Understandably, a hectic work schedule can leave you feeling like there are a million things to do at once. So, to ease you of a portion of your workload, virtual receptionists are the solution you need.
Virtual receptionists are not artificial intelligence; they are “physical” people that work remotely and answer phone calls, handle various administrative tasks and resolve basic customer needs. Companies like Smith.ai recruit people that act as virtual receptionists that make calls, reach out to clients and reduce the burden on staff.
Having never used a virtual receptionist service, you probably have a lot of questions. Are they reliable? What are the parameters to look for before hiring this service? How can it benefit your organization? This article comprehensively illustrates everything you need to know about virtual receptionists.
What do virtual receptionists do?
Virtual receptionists are professionally trained individuals who are outsourced from an external agency, that receive calls and messages on your company’s behalf. The caller won’t know they are talking to a third party and will be under the impression that they are a part of your system.
The primary responsibility of a virtual receptionist is to professionally interact with your clients/customers tailored to your company’s requirements depending on the kind of contractual arrangement. Additional services such as forwarding messages and directing calls to team members, 24-hour services, multi-lingual services, CRM services, etc.
Virtual receptionists also ensure that spam callers do not enter the company’s system. They are also trained to give essential information to clients and customers without involving anyone from your team.
Apart from taking messages and calls, here are other tasks performed by virtual receptionists:
Answering FAQs: Many calls are made to inquire about the company’s address, business hours, contact information for HR recruiters, and similar types of questions are answered by them.
Scheduling appointments: They appropriately schedule, reschedule, and cancel appointments as needed. Additionally, they can also work with any scheduling software you may have.
Collect leads: They collect all lead information from an interested party for you to keep track of potential clients and to follow up as you require. The virtual receptionist will be able to update the lead information onto CRM or other customer databases as well.
After-hours support: Virtual receptionists agencies guarantee that a real person is spoken to at all times and never pre-recorded messages. They’re sorted into shifts to be able to take calls after-hours, holidays, weekends, or a combination of them.
Live transfers: If you want to see who’s calling and then decide to answer personally or let a virtual receptionist handle it, live call transfers make that possible.
The opposite is possible as well where they answer a call and briefly put the caller on hold while they get in touch with you to see if you’d like to take the call or not. You’re in control either way.
How different is an in-house receptionist compared to a virtual receptionist?
In-house receptionists are expensive compared to virtual receptionists. You may not need an in-house receptionist full-time if you’re just starting a business. There are chances that they would go on holiday or take a few sick days off. Virtual receptionists will always be available as per your contract with the agency.
Benefits
Incoming calls are always answered
A virtual receptionist is reliable and ensures customer needs are addressed, even over the weekend and after business hours. This is a natural advantage in client and customer communications that enhances a company’s goodwill.
Cost-efficient and quick for your business
A virtual receptionist is an excellent choice if your company:
- Is scaling up and needs scalable administrative solutions quickly
- Can’t extend its financial resources to hire in-house staff members
The aspect of a human touch
Consumers prefer speaking to a real person when it comes to resolving complex issues. You can personalize customer interactions by training your receptionist in how certain calls should be handled. This guarantees a smooth customer experience.
Specialized experience
Depending on their previous roles, some virtual receptionists offer better industry-specific expertise such as social media expertise or virtual bookkeeping. A more advanced receptionist service can be offered by a trained professional when dealing with clients.
What should you look for in a virtual receptionist?
Thinking about the level of assistance you will need from a service and how it can provide growth to your company is crucial.
Screen candidates for compatibility, previous work experience, and professionalism. There should be consistent involvement from your end that manages how they interact to guarantee high-quality communications.
To conclude, navigating the virtual receptionists market can be a challenge sometimes but has an overall benefit to your organization. Now that you’ve learned all about virtual receptionists, you can start by checking the best ones in the industry to get started!
