As an entrepreneur, you know the pain of having to keep all the balls in the air to stay afloat. Not only do you devote your waking hours to building the business itself, but you have to handle all the administrative tasks as well. This reality can quickly overwhelm even the steeliest of business owners. However, there’s a desirable alternative to doing all the admin work yourself: a virtual receptionist.

No, I am not talking about a hologram in a headset. A virtual receptionist is a real human being working somewhere in the world who fields your incoming calls, emails, voicemails, and handles scheduling and any other miscellaneous tasks. Since most small businesses and startups can’t afford an in-office receptionist (or even an office, at all), virtual receptionists perform all the same tasks an in-person receptionist would, but for a fraction of the cost.

But this cost-effectiveness is hardly the only advantage of having a virtual receptionist. Read on to learn more about how a virtual receptionist can transform your business.

A Symbiotic Relationship

Not to get all biological on you, but hiring a virtual receptionist can end up benefiting both of you. Not only can you spend more of your energy on the nuts and bolts of your business, but you will be providing someone with the chance to earn a livelihood. It’s harder to find a greater win-win than that.

A Human Touch

You can avoid using mirthless chat bots and answering machines to handle customer inquiries with a virtual receptionist. Even though more and more companies are using interactive voice response (IVR) systems, customers often find dealing with these automated systems to be quite frustrating. Who can blame them? An automated system cannot give detailed answers for customer’s often complicated questions, and they certainly cannot offer a shred of the warmth a human, virtual receptionist can. If you want to build rapport with your customers, consider hiring a virtual receptionist.

Connect With Customers Worldwide

Since you can hire your virtual receptionist from anywhere in the world, it makes a lot of sense to hire one who can speak multiple languages. Of course, the languages they speak will depend on your clientele; after all, it makes no sense to hire a bilingual English and Spanish speaker to handle customer calls from Russia. Analyse your customer base before hiring a virtual receptionist to see if you even need to hire one who’s multilingual.

Save, Save, Save

Like I mentioned earlier, investing in a virtual receptionist will save you scads of money in the long run. The average receptionist makes anywhere between $28,000 and $40,000 a year, and this doesn’t include benefits or paid vacations. Thankfully, you get the best of both worlds with a virtual receptionist. Most of them work for phone answering companies, so all you have to worry about is paying that company the fee to hire and keep them. The phone answering company, in turn, will handle your virtual receptionist’s salary and benefits.

Make A Name For Yourself

Having a virtual receptionist will boost your business’s legitimacy and credibility. When customers hear a receptionist’s voice on the line instead of yours, they will know they are dealing with a business that takes itself seriously. This isn’t to say that you can’t solidify your company’s reputation without a virtual receptionist, but having one doesn’t hurt your brand. Furthermore, a virtual receptionist who is ISO 9001-certified ensures that you have an employee who knows their stuff. But what the heck is an ISO 9001, anyway? Put another way, it’s an internationally-accredited management system certification program and a sign that you’re serious about hiring top-notch employees.

Boost Your Bottom Line

Saving time and money is one of the more immediate benefits of having a virtual receptionist, but over a long period, it could improve your bottom line. You will save money on training, rent, employee salaries and benefits, and you will save time by having a trained receptionist direct customer calls to the appropriate department. Moreover, you will only pay for the services you need with a virtual receptionist. This fact ensures that you’re only using your money when you need to use it, and your books will show it in due time.

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Final Thoughts

Running your own business doesn’t mean you have to run yourself into the ground; let someone help you lighten the load. Now that you know how a virtual receptionist can benefit your business, what are you waiting for? Head over to VirtualHQ today to see a list of available quality virtual receptionist services.

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As ever if you have any questions or want to share your own thoughts or experiences, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

With Grace and Gratitude

Karen

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I hope that you have found this article helpful, and will use this advice to make sure that your business has everything it needs to succeed.