How Do I Set Up A Live Virtual Receptionist For My Business?

Like most businesses, your company is probably starting to be small. This can be counterproductive if you are pitching prospects who want to know that they can trust your product as much as they can trust your brand before they make a deal. If you look thin, it's going to be hard to get potential customers to drink your kool-aid.

One of the best ways for any small business to look large is to have a receptionist answering and screening calls. Think about that. If you call a business and the owner answers the phone, 100 percent of the company has been able to look small. If you call the same company and the receptionist responds to the call screen, that's a big business style. Now most small companies do not have the money to employ a receptionist. It's just not cost effective unless the receptionist wears a few other hats. Lucky for you, virtual receptionists will perform the same roles as in-house receptionists at a more reasonable rate. You look big. You save money. You're winning! Here are 5 tips on how to set up your personal virtual receptionist service to make you look big and responsible.

If they can’t transfer, implement a standard response

If your virtual receptionist is set up to try to move every phone call, it is not likely that not all of them will result in a connection. Instead of making your agents get imaginative and come up with various responses every time a communication doesn't go through, introduce standard responses. No matter who manages the call, the answer is always the same.

Equip them with basic details to answer your questions

Besides answering calls and welcoming clients, receptionists are also very good at answering questions on behalf of the organization. Although a virtual receptionist may not be able to accept all customers who walk through your doors, they will definitely help answer any questions that callers may have, which means that you and your in-house staff have less to think about. All virtual reception systems should be fitted with standard FAQs, such as where your company is located, your hours of operation, the services offered and the cost of those services. However it is also helpful to provide more advanced knowledge on issues that will inevitably occur.

Have an alternative if you're not available

If your virtual receptionist account is set up to transfer all calls, you may want to make sure that you have a contingency plan if you or other members of the team are not available. Instead of trying the line once and letting the caller know that no one is available, introduce a protocol in which the receptionist asks the caller if they would like to be moved to another team member. That way, the callers can either leave their message for a call back, or they can talk to someone else and get support faster than waiting for a call back.

Give the virtual receptionists the right to get personal details

If your intention is to set up a personal virtual receptionist service, you must give your agents the freedom to step away from the status quo of a normal dry, virtual receptionist experience.

Screening and transferring every single call

Where your regular in-house receptionist may not be able to respond to every single call that comes in a team of virtual receptionists may do so. And with a virtual receptionist service, you get more than one agent answering your phone calls at any given time, which ensures that your callers won't be rerouted to a voicemail, a busy signal, or have to wait on hold for 5 minutes. No matter when your customers call your company, a skilled receptionist will be there to help answer questions, take messages or forward calls accordingly.

Depending on the types of calls that your company receives more frequently, you can also set up custom protocols that closely fit your in-house procedures. For example, prospective sales calls can be forwarded to your top sales team members, angry or irritated callers can be forwarded to your customer service team, and requests to talk to specific individuals can be routed accordingly.