What is a Virtual Receptionist?
If you’re looking for a way to streamline calls and customer service, a virtual receptionist is the answer.
A virtual receptionist phone answering service will handle all incoming calls from customers and service their needs. With customizable languages and industry language, a virtual receptionist ensures no call to your business goes unanswered.
You’ll also have someone handling your appointment and meeting times, so you can focus more on growing your business or working with your clients.
If you want to start using a virtual receptionist to handle customer calls and schedule your appointments, this guide will explain the benefits of hiring a virtual receptionist.
Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Receptionist
There are numerous advantages to hiring a virtual receptionist, as they are the best answering service you can find remotely.
Whether you’re an attorney looking for assistance or a pest control business who needs someone available to field phone calls, these are the best benefits of hiring a virtual receptionist:
No Call Goes Unanswered
Thirty-eight percent of businesses that use a virtual receptionist want responsive customer service. A virtual receptionist will answer every call to your company for you, ensuring you don’t miss one.
They will take messages and transfer calls to the appropriate person in your office.
Manage Appointments and Cancellations with Ease
A virtual receptionist will manage and book all your appointments with clients or coworkers, so all you have to do is open your calendar to see what’s on the schedule for the day.
If there’s a cancellation, a virtual receptionist will take care of it and keep you informed of schedule changes.
Manage Order Fulfilment
If you’re a small business selling many products or an accountant overwhelmed with clients during tax season, a virtual receptionist can ease some burden.
They will take care of order fulfillment, whether working with a warehouse to handle shipping and delivery or working with customers to find the right subscription package.
Flexibility with Schedules
Virtual receptionists have a significant advantage over in-house receptionists in that their schedules are more flexible. Since they work remotely, you can set a plan for them to work after-hours, in the morning, or whenever you receive the most customer calls.
How do Virtual Receptionists Work?
A virtual receptionist works remotely from either a call center or their home. When you hire a virtual receptionist, you’ll work with them to configure their phone systems so that incoming calls to your business go through their system.
Virtual receptionists receive training by you or someone from your human resources department to ensure they speak to customers in the right tone of voice and fully understand your business goals and mission. There are also bilingual virtual receptionists available.
What do Virtual Receptionists Do?
Virtual receptionists handle many of the same tasks as an in-house employee of a similar nature would. While the role a virtual receptionist takes on in your business is flexible to what you need, there are primary roles they will almost always take care of. These are the most common virtual receptionist duties:
- Answering, filtering, and transferring calls
- Taking messages
- Scheduling appointments and meetings
- Offering support to clients via email, text, or phone
- Fielding questions about your business or services
- Working with vendors and contractors
- Managing your email marketing
Why Are They Important?
The most significant reason a virtual receptionist is necessary to streamline your business’ operations is for customer satisfaction. A virtual receptionist for small companies will answer every call and field any client questions about your business.
They are professional and courteous to everyone they communicate with, ensuring your customers respect you.
Difference Between a Virtual Receptionist and a Live Answering Service
If you’re not looking for someone to schedule appointments and filter calls but rather a simple phone answering system, live answering services for small businesses will get the job done. The main difference between the best live answering service and a virtual receptionist is the number of responsibilities they can take.
A virtual receptionist provides much more assistance in scheduling appointments, managing orders, and communicating with clients in various mediums. A flat rate live answering service may be cheaper, but it does not have these roles in its job descriptions.
On the other hand, a virtual receptionist can reduce your operating cost by up to 78 percent.
Conclusion
A virtual receptionist is an integral asset to any company. From fielding customer calls to informing you of appointment changes, they can make your life easier and let you focus on the primary aspects of your job.
When you’re ready to take the leap and hire remote receptionist services, you’ll find numerous companies that contract them to businesses like yours.