Your time as a professional is a commodity, and there are times when you cannot be by the phone. Reception services are crucial, yet many entrepreneurs find that their office is not large enough to require an on-staff receptionist, or they do not have the funds to hire a full-time employee just to answer the phone. Others find that their in-house staff can better focus on their work when they don’t have to field calls. These are times when it’s smart to hire a live virtual receptionist. Business answering services provide off-site, professional receptionists to connect callers to your office (or to your cell phone, if you prefer). Virtual receptionists can screen calls, take messages, and provide callers with helpful information, such as directions to your location–and all without any indication that your receptionist is off-site. Clearly, live call answering services are convenient–but even more important, they are smart for your bottom line as well. Hiring a live virtual receptionist can grow your business in several ways, as this article entails. Overall, the best thing about enlisting a live call answering service is that you will never miss a call from a prospective client.
Offer Your Clients a Personal Customer Service Experience
A virtual answering service is nothing like an automated phone system. With a live virtual receptionist, your clients will never have to punch in responses via a touch-tone phone–they’ll speak to a polite, professional human being every time they call your number. That’s good news for your business, since up to 60% of customers who reach an automated system become frustrated and hang up without leaving a message. In other words, automated PBX answering systems mean missed business opportunities. Live business answering services guarantee that every potential lead will speak with a real person, not a machine.
A virtual receptionist is an articulate individual who is fully trained to answer your company’s phone calls. When a client calls your place of business, the call is routed to the desk of the virtual receptionist, who will answer as if she was in the office herself. The live virtual receptionist screens the call and checks if you are available to accept it. If so, the virtual receptionist transfers the call to you. If you are not available, the receptionist can take a manual message or transfer the caller to voicemail, whichever you prefer. Some virtual business answering services even offer the option to have messages sent as emails or text messages.
Accept Phone Calls Anywhere
Once you step out, your clients may not be able cannot reach you. A remote receptionist, however, can transfer calls to any phone number you wish. As a result, you are not confined to the walls of your office when you have errands to run or need a break from the normal 9-to-5 routine. Entrepreneurs with live virtual reception services can be more dynamic and flexible with their time because they don’t have to worry about missed calls. Professional virtual answering service can transfer phone calls to your cell phone, home phone or any other number, so clients can easily get a hold of you.
Help Your Employees Focus and Work Efficiently
Answering the phone is a crucial part of doing business, but it’s often not the best use of your employees’ time. Administrative tasks such as answering the phone can seem mundane, especially when employees are on deadline with important projects. Rather than getting entangled in lengthy conversations, your employees would rather focus on doing their own work well. This is an especially popular reason for small and solo law firms to hire virtual receptionists–because they don’t have to pay a paralegal’s rate for phone answering services. Because virtual receptionists screen the phone calls coming into your office and can offer messages on behalf of your employees, your employees only have to deal with phone calls that are truly important and worth their while. Furthermore, top-notch virtual receptionists can also answer your clients’ frequently asked questions–such as where to park, if you offer free consultations, etc.–so that your employees can keep working. Virtual reception services grow your business by allowing your staff to focus on your core business offerings.
Save Money
When you hire a receptionist to answer phones in-house, that is another employee for whom you have to pay workers’ compensation insurance and possibly benefits, in addition to other overhead costs. Another problem with hiring an employee to answer the phones is that they can unexpectedly call-out sick or miss work for a variety of other reasons.
On the other hand, when you hire a virtual answering service, you are working with a team that will always be available for you. Live virtual receptionists are available during all office hours, so you don’t have to worry about missing a call during a lunch break. Finally, because live virtual receptionists are available through an agency, you do not have to worry about making any changes to your payroll status, insurance policies or buying new office equipment. You can put the cost savings towards marketing or other professional services.
When you always want to be there for your clients, hiring a virtual receptionist makes sense. These professionals can help deliver the personal approach your customers seek, and provide you with peace of mind and free time to focus on what matters most to you.