How Virtual Assistants Can Impact the Future of Business
A woman named Stacy Brice introduced the concept of virtual assistance in the early 1990s. Her vision of a remote employee offering secretarial duties has not changed much over the years. The only difference is that people now accept and respect this profession.
Virtual assistants and other outsourced services are worth about $62 billion. Statista predicts that this industry will grow significantly in the next few years. As the world goes digital fast, will virtual receptionists be part of its future? Let’s see how their industry will keep impacting businesses.
It Will Remain an Important First Point of Contact
Trust is becoming an increasingly important factor for businesses in the digital age. The cultivation of trust and reputation has become mandatory for any business regardless of size.
Having a positive first point of contact (POC) will still be as important tomorrow as yesterday. Virtual assistants and virtual answering services have been specializing in this field since their industry’s inception.
Whether to answer a customer inquiry about a service or address their complaints and problems, virtual receptionists will be there in some shape or form. They will remain an essential first POC.
Hosting interviews, training someone new, or advertising a new position can be time-consuming and expensive, especially for startups. As more processes are included in running a business, the need for virtual assistants will grow, along with their role to maintain corporate efficiency.
It Will Be Powered By Remote Workers
The pandemic has prompted many companies and workers to adapt by working remotely. However, the concept of remote work is not new. Before the pandemic, at least 70% of professionals already work remotely once a week, and 53% work remotely half of the week. We can expect this trend to continue.
Companies will have to adopt the practice of employing workers virtually from overseas. This means businesses will attract the best talent for their operations and be more open to outsourcing administrative tasks to BPO companies.
As a result, virtual assistance businesses will have to meet this growing demand from various fields by recruiting remote employees of their own or partnering up with freelancers online.
Virtual Assistants Features That Help Your Business Grow
We have reviewed the history of the virtual assistant and how they can make your business or organization more convenient.
The current model of virtual assistant that we have discussed has one problem, however. Searching for and hiring a remote worker to be your virtual assistant takes a lot of time and effort.
That’s why you need to partner with a virtual assistant or healthcare receptionist service. A virtual assistants service finds, trains, and deploys virtual assistants for you. These services also cost much less than hiring a virtual assistant by yourself.
But not all virtual assistants services are good for your business. You need to know which services are worth your time and money and which ones are not. Let’s see what features a good virtual assistant service should have.
Virtual Assistants Encrypted Messaging
As the gathering and distribution of data only becomes more ubiquitous within the average work day, you need to ensure that all information your business gathers and sends is encrypted. This is especially true when hiring a virtual receptionist service, which typically compiles important call information and then sends it to you directly.
Leading virtual receptionist services like My Receptionist feature encrypted messaging systems that safeguard any information that is sent to you or that you send out. Their encrypted messaging system is available for many smart devices including:
- Smartwatches
- Smartphones
- Tablets
- And desktop computers
The supported manufacturers include Android, Apple, and Windows devices. Encrypted messaging prevents unwanted eyes and malicious actors from obtaining sensitive information, which is essential for medical practices and law firms.
Virtual Assistants Scheduling Platform
A top-notch scheduling platform can help bring order to your business. By providing you with a central hub from which you can track all of your important upcoming dates and appointments, you are making it easier for your employees and or coworkers to stay on schedule.
In fact, online secretary services that integrate scheduling platforms into their list of offerings can also take advantage of the platform by using it to help send out appointment reminders. We will get more into the importance of appointment reminders in a moment but for now, understanding how a scheduling platform simplifies your day is paramount.
s more, scheduling platforms usually incur a substantial monthly fee but existing My Receptionist customers can utilize the service’s scheduling tool by paying a small additional fee.
Virtual Assistants Appointment Reminders
Anyone with even a modicum of sales experience knows that a sale is made in the follow-up, not in the initial message. This is why regularly sending out appointment reminders is important for any business. Oftentimes, your customers, clients, or patients may simply forget that they have an important appointment coming up.
Instead of thinking that appointment reminders will annoy your customer base, you should be looking at them as helpful reminders that work to help your customers keep to their schedules.
For the Best Virtual Assistants, Try My Receptionist
My Receptionist has everything you need to make your organization future-proof. It sends out appointment reminders and encrypts your messages.
The service also offers a scheduling platform that works well with your existing workflow. That is perhaps its most valuable quality.
My Receptionist integrates seamlessly into any work structure without disrupting your systems or software. The service also reduces call volume, frees up your lines, and improves your response time.
My Receptionist can also do customer outreach, but its sister service, Always Answer, is better for that.
Expanding What Virtual Assistants Can Do with Always Answer
Virtual assistants can only do so much in the way of customer support or outreach. This is why Always Answer offers substantial research and development services. These services are spread into the following features:
- Customer surveys
- Order entry
- And general customer support
Always Answer provides valuable insights into customer satisfaction levels and preferences with customer surveys. These insights help businesses make informed decisions to improve their sales processes and build better relationships with their customers.
We develop a series of tailored questions to gather crucial feedback discreetly and anonymously. This ensures an accurate reflection of customer experiences. We then turn this data into easy-to-understand visualizations, such as graphs and charts. These visualizations give businesses actionable insights to improve customer satisfaction and increase repeat sales.
We personalize our approach to customize surveys for each client’s industry and unique characteristics. This makes the feedback more relevant and effective.
AI Will Eventually Be Integrated
Artificial intelligence is inevitable. In some ways, it’s already here. The rise of AI-powered personal assistants can already be experienced through Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri.
Companies and brands also utilize them as the first POC through innovative chatbots and similar customer-facing processes.
AI promises to increase productivity and efficiency by automating repetitive or redundant tasks. These AI solutions can be used to streamline operations and free up resources.
These same promises and solutions are what virtual assistants initially offer. However, artificial intelligence has not come to replace humans. Eighty-six percent of consumers still prefer people over AI-based technology like bots. AI will be integrated into the various processes used by virtual assistants. They’ll work in tandem to offer far more efficient and productive solutions.
Due to rapid globalization and evolving technology, businesses will have more affordable options to grow. Virtual receptionists, assistants, and answering services will expand to meet industry demand.
As a business, you need to adapt to changes in your market or industry. Investing in virtual assistant services is one of the innovative ways to expand and thrive.
My Receptionist provides the best virtual receptionist and answering services to help you succeed in today’s marketplace. If you want to learn more about expanding your business, contact us now.