Nowadays, many businesses don’t operate in traditional office settings and need additional support without financially committing to a full time, on-site assistant / team member. However, it is common knowledge that a missed call can be a missed opportunity. Therefore, businesses of all sizes consider at some stage the option of hiring an outsourced receptionist. There are multiple reasons to take this decision, ranging from the need for a covering an existing team member holidays to the requirement of expanding your team due to an increase in sales.
In this blog, we help you to evaluate if you need an outsourced receptionist service. First, we define what a virtual receptionist service is and how can be integrated into your business. Then, we will outline benefits to hire a telephone answering service. Each section ends with key questions to help you with your evaluation.
What is a Virtual Receptionist Service?
A virtual receptionist will act exactly as your in-house receptionist. They are as knowledgeable as any full-time receptionist employee, which creates a professional first impression for your business. Their role includes:
- answering any incoming calls,
- active listening,
- provide answers to Frequent Asked Questions (FAQs),
- transfer calls through to the department or member of staff sought,
- if they are not available, then take a message and escalate it.
Any message left is immediately sent by text or email to the appropriate person/department. Additionally, some call centres provide clients with the access to all their calls using an online portal (eg. client login).
Outsourced receptionists can also assume other administrative tasks including data entry, follow-up with clients, invoice inputting, sending brochures, taking orders and more.
Questions – Do I need an Outsourced Receptionist?
- Do you need someone to answer your telephones and perform other receptionist related duties?
- What task will your receptionist perform?
- Do you need this person on a part-time, full-time basis or just every now and then?
- Do you have physical space for this person?
- Do you have the right work volume for your receptionist (e.g. you need sometimes a part time or more than one person)?
How can an outsourced receptionist support my business?
Business owners need to ensure that their company operations run smoothly in all areas including customer support. In this front, it is paramount to deliver a high-level quality service to your customers through all their contact with your business. Therefore, the first contact point for your customers will be establishing your business reputation as a trustworthy business. However, hiring an additional in-house employee to handle customers increasing demands is sometimes not economically viable.
An outsourced receptionist service can help you to manage sick leave, unplanned absences, staff meetings… without having to rely on a voicemail machine. Furthermore, they will only work the hours that you need them to. Therefore, you retain the personal touch in all your interactions with clients and customers.
A telephone answering service allows your calls to be answered 24/7 by a professional virtual receptionist. This service has a low cost per transaction; however, depending on your call volume you may benefit from a call centre dedicated team. Additionally, your team can be supported after hours with a 24 by 7 call centre or by performing additional tasks.
Questions – Do I need an Outsourced Receptionist?
- Do you want your business to increase the number of opening hours?
- Does your business have call volume fluctuations?
- Would you like to pay for the volume of calls answered?
- Does it make sense economically to hire a new employee?
What are the benefits of telephone answering service?
There are multiple benefits to outsource your telephone answering duties and hire a virtual receptionist including:
- Scalability: Your business will pay for the number of calls answered and not by the number of virtual receptionist associated with your contract. You can benefit from a shared team approach, so if more than one call is presented the next available agent will answer it. This allows your business to benefit from economy of scale.
- Excellent customer service: Your virtual receptionist team will be trained to a high standard. They already master the skills required for handling calls and providing outstanding customer support. Therefore, the only trained required is related to your business and your processes and procedures.
- Service reliability: Uninterrupted service without holidays or sick leave to manage, the next available agent will answer the call and provide the required answers to your customers. Additionally, a backup telephone system in place will minimize any potential service disruption (so your lines are not down).
- 24/7 call answering support: Your business can benefit from extended operational hours as many virtual receptionist services offer evening and night support. Ideal if you are planning to expand to international markets.
- Brand Management: A professional and efficient virtual assistant will provide a great impression of your business. Questions can be answered at the moment and difficult ones can be diverted/escalated to your team.
- Time Management: Productivity of your core team will improve if you remove them from constant interruptions. Your in-house team can be allocated to grow your business or perform other administrative activities.
Questions – Do I need an Outsourced Receptionist?
- Do you need to manage call fluctuations?
- Is your team constantly interrupted by the phone?
- Can your team be re-allocated to more profitable activities?
- Will your business benefit of a 24 by 7 reliable telephone answering service?
You can download the ‘Do I need an Outsourced Receptionist?’ assessment sheet here, alternatively you can request a quotation to our team.
