Today, customers expect best-in-class service everywhere. This extends from the largest big box store shopping experiences to patronizing local small businesses.
While you may want to hire full-time staff to run the operational aspects of your business, it’s often a nonstarter. For many small business owners (SBOs), this simply isn’t financially feasible.
But like every aspect of business, the landscape is changing. Luckily, it appears to be changing for the better where SBOs are concerned. With the rise of live virtual receptionist services, the business of doing business has changed. Small businesses can easily transform into something that meets the more immediate needs of modern consumers.
But what is a virtual receptionist? And how can they assist in growing your business? Let’s explore this novel concept together.
What is a Virtual Receptionist
Like a physical receptionist, a virtual receptionist handles all operational aspects of your business. Client intake, booking, billing, and more can all be handled by a virtual receptionist for small business.
They are a real person who can answer your calls and text messages on behalf of your business.
Unlike house receptionists, however, a virtual receptionist is not physically located in your place of business. A live virtual receptionist for a small business can, in fact, be located anywhere.
They are often routed to your customers’ phone calls or text messages via virtual call routing software.
One other major difference between a traditional receptionist and a virtual receptionist is employment status. A virtual receptionist is typically not employed by your business. Instead, they are commonly employed by or contracted through a third-party vendor.
As a benefit, by outsourcing your administrative functions, a small business owner can stand to save on overhead costs.
The Benefits of a Live Virtual Receptionist
As you can imagine, the potential benefits of using a virtual receptionist service are numerous. Here are just a few:
Maximize Billable Hours
As a small business owner, your attention is most importantly spent on doing the element of your business you were trained to do. If you are a dentist, time spent with your patients is essential. If you are a plumber, every leak fixed or threaded joint you install is another billable hour.
SBOs can truly focus on their customers with the help of a live virtual receptionist service.
Better Work-Life Balance
Most of us prefer a healthy work-life balance. But for many SBOs, this simply isn’t possible. Administrative tasks like scheduling and billing can easily bleed into after-hours.
With a live virtual receptionist, these administrative tasks can be done 24/7, whether or not you are on the clock. If you have clients who prefer to contact you late at night, your virtual receptionist can handle everything. And all without any needed involvement from your team.
Be available to your customers without being available to your customers with the help of a virtual receptionist service.
Client Availability
For many SBOs, customer sessions can require unbroken focus. This usually means they are unavailable to simultaneously process new business leads, schedule appointments, and more.
But with virtual receptionist services, all of your customers, both current and prospective, can be given their due. By removing yourself from the bottleneck, your live virtual receptionist service can handle swells of client inquiries with ease.
Give Your Customers a Warm Reception with Apollo
There are countless other benefits to be had with dependable virtual receptionist services. At Apollo, we love helping our customers to make their reception efficient.