially in the early days of growing a small business, if you choose the right service. The main thing to look for when choosing a virtual answering service is one that will solve any front-desk phone problems that your business is currently experiencing.
Where a lot of small businesses go wrong is that don’t look into whether the virtual answering service can be customised to solve the problems they’re having and meet their needs. Only implement a service if it will solve a problem for you. Otherwise, you’re just going to create more work for yourself or your front desk.
If you’re thinking about using the services of a virtual receptionist for your business, here are five good reasons why should go for it.
Free Up Internal Resources
A lot of small business owners and their small teams of employees have to fulfil a lot of different roles to keep things going, and spending time answering the phones can take a lot of time away from more important business tasks. Outsourcing your calls to a virtual receptionist can take some of the burdens off your staff, freeing them up for their actual jobs, and passes the responsibility of managing calls to an outside agent who has been trained in dealing with customers and proviidng great service.
Improve Customer Experience
If you have a good virtual receptionist, you know that all your calls will be answered in a prompt manner, and handled professionally. Virtual receptionists have been trained to be customer service professionals who will understand how best to represent your business. Your virtual receptionist services could have a very positive impact on your customer’s experiences with your business, improve your reputation, and improve your customer retention rates.
Over After-Hours Support
Who answers the phones when your business closes at the end of the day or over the weekend? If you use a virtual receptionist, your customers will still be able to call and feel as though someone is there to take care of their query. When you reopen again, their messages will be ready and waiting for you. Your virtual receptionist can also answer any frequently asked questions for you, so your customers can have their questions answered without waiting. Offering more hours of customer service is a great way to keep your customers satisfied.
Streamline Appointment Schedules
Setting appointments can be time-consuming and tedious, especially if several different members of staff are doing it in more than one system. Instead, you can hand this task over to a virtual receptionist, they will streamline the whole process and makes sure everyone stays up to date, through shared calendars and automatic notifications. Some will deliver reminders too, to cut down on no-shows.
Appear More Professional
Having a receptionist makes you seem professional. When a receptionist answers the phone, it tells your customer that your business is one with some prestige. This can reinforce the idea that your brand is a professional business with good customer service.
