Using a virtual receptionist has a lot of advantages – and it’s something we’ve talked about a lot in the past. But did you know that one of the biggest bonuses a virtual receptionist can bring is freedom? The freedom to choose what to do with your time again, instead of being constantly tied to the phone. If that burden was taken away, think of the things you could do (and the things you could stop doing) that could improve your business performance.
Save Money And Time On Training New Employees
One of the biggest advantages of using a virtual receptionist over hiring a full-time member of staff is the savings in cost and time. Employing a member of staff will cost your business a large amount of money in recruitment fees, salary, training and lost productivity, not to mention a significant amount of time to train them properly. But with a virtual receptionist, you have a fully trained member of staff at the ready from day 1, for a fraction of the cost of hiring someone. This saves you a lot of time on training that you could use on other, more productive tasks.
No More Cold Callers
Nothing kills productivity more than being disturbed by a phone call that turns out to be a cold caller. Wouldn’t it be great to take back all the time you’ve wasted trying to politely get a cold caller off the phone, and the time it’s taken you to refocus afterwards? A virtual receptionist can give you that – because you never need to take the call in the first place. Instead they can screen your business calls and make sure you’re only ever getting the calls you want to receive. So say goodbye to cold calls!
Maximise Your Productivity
Every time you’re interrupted , it takes you around 25 minutes to get your concentration back on track again. Now, distractions and interruptions happen for all sorts of reasons, and we can’t pretend that all of them can be solved by a virtual receptionist. But all of those phone calls that seem to come at the worst possible moment, when you’ve just hit your stride – will vanish. This means you can maximise your productivity throughout the day without missing calls, keeping both you and your customers happy, and allowing you to carve out a time to return any calls you need to at one time.
Travel With Zero Distractions
With a virtual receptionist on your side, you’ll never again miss your train stop or your boarding call just because you got caught up on the phone. You also won’t be ‘that guy’ who takes calls on the train and annoys other passengers. Instead, you can travel in peace and comfort knowing your calls are still being dealt with and your callers still feel valued.
No More Misunderstandings
Not taking down messages properly is something that happens far too often and far too easily for busy business owners. You’ll be in a rush, looking to get off the phone or moving around, and you’ll only have time to scribble a few words on a post-it note to remind you of the call for later. The problem is, when later comes along, you have no idea what those words mean. This can lead to calls never being returned and a lot of missed opportunities. But a virtual receptionist is trained to take full and proper messages – and will be ready to do so at the drop of a hat. So you never have to worry about garbled or mixed messages again.
Prioritise Your Call Actions
When you’re super busy, returning calls can be the last thing you want to do. But you do it anyway, because it sounds important and you don’t want to miss something, or let someone down. But when you call back, it turns out to be a run-of-the-mill question that could have waited until you were less busy, or worse, just someone wanting to catch up. A virtual receptionist will take detailed notes of each call and even give them a priority rating, giving you all the information you need to prioritise call backs in a way that works with your schedule.
Score Bigger Contracts
We’re always taught not to judge a book by its cover, but for some businesses appearances really are everything. Larger clients with larger contracts to award are often reluctant to work with a one-man band, seeing them as potentially too small to deliver on everything they need. Now, you might be able to deliver the best quality work in the world to them, but they may still err on the side of caution and choose a bigger business. With a virtual receptionist, you have at least one other voice answering your phones – sometimes more. This gives you the illusion of being a much bigger business than you are, with a team of people around you. This can be all the reassurance these businesses need to take the leap and work with you – helping you secure some bigger contracts and really grow the business.
At Verbatim, we do exactly this. We provide a fully managed and tailored virtual receptionist service to businesses of all shapes and sizes across the South, providing professional service and peace of mind. All of our call handlers are expertly trained, and because we get to know you and your business, we can handle your calls exactly the same way you would – keeping your business consistent and professional. To find out more, just get in touch with the team today.
