How your business serves customers defines the fine line between success and failure. Running a business is all about acquiring paying customers, which takes significant resources, effort, and money. All your marketing effort is likely to go to waste if your customers aren’t happy. Unfortunately, customer support is a resource-heavy affair. You need a team that can continuously and accurately respond and deliver on demands and requests.
If scaling your in-house team doesn’t make sense, you can consider having a live virtual receptionist. Virtual receptionists do the same things as front desk assistants, except that they are remotely located and don’t work on the payroll of your business. Here’s what you need to know.
Critical customer service considerations
How can you keep your customers happy? There are four considerations in general. The first one is response time, which is how quickly a call is attended. What matters just as much is consistency. Customer support is not a one-day marathon. You have to deliver regularly and consistently. The third component is accessibility. Can your customers reach you at a time of their choice? Finally, you have to consider whether the conflict or issue in a call is resolved.
Simplifying operations with virtual receptionists
A virtual receptionist is like an expert call assistant who handles calls from a different location. Unlike traditional front desk receptionists, they don’t work for usual hours, and depending on the service provider, you can ensure availability around the clock. If your business serves customers across domains, especially in the North American market, you need to have an around-the clock team.
Reducing costs and saving time
Think of the tasks a small business owner manages on an average. They often don many hats at the same time and must focus on critical business functions. While client relationship management is a priority, owners and core management teams cannot afford to use all available internal resources for that alone. With virtual receptionists, you can save on internal hiring costs and reduce the time spent on customer service. A team of live receptionists will handle enquiries, respond to frequently asked questions, and resolve issues based on the data you share.
Capture those valuable leads
Who is likely to call your company other than existing customers? These are people who are interested in your brand or business and would want to know more. The more leads you capture, the better your chances of converting a fraction of that into paying customers. By ensuring availability 24/7, virtual receptionists ensure your business never misses a call. If a caller wants to know more, they can take down the details and schedule a call with your internal team later.
Is a virtual receptionist the same as an AI receptionist?
No, both are different, although, for many businesses, AI receptionists and live virtual receptionists complement one another. An AI receptionist is an answering service powered by advanced natural language processing and other tech, such as speech synthesis. The AI receptionist has access to a knowledge base, and answers calls based on that. If required, they can route the call to an actual customer care expert. On the other hand, live receptionists are real people. These professionals usually work from the call center of the service provider. Unlike AI-based answering services, virtual receptionists can ensure there is a human touch to conversations.
Free your internal resources
If you want your internal call desk executives to do better and respond to callers with enthusiasm, you must reduce their burden by using virtual receptionists as a complimentary service. With the right mix, you will have happy customers who would return for a repeat purchase and happily recommend your business.
