For many businesses the customer service department is the front line. It is the first point of contact for customers and it plays an important role in the face of the company.
First impressions count of course and your company needs to demonstrate professionalism at all times.
However, a dedicated customer service department or even a full-time receptionist can be beyond the scope of a small business.
This is where the services of a virtual receptionist can be incredibly beneficial.
What follows are 5 of the main advantages any business can expect after utilizing a virtual receptionist.
Table of Contents
1. Provides a Professional Image
When calls are answered promptly and courteously, it gives your customers a good impression of whom they are dealing with.
The virtual receptionist will learn important information about your company so that they can answer your calls professionally.
They will also be able to deal with basic inquiries and where appropriate take a message and/or relay the call to relevant personnel within your business.
Look out for virtual receptionist providers that are ISO 9001 accreditation. This will ensure you are receiving the top-quality service your company deserves.
2. Never have a break in service
Even a large company with a standalone customer service department may experience breaks in service due to staff holidays, lunch breaks, etc.
This issue is further compounded for smaller businesses that have just one receptionist. Out of office hours or during breaks there is no one on the front desk manning the phones.
A virtual receptionist solves all of this.
Your phone lines will always be answered during the hours of operation that you specify with the VR service.
A reliable virtual receptionist service works 24/7 and will always be online to answer your calls.
- Related Content: 7 Things to Consider Before Choosing a Virtual Phone System
3. Saves you time
If you are a small operation or start-up and do not have an onsite receptionist, you will inevitably spend a lot of your time answering and screening calls; some of which will be a complete waste of your valuable time.
With a virtual receptionist, rather than having a smartphone clasped to your ear every 5 minutes, you can have your calls taken for you.
Throughout the day, you can receive notices with messages informing you of the calls that have been received so you can act accordingly.
Important calls can be arranged so that they are passed through to you too.
Other calls can be passed to the appropriate people within your business, without you needing to be disrupted.
4. Consistent high-quality Customer Service
Using a trained virtual receptionist will mean your customer’s calls are answered by a knowledgeable and polite person whose role is all about taking calls.
This is not necessarily the case if your customer’s calls are being received by whichever of your employees happens to answer the phone first, (a busy accountant for instance might be less than enthusiastic to help with a general enquiry while they are in the middle of something important – it is not their job after all).
The virtual receptionist will be trained and briefed on how you want calls to be answered.
This means your customers will enjoy a seamless customer service experience for as long as the VR service is in place.
5. Saves you money
Finally, there is the important issue of money.
Utilizing the services of a virtual receptionist provider is a lot more affordable than employing a full-time staff member to answer the phones.
Paying for vacations, sick days and other payroll overheads become a thing of the past.
Furthermore, that money can be used to finance other ventures that might further expand or improve your business.
Even during very busy periods, the receptionist service you use should be able to meet the demand in a consistently professional manner.
A lone in-house receptionist could never hope to be as efficient on their own.
With a VR missed calls or callers being placed on hold should never happen again.
- Related content: LiveChat Review – AI-based customer support in 2021
Wrapping up
No matter the size of your business, virtual receptionist services will definitely bring you benefits.
If you are interested in having a free month trial with a virtual receptionist service provider, we recommend Conversational.com.
In our opinion (you can read the full review here), they are currently the best service on the market today.
