Did you know: around 75% of people who call your business will hang up if their call connects through to voicemail? That means, as a business owner, you could be losing 75% of your potential client-base because there’s no one available to answer the phones.
Of course, we get it. As a small business owner, you’re no doubt busy. You can’t waste time answering phone calls all day long when there is work to be done. You haven’t hired an administrative assistant to help you either – perhaps it’s simply not in the budget to hire someone full-time to help you out. So what can you do?
This is where a virtual receptionist comes in. As a US business owner, when you use a virtual, professional answering service, you can relax knowing your calls are answered by someone professional, friendly, and locally-based. It is a cost-effective, 24-hour service that could prevent you from missing the most important call of your business’ history! That’s a call you can’t afford to miss.
What is a virtual receptionist?
A virtual receptionist, or virtual answering service, is a person who is hired to work for you, from an external office. They could be located next door, or anywhere in the United States; it doesn’t matter. It’s their job to answer your calls, so you don’t miss any important work.
Although there are a number of options available in the marketplace, such as virtual chat functions, holographs, automated call answering services; at ReceptionHQ, we specialize in two types of virtual receptionist services:
Virtual assistant: A remote worker who will not only act as your virtual receptionist, but also assist with clerical and administration tasks, among many other things.
Telephone answering service: A live receptionist who is solely hired to answer your calls, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so you never miss an opportunity.
How does virtual answering service work?
Running a business is tough, particularly for small business owners. Not only do you have to keep the work moving at a successful pace, but you also have to make sure everyone is doing their job, and that there is more work to come once a job is complete. A builder, for example, is often onsite, high up on the beams, making sure everything is safe and efficient. When you’re standing ten stories high on a foot-wide beam, the last thing you want to be doing is fumbling through your pockets and answering your phone.
Sure, you might have message bank, but as we’ve already mentioned – 75% of callers actually hang up when it hits message bank. Do they call back? Or do they just find another business that does answer the phone?
That’s when a phone answering service could save your business.
It works like this:
1. You are hiring a live answering service with a live receptionist. They may be based locally, but they work remotely.
2. When your phone rings, it will transfer to that person, who will answer the call using your preferred commentary.
3. The virtual receptionist will then take a message to pass on to you, or someone else at your business.
4. They will email or SMS the details, so you can call the person back
Virtual receptionists are highly trained and always available, providing call handling and call transfer services for inbound calls. But they don’t have to stop with phone answering. Virtual receptionist services are also useful for scheduling appointments, general customer support, and customer service, and can do any of the following:
Collect Leads: If the person calling you is interested in purchasing your products, or using your services, the virtual receptionist will be able to take down all the details required so you can make the sale.
Answer Questions: Sometimes people will call your business to ask simple questions about the business itself, such as your opening hours, or the products you have on-hand. Using a business phone answering service for this will leave you time to do the work, while also providing a service your clients and potential customers need to be fulfilled.
Making Appointments: If a client calls saying they need to change a meeting time or cancel an appointment, your virtual receptionist can do this. They will work with any scheduling software you currently use.
24-Hour Support: Phone waking you up in the middle of the night with customer questions that could have waited until morning? Not anymore. Using a virtual receptionist will take care of those late-night calls. You can even have weekends and holidays back again!
Benefits of a virtual receptionist
There are many benefits to using a virtual answering service, including:
Cost-effective: When you hire a full-time live receptionist service, someone who works directly for you, you pay them an hourly rate, based on a set number of hours per day. You also generally need to include holiday rates, sick pay, personal and other leave entitlements. Not to mention you need to rent an office. Hiring a virtual phone answering service, you simply pay for the hours they work. If an assistant is sick, another will take their place. You don’t lose any time or money.
Professionalism: When you’re too busy to take a call, or you forget to call someone back who has left a message on your voicemail, it shows a lack of professionalism on your part. Having someone on-hand to take the calls for you, gives your customers a good impression. Calls are answered fast and professionally, ensuring your clients know they are your priority.
Flexibility: You can choose to have a virtual receptionist working for you for 4 hours a day, or 24 hours a day. It’s up to you. If you deal with international clients who tend to call you in the middle of the night, a virtual receptionist will allow you to sleep through it all.
Better Productivity: According to research, people who work 8 hours a day at an office actually only work around 30% of that time. That’s right. About 3 hours of the workday is productive. The rest of the time is spent reading news websites, chatting with colleagues, eating, drinking coffee, and so on. A virtual receptionist is available to work, non-stop, for hours on end. You can hire them for four hours, and you’ll get four hours of quality work, where they focus solely on answering your calls, booking appointments, and generating leads.
More Time: Hiring someone to take care of your phone calls could save you hours of unnecessary chit-chat. As you receive messages from your virtual receptionist, you have the ability to prioritize who you call back and when. This gives you time to focus on the business that matters.
How can ReceptionHQ help?
ReceptionHQ provides a high-quality virtual receptionist and business phone answering service for your business in the United States.
It doesn’t matter what size your business is, or the services you provide, there is a friendly, professional receptionist waiting to take your calls. ReceptionHQ receptionists are local and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Get in touch today to find out more.
