Using Virtual Reception Services to Recover Your Time

A ringing phone is one of the most frustrating experiences, both for businesses and their customers. Especially during business hours! Customers who have questions or are ready to buy may become discouraged enough by an unanswered phone to buy from the competition, while companies feel the crunch between delivering the goods and fielding the phone calls. Neither situation does any good for the bottom line. However, for solo-preneurs, businesses with a small yet busy staff or who are just barely handling the holiday rush each year, this scenario is all too common.

So how do you bridge between providing customer service that sends the right message and allowing yourself the time you need to build your business? With virtual reception, of course!

Virtual reception services take their client’s communication overflow and other secretarial tasks off their hands, while delivering a service that helps boost business and effectively turns a bad situation into a win-win. Hiring your own dedicated call center to field the phones for you saves both time and money in a variety of ways, including:

• The cost of outsourcing the service is much smaller than the overhead of setting up and maintaining your own call center, providing you the same results for less
• Being virtual means no time is spent hunting down a local receptions office instead of working on your business
• Having a professional team on hand to answer your calls means no more lost calls…and that equates to more sales, increased revenue and a positive ROI

Many companies, large and small, have used virtual reception services to improve their customer relations by maintaining open communications…on everybody’s schedule!

What tasks do virtual reception services cover?

Virtual reception professionals handle your inbound and outbound calls when you can’t and are available 24/7/365 to provide dedicated customer service, sending the message that your brand is on the case at all times. Your customers get the benefit of having someone there to answer questions, field complaints and take their orders, while you enjoy having more time to grow your business, secure in the fact that sales are being made and communication is staying open when you’re away.

While phone services are a big part of virtual reception, additional tasks are often included in a provider’s reception package, such as:

• Calendar management and appointment scheduling
• Data entry and database management, which can also consist of sales tracking and gathering/monitoring of customer information (necessary info for planning future marketing campaigns!)
• Transcription and other secretarial duties

Reception teams can also check in with travelling employees or relay pertinent information to them, which is great for field workers (such as truckers), on-call medical staff, execs on business trips, etc. These tasks and more can be outsourced cost-effectively to dedicated customer service staff in lieu of a full-time receptionist.

Companies specialising in virtual reception services offer flexibility in both service and pricing, basing them on each business’ individual needs, no matter how large or small. Branding all communications, they use your preferred greetings and your protocols…all while keeping to your budget. You’re in total control!

Who uses virtual reception services, and why?

Many companies, from solopreneurs and small businesses to larger companies, use virtual reception as a means of outsourcing their customer relations and sales. Varying in industry, such as medical, government, transport and ecommerce, these professionals share a need to lighten their workloads as they grow their businesses. These services meet their needs in a variety of ways:

• Enhanced time efficiency, so you can essentially be in two places at once.
• Cost-effective solution. You save overhead by paying only for the time the team spends on your tasks, rather than for office space, equipment, labor, etc.
• Delivered results (increased sales, ROI, enhanced communications and positive brand association, realized growth, etc.)
• Professional and dedicated customer service – staff that’s there when you need them.
• Reduced stress, knowing the work is taken care of.

Red Apple VAS understands what goes into the decision to outsource your reception and how meeting those needs can help you take your business to the next level. We tailor our virtual reception services to meet your requirements, delivering quality customer service that’s branded to your company and converts leads to sales, so you can increase your bottom line and rest easier.

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