All small business owners know that the Christmas holidays can be a stressful time. It’s certainly not unusual for thousands of small business owners to work every day over the Christmas ‘break’ without taking a single day off.
The cost of employing staff is certainly part of the issue, with many small business owners not hiring additional staff due to rising costs of employment. Past research conducted by Opinium has found that small business owners take around 10 days less holiday per year, in comparison to a full-time workers’ holiday entitlement.
With this in mind, Verbatim has looked at three of the biggest concerns that business owners face during the holiday period. We’ve come up with some perfectly wrapped solutions to ensure you get the break you deserve this Christmas, without it affecting your bottom line.
Take a break this Christmas
We know how important it is for a business to maintain a professional appearance and build a reputation. Equally, we understand that Christmas is a time where many of us want to enjoy quality time with friends and family. Verbatim’s Virtual Receptionist Service is an affordable solution providing you with full office-hours cover and minimal overheads. This leaves you time to sit back and watch Home Alone without the fear of missing valuable business opportunities.
Can’t quite commit to a full break from work? Our flexible plans allow you to send some calls to yourself when you’re available, but divert them to us when you’re not. We can also automatically pick up if you don’t answer after three rings — ideal if you’re surprised by some unexpected festive visitors and can’t get to the phone.
No missed business this Christmas
Verbatim’s Virtual Call Centre is a great way to extend your team without the expensive overheads. Simply provide us with what you expect from each call in advance. We can ensure that your phone is answered each time and your customers are given all the information that they require. Our operation is so seamless that customers rarely realise that they aren’t talking to someone based in your office!
Imagine returning from your festive break to find that your diary has been managed for you. Verbatim is also able to fully manage your bookings using your preferred diary system, leaving you and your team free to rock around the Christmas tree. Waiting for an important call? We can easily transfer that through to you. Let’s say you’re working from home and want to divert your incoming business calls to us, but would like to speak with a select few callers – we can certainly make that happen.
Granting staff holiday at the busiest time of year
Keeping staff happy over the holiday season can be tricky. You want to give them the time off – after all, they will no doubt deserve it. But what happens to your business if you shut down and a customer is still trying to get through on the phone? They will have come to expect the same standards of service regardless of the holidays, in which case you certainly can’t afford to ignore your calls for the whole of the Christmas period. We have the solution in Verbatim’s Call Answering Services which will provide the perfect balance and ensure that staff are happy and the phone calls are answered.
So, whether you would like us to answer the phone to simply inform your callers that the office is closed, or you would like to maintain business as usual with a virtual receptionist, we can ensure that your customers feel valued this Christmas. Follow our advice and you can be assured that your calls aren’t answered like this receptionist! And most of all, have a Very Merry Christmas.
