Starting a business comes with a lot of responsibilities; from managing staff, to ensuring that your customers are satisfied with your services- it can become overwhelming. In a competitive world, you’re going to need every bit of help you can get.

Hiring employees is time consuming, expensive and can prove to be inefficient. What if we told you that there was a way for you to cut down on cost, increase customer satisfaction and increase productivity? This can all become a reality with the help of a virtual receptionist.

What is a Virtual Receptionist?

Setting up a virtual receptionist is the key for all small businesses. A virtual receptionist is able to perform administrative work, recurring tasks and other tasks to help you stay organized. With the help of a virtual receptionist, you will be able to offer personalized customer support to your callers as you focus on other high value tasks. With no need for training or additional in-house employees, you can now give your customers a way of getting in touch with you, answer their questions and ensure that no leads are missed.

Outside of administrative duties, a virtual receptionist can also help with account and social media management. With every business being different, your virtual receptionist is trained to accommodate your everyday business needs. With a flexible work schedule, you can choose to set up full-time or part-time hours for your virtual receptionist ranging from a few hours throughout the week to a full 7 day schedule.

Traditional Receptionist vs Virtual Receptionist

A virtual receptionist is a time-saving and cost effective alternative to an in-house receptionist, as they work remotely and are able to handle a wide range of tasks. Nowadays, businesses don’t require receptionists to be greeters, but rather someone who is organized and able to manage a wide range of tasks while offering outstanding customer service through different means of communication.

5 Benefits of a Virtual Receptionist

1. High Value Tasks

As an entrepreneur, performing repetitive tasks doesn’t give you a lot of time to get important things of value done. A virtual receptionist will be able to take care of these time consuming tasks while you focus on high value tasks and making your sales.

2. There’s No Need for Automated Message Systems

A way to expedite customer satisfaction and brand recognition is by offering exceptional customer service. With a virtual receptionist, you can say “bye bye”  to automated messaging systems as your customers will now have access to 24/7 live customer support.

3. No Training Required

Hiring and onboarding of new employees is time consuming and expensive. You’ll have to post job openings on multiple media channels, conduct interviews and train. Should an onboarding employee decide to quit, you’ll have to start the tiring process all over again. Hiring a phone answering service is a lot easier than doing the process on your own. All you need to do is find the right company and they’ll do the rest for you. Should you have a virtual receptionist who quits, the phone answering company will have another receptionist to take their place with no involvement on your part.

4. They Have More Availability

There is nothing more overwhelming than coming into the office in the morning to a mountain of unread emails that need to be tended to. This can be time consuming and an all around stressful way to start your day. An in-house receptionist would typically work set hours on business days, meaning that nobody would be around to answer the phone outside of business hours. A virtual receptionist provides you with 24/7 coverage so that when you get to the office in the morning, you can easily distinguish between which emails need to be prioritized.

5. Your Callers Will Have More Language Options

Whether you have international customers or not, it always gives a business an extra edge if they have bilingual staff. Unfortunately, finding a traditional receptionist who speaks multiple languages can be difficult and may result in you having to pay them a larger salary. Going through a phone answering service can solve a world of problems. They’ll likely have a wide array of virtual receptionists working for them that will be better suited to help you find several bilingual receptionists to answer phones for you.

Reduce Costs, Grow Revenue and Increase Productivity With a Virtual Receptionist

If you’re thinking of adding flexibility and availability to your business, a virtual receptionist is exactly what you need. They are able to reduce your monthly costs significantly, increase customer satisfaction and increase the overall productivity of your business. Take your business to the next level with a virtual receptionist today.