As current events push companies towards a more decentralized business model, the virtual world is becoming more deeply integrated into our processes than ever before. Video chats have become the normal way to hold a meeting, if you’re not selling online you’re losing a massive chunk of revenue, and employees have become accustomed to working from home.
While these strange times have certainly presented challenges, they’ve also ushered in some interesting opportunities. Virtual receptionists, for example, can be an asset you never knew you needed. Here’s why:
Broaden Your Horizons
The main benefit of switching to a virtual business model is that you’re no longer limited to working with clients who can physically visit your office. The downside is that it can be a bit harder to keep everything organized.
To help with this, consider hiring a virtual office receptionist. They’re masters at keeping everything in order, so you can simply send all your new and existing clients through to them and let them take the stress out of things.
You Don’t Need A Physical Office
Another great benefit of having a virtual receptionist is that it negates the need for having a physical role within your office. This means you have far more freedom in the type of office space you consider. If you want to work from home, the local library, or your favorite cafe, that’s absolutely fine as your receptionist will handle their own office arrangements.
Lower Costs
If you don’t already have someone filling the role of receptionist within your company, you can look into hiring someone who runs their own virtual reception business. The great thing about this is that because they often work for multiple companies, you’ll save on wage costs. Even if you do already have a full-time staff member, you can still reap budget benefits by allowing them to switch to a virtual role. If they choose to work remotely, you’ll be paying less for electricity and other bills.
More Availability
Another perk of having a virtual receptionist is that you can generally expect them to be available for more hours in a day, especially if you go with a virtual reception company. This means that you’ll be able to service more customers and can rest assured that anyone who needs help will get it in a timely manner. When all those calls over minor matters stop diverting to your personal mobile, you’ll know you made the right decision.
Fewer Distractions
As touched on earlier, a virtual receptionist deals with far fewer distractions than those who work in-house. Let’s be honest here, an in-house receptionist usually ends up being a Jack-of-all-trades. While this can be great for the running of your physical business, it can often mean that phones go unanswered or messages are slow to be passed on.
This certainly isn’t the fault of your receptionist. They are, after all, working hard to keep things running smoothly. However, it ceases to be an issue entirely if you have a virtual office receptionist. Their main focus will be on taking calls, answering emails, and passing on important information rather than running the entire front end of your business.
These benefits aren’t the only perks of shifting your reception over into the virtual space, but they’re certainly some of the major ones. With things not appearing to be headed back to normal any time soon, it’s important that we embrace new ways of working. Hiring a virtual office receptionist could be just what the CEO ordered to help your business thrive in these uncertain times.
Featured Photo by Kevin Bhagat on Unsplash.