The Great Resignation has business owners everywhere rethinking their staffing decisions. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers are finding it difficult to maintain a reliable staff. Indeed, many are working with a skeleton crew. Stretched thin, these teams are often overworked, frustrated, and burnt out. Too often, this frustration bleeds over into the customer experience. If you’re concerned about your staffing limitations, it may be time to find an outsourced partner. Supportive staff can be a challenge to find, hire, and train. A virtual receptionist, on the other hand, can start right away. Jumping in with both feet, these professionals can hit the ground running to provide a seamless transition for callers.
Reasons for Hiring a Virtual Receptionist & More Support
Not sure if your organization is in need of help from virtual receptionists? Be on the lookout for these red flags:
1. Your Inbound Calls Frequently Roll to Voicemail
Nobody likes to listen to the sound of a telephone ringing off the hook. It’s disruptive, persistent, and downright annoying. Too often, though, short-staffed teams allow calls to roll to voicemail in lieu of stopping the task upon which they’re currently focused on. While hiring additional staff might solve the problem, staffing budgets are often limited. Instead, companies rely on voicemail to stem the tide.
Too often, though, callers will simply hang up and call a competitor instead of leaving a message. In this day and age, most people avoid voicemail like the plague. Rather than rely on outdated technology, consider how a virtual receptionist might disrupt this all too common workplace headache. If you want your calls to be answered promptly and professionally every time the phone rings, a virtual receptionist service is the solution.
2. Your Staff is Feeling Burnt Out
Over the last few years, employers and employees alike have become more aware of the impact that work can have on a person’s mental health. Hustle culture has evolved – people are embracing the idea of self care now. While pulling double shifts and working night and day might once have been upheld as ideal, workers are now eager to rest and recharge. Embracing a healthier work/life balance doesn’t have to come at the expense of the customer experience, though. If your team is feeling the burn, virtual receptionists can offer some relief.
Virtual live receptionist services employ highly-trained professionals who work in shifts to provide 24/7 coverage for their clients. Imagine how much more relaxed you’d feel heading home after a hard day of work knowing that there’s a team of virtual receptionists manning your phones while you rest up. Turn on call support features each night, when you head off for vacation, or over your lunch break – the choice is yours. This flexibility is what makes virtual office receptionists so valuable to overworked teams. No matter how stressful your week may look, you can rest easy knowing you’ve got a secret weapon to call upon when you need help.
3. Multitasking is Standard Procedure
Speaking of hustle culture, society has spent a lot of time glorifying multitasking over the last decade. While it may feel more efficient to answer phones as you check email and field questions from colleagues, spinning that many plates at once is bound to end in disaster. Even if you like to think of yourself as a master multitasker, the reality is that humans are more productive when focused on a single task. Learning is actually impaired when we multitask, making it more challenging to retain information in the long run. Callers notice when we’re distracted, too. Anyone hoping to design a memorable and rewarding customer experience would do well to devote their entire attention to the customer at the end of the line.
If you find yourself multitasking just to keep up with the steady flow of customer calls, it may be time to outsource them to a virtual receptionist answering service. You’ll accomplish so much more without constant interruptions, and your callers will enjoy a more focused conversation with a receptionist who is truly present in the conversation. Imagine how much more you could get done in a day without the phone disrupting your workflow!
4. You Spend A Lot of Time Qualifying Leads
If every inbound call were a promising lead, we’d all be leaping for the phone each time it rang. The reality is that many incoming calls are simply a waste of time. Of course, it’s impossible to know the difference when the calls come in; while caller ID can help suss out telemarketers from actual leads, there’s still a lot of legwork to do once you pick up the phone. If you find yourself wasting time on the phone answering routine questions that rarely lead to a sale, it may be time to partner with a virtual receptionist.
Customer service always matters, even when dealing with leads that aren’t exactly promising. Brief conversations with callers just getting started on their buyer’s journey must be professional if you’re hoping to nurture that lead. By working with a virtual receptionist service, you can maintain a professional image without wasting your valuable time. Callers will always need their hands held to some degree, and a professional receptionist can answer questions and address concerns. Meanwhile, you and your colleagues can focus on the most important tasks on your to-do lists, leaving the hand holding the virtual receptionists. It’s a win-win for callers and staff alike.
Try MAP Communications Virtual Receptionist Services Today
If you’re hoping to nip these administrative challenges in the bud while simultaneously increasing customer loyalty, it’s time to partner with a virtual office receptionist. MAP Communications has led the industry for more than 30 years. Our virtual receptionists are available 24/7 to help businesses small and large achieve their goals. We’re currently offering a free week trial of our live answering service. Discover how an outsourced partner can change everything – give MAP a try today!
