The first impression a caller gets of your business is the person who answers the phone. If that caller hears a pleasant, friendly voice on the other end of the line, they’re far less likely to hang up and dial your competitor. That voice might belong to a virtual receptionist working on your behalf—or it could be someone from an answering service, which allows small businesses to maximize the benefits of customer service without hiring and training their own full-time receptionists or dealing with payroll taxes and other expenses.
When a caller calls your business, the virtual receptionist acts as an extension of your brand, providing basic information like hours of operation and the products and services you offer. Many services also have a list of frequently asked questions and answers that the virtual receptionist can use to quickly answer common inquiries, helping to reduce the need for transferred calls or messages delivered to in-house employees.
Some of the best virtual receptionist services will allow you to listen in on your business’s calls, making it easy to make sure the agency you hire is representing your company as you’d like it to. Some even encourage you to do this, so you can provide feedback and guidance on how to improve the way your business is portrayed on the other end of the line.
In addition to answering calls, many virtual receptionist services can help you manage your calendar by scheduling appointments and services for callers. This can be a huge time saver for busy business owners, and can help you avoid no-shows and last-minute cancelations that can cost you money.