Your business is booming; that’s great! And while that’s definitely cause for celebration, you might be a bit worried. You know that a thriving business means more phone calls from established and potential new clients— are you ready for that?
You’re considering hiring virtual receptionists to handle the increased call volume to your office. There are numerous benefits to having virtual receptionists answer calls from clients, no matter which industry you work in. Perhaps most importantly, callers get to speak with a real person and not an automated system when they call.
This matters because 90% of your callers want to speak to a person when they call your business; they want to feel that their needs and concerns are going to be addressed with respect and expediency, whether they are making an appointment, asking a question about a product or service that you offer, or calling to resolve a problem.
Table of Contents
How can a virtual receptionist help callers?
Virtual receptionists can be a valuable asset to your team. They are trained before taking their first call; you’ll be working with professional individuals who are additional ambassadors for your business, additional invested staff who can help your clients. With access to your scheduling system, they can easily set up appointments for clients to come see you or other members of your staff.
Virtual receptionists are trained in your company’s history, policies and procedures, frequently asked questions, how to upsell your products or services, and in any specific do’s and don’ts that you may want followed when they speak with your callers. For example, if you own a law practice, you might instruct that they not give legal advice over the phone. If you are a contractor, you might not want them to attempt to offer estimated amounts for homeowners’ new siding or roofing projects.
How can a virtual receptionist help you?
An expanded business means that your time is going to be even more valuable (and scarce). Did you know that the average business call lasts 4 minutes and 52 seconds? While 5 minutes here or there might not seem like a lot of time, it’s going to add up over the course of a day and week.
If you delegate answering the phones to virtual receptionists, you and your other staff will be able to spend more time providing excellent face-to-face service to clients (which is what led to your booming business in the first place)!
Don’t forget about your own meetings and appointments!
In addition to an influx of calls, if your company is busier than usual, it’s also likely that you are going to have an increase in the number of meetings and appointments that you’ll need to attend. Whether they are in your office, across town, or on the other side of the country, you’ll want to make sure that you’re able to meet with prospective clients, vendors, and other colleagues in your industry.
These meetings provide opportunities to convert potential clients into actual clients, to meet directly with representatives from companies whose products and services you use, and to meet with others in your industry so that you can learn more about what other companies are creating, making, building, and doing, and share your own success stories. In short, meetings and appointments allow you to network and to continue to expand and grow your business.
Virtual receptionists are able to schedule appointments for people who are calling to meet with you. They can just as easily schedule appointments and meetings so that you can meet with others, whether that means attending a meeting with one client, a couple of colleagues across town, or attending your industry’s national convention with several hundred or thousand other business owners.
Your virtual receptionists need to have access to your scheduling system so that they can put meetings on your calendar, and you need to make sure that they know:
- Any previously scheduled meetings that you arranged yourself
- When you aren’t available to meet
- Contact information for individuals whom you would like to schedule meetings with
With that information, they’ll be good to go! Let your receptionists take care of the scheduling, so you can focus on the networking.
To learn more about how Reliable Receptionist can help you with your busy schedule call us at (925) 627-4200 or click here to contact us today.
