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The Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Receptionist

Running a business, regardless of the industry can be both rewarding and challenging. Managing your company’s daily operations is a full-time task. Of course, you want the phone to be constantly ringing with business enquiries, but are you well-equipped to handle all the calls and land new business while working on all other tasks on your plate? Chances are you do not. However, there is no need to fret as there is a simple solution. Most business owners nowadays are seeking the help of virtual assistants or receptionists to manage business calls in an efficient manner.

If you are considering a virtual receptionist learn more here.

A virtual receptionist is simply a person does the same tasks of an on-site receptionist but in a different location. They are real and fully trained receptionists, only that they aren’t based on your office. Well, there are various benefits to having a virtual receptionist, which we shall discuss in this post.

 

No Missed Business Opportunities

Perhaps the primary reason to have a virtual receptionist is to make sure that no business call goes unanswered and thus, no missed business opportunity. A missed call or a voicemail that goes unanswered means that you could be missing out on a golden opportunity.

Your phone may go answered, but you can be certain your competitors won’t. Whenever a potential client or partner tries to reach you on your phone and fails to get through, they get an impression that your business isn’t big enough to have the call answered, don’t really care about your customers, it is not properly managed or even organized. All this puts your company in negative light. It is also worth noting that the average consumer will only call a business a maximum of two times before choosing to go to a competitor and one out of five consumers will only contact a company once.

Most companies hire virtual receptionists to handle incoming calls when they’re not opened, which is particularly important if your services are international and some calls may come from other time zones, potentially after your normal business hours.

 

Professional Image

Having your calls answered by a receptionist, whether virtual or not lends a professional image. It shows that your company is well run and it isn’t a one-man show. Using a virtual receptionist ascertains that your calls are answered in a prompt manner, given the fact that consumers don’t like to leave unanswered voicemails or constantly contact a business. As a matter of fact, you will discover that any potential client will have a dislike of having to continuously make calls in order to make a business inquiry. It’s a huge turn off and only makes your company seem unprofessional. As such, it is imperative to ensure you have someone who can handle the calls when you are busy or unavailable.

 

Increase Your Productivity

By using a virtual receptionist or assistant to manage calls and any customer or business inquiries, you can to have some free time. You can then utilize this time to handle other important business aspects like managing accounts, marketing, developing new product or service ideas, implementing new business strategies and even brainstorming. As a business owner, time incredibly valuable and so, you need to make sure that it is used wisely or risk working 60 to 70 hours per week.

You might be surprised by how much time calls and business inquiries can take, trying to figure out what the person at the other end of line really wants. Having to take calls when managing payroll, completing accounts or developing a new idea can really take a toll on your workflow and as a result drag your productivity. As such, it’s only wise to have a virtual receptionist handle the calls, allowing you to have undivided attention on those other important tasks.

 

Excellent Customer Service

When your hire a virtual assistant/receptionist, you will have a well-trained, experienced and in some cases certified customer service representative. That means you can trust them to deliver excellent service to both existing and potential clients. They will take the time to know your business and its culture and ascertain that they can handle queries in the most knowledgeable and professional way possible.

A top-notch customer service can make a world of a difference in your business and you can be certain that all inquiries as well as complaints will be handled in a professional and courteous manner. Even if the person wants to talk to you directly, it is better if there’s a person who can tell them when you’ll be available and even offer to pass on the message, instead of calling you directly, only to find that you are unavailable and prompted to leave a voicemail.

 

Cost Effective

There is no doubt that hiring a full-time in-house receptionist can be costly and not as cost-effective as one might hope, particularly when you’ve just launched the business. The cost if hiring and training a new full-time worker really adds up. However, even though hiring an in-house receptionist isn’t financially viable, at this stage of your business, you do not have to miss out on the benefits of having a receptionist.

You can get a virtual receptionist on an ad hoc basis, where you pay an agreed upon amount for a certain period. If there are some times of the year when calls numbers are especially high or your staff is away on vacation, then using a virtual receptionist can be really cost-effective and flexible for your needs.

Well, as you can see, there are some pretty sweet benefits of having a virtual receptionist which all make your life a little bit easier. Getting a virtual receptionist not only increases your productivity and flexibility, but the image of your company gets to improve as well as customer service, leaving existing clients satisfied and potential customers wanting to do business with you. Even better, you can enjoy all these benefits without spending a fortune. If you are yet to hire one for your company, it is about time you did. Get a slight edge over your competitors by doing so today!

Russ Slater is an expert in business growth and has written for numerous sites on the matter. He is a strong believer in virtual receptionists and this post showcases his reasons why.

 


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