Virtual receptionist offers businesses prompt call-answering services without the cost of hiring, training and managing a full-time employee. These professionals are highly trained and knowledgeable about their clients’ industries, allowing them to provide customized responses to customers, making them feel valued and respected. They can also help manage customer inquiries by directing them to the right person or department, reducing wait times and saving businesses time on follow-up calls.
Consider that a typical small business receives about 15 calls per day from customers and business associates looking to schedule appointments, reschedule existing ones, or ask general questions. The average caller’s request may be quick and easy, but there are others—from people seeking legal advice to those wanting to book an appointment for window installation—who are dealing with urgent and sometimes life-changing issues.
A good virtual receptionist service will offer a menu that lets callers be connected to the right person or department, and it will have a set of pre-approved scripts containing common answers to those queries. Some virtual receptionist companies will even create an ideal script for each new client, so that callers always hear a professional, branded experience.
When evaluating virtual receptionist providers, look for those that offer comprehensive call reporting and analytics to measure the success of their services and identify areas where they can improve. These reports should include detailed call logs, call duration and volume trends, plus metrics like average answer speed and call resolution rate. Also, look for a service that supports other communication channels like email and business texting, which can be helpful for things like booking hair appointments or communicating with customers when it’s not an optimal time to talk on the phone (like when they’re sick, traveling or working from home).