How a Virtual Receptionist Saves Your Small Business Money
Many small businesses worry about having constant (or even just consistent) phone coverage. Sometimes you may not have enough workers to handle your calls during peak times, or they may get interrupted from their normal duties.
Other times, you might have extra staff there with nothing to answer, which wastes money and time! You don’t want your customers to wait on hold or deal with an automated system that can be lengthy, frustrating, and ultimately not create a positive customer experience.
That’s why a virtual receptionist is a great solution for you and your customers! A virtual receptionist can answer your calls promptly, professionally, and personally, and save you money along the way!
Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Receptionist for Your Small Business
For an average virtual receptionist, you’ll most likely have to pay them regardless of whether they are answering any calls or not. Suffice it to say that services like these are hardly an improvement over just hiring and training your own in-person receptionist.
However, services like My Receptionist directly address this flaw by making you pay only for the time that a call was actually answered. If you don’t receive calls or a call goes unanswered then you are not charged for it.
We will get more into this in a later section but there are several more benefits that My Receptionist has to offer.
A Live Receptionist Eliminates Long Hold Times
For a majority of potential customers, waiting while on hold just isn’t an option. According to several studies, 27% of individuals said that they would be unwilling to wait longer than a minute while on hold.
Surprising as that may be, the percentage of individuals who stated they wouldn’t wait one second while on hold was even larger, sitting at a whopping 32%! It’s clear, putting your callers on hold is a fast way to lose business.
Because services like My Receptionist and Always Answer can scale to fit your business needs, they are properly positioned to completely eliminate hold times.
Live Receptionists Available at All Hours
The great thing about a virtual receptionist is that they are around and available even when you or your staff aren’t. Live receptionist services can answer questions, book appointments, update customers, and forward you any relevant information at all hours of the day.
Services like My Receptionist are even available during:
- The weekends
- Holidays
- At night
- And vacation times
It’s their total availability that maximizes your earnings potential. Think of it as your money working for you which is always a smart investment. Keep in mind that any important information will be sent to you promptly.
How a Live Receptionist Makes Your Business Appear More Professional
What decides whether a business appears professional or not is how it handles its day-to-day operations. A business that places its callers on hold is one that appears inefficient at best and careless at worst. You would do well to preserve your business’s image by using a live receptionist service that ensures all interactions with customers are prompt and polite.
If you have a specific way that you want My Receptionist to answer and handle customer calls, you can let them know and customize how the service works for you!
Improved Customer Service With a Live Receptionist
Companies that want to save money often use an automated system, but this makes potential customers hang up when they encounter one. Automated and robotic systems are never reliable or helpful; everyone knows that.
A virtual receptionist adds a human element to a system that is often maligned and seen negatively. You can drastically improve how your business interacts with potential customers by removing the impersonal automated machine from your customer service equation.
The improved experience is likely to result in more appointments booked and sales made.
How Does a Live Receptionist Save You Money
As was mentioned earlier, most live receptionist services will eagerly take your money regardless of whether they answer any calls or not. That’s not the way My Receptionist handles this issue. With My Receptionist, you don’t pay anything unless your calls are answered by the service itself.
You want a service like this on your side because your success directly correlates to theirs. This is because the better the customer service they provide, the more likely a call is to turn into a new customer which means the more calls they are likely to receive. Everyone’s business grows.
Can a live receptionist service save you money? Yes, but only if you’ve chosen the right service to help your business grow.
Increase Employee Productive With a Live Receptionist
Each time you are interrupted from your work, it takes an average of 23 minutes to get back on track. At least, those were the findings of a University of California study on productivity. Your employees can’t possibly work at their top potential when they are constantly being interrupted by phone calls.
Of course, answering these calls is necessary, but the costs in productivity can quickly compound and be devastating for your business.
By employing a live receptionist service to handle your calls, you are allowing your employees to work at their highest potential and giving your callers the quality customer service that they deserve.
My Receptionist Is More Than a Warm Voice on the Other End of the Line…
You can help boost revenue and customer loyalty by adding a real, live, virtual receptionist – and our services also save you money!
You only pay for the minutes we are on the phone with your customers (not blocks of time when you may or may not get a call) with My Receptionist, so we save you money over even an in-house receptionist! This means that you can get the benefits of our virtual receptionist 24/7 without paying for 24/7 coverage!
It’s a win-win, as your clients and customers can always reach your business, and you never miss a call or potential revenue again.