The Top Reasons as to Why Your Business Needs a Receptionist

A lot of the time, the receptionist can be a role that is taken for granted as businesses just seem to have them, whilst a lot of other businesses (particularly start-ups) believe that it could be bypassed, and clients could just come straight to them. The fact of the matter is, this ideology couldn’t be more wrong, and whether it’s in the form of a member of staff or a virtual assistant, a receptionist is crucial to your business.

The fact is, small businesses are usually required to handle the likes of customer relations and are expected to handle these on the same level as larger corporations. If you put yourself in the shoes of the customer, what you have to offer is no different to what the biggest players in your industry do. As such, your business will be required to handle a lot of calls on a daily basis, hence why a receptionist will be necessary.

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Are You Worried About Affording a Receptionist?

Of course, while you might be able to see the benefits of having a receptionist, if you are a part of a small business, being able to afford one is easier said than done. You will already have a lot of outgoings as part of your business, and so to use the limited supply of money you have left may not be feasible. If this sounds like you, you should consider utilising the services of an organization such as Ivy Phone Answering, which specialise in providing businesses with virtual receptionists. This option is usually much cheaper as you pay every time the phone is answered, rather than a lump sum.

Receptionists Provide Custom Tailored Solutions

When your business hires a receptionist or a virtual receptionist, then they have the ability to tailor their customer services in a way that totally matches their current needs. You would essentially be able to implement a new system in which you can route every call through a receptionist, during which the customer can be directed to whichever aspect of your business they would be most applicable to.

Having a Receptionist Will Allow You to Cut Down on Costs

This refers specifically to instances where a virtual receptionist is being used. If you outsource your business’s calls to a third-party specialist, then you are able to improve the overall efficiency of your call handling and also reduce the costs involved in that improvement. This is one of the reasons that outsourcing these services has now become a much more viable option for a lot of small businesses as it comes with all the benefits of a receptionist without as large a cost.

A Virtual Assistant Can Take Calls After Hours

Another benefit to having a virtual receptionist is that what with a large amount of shopping now being carried out online, people from all over the world will likely want to engage with your product, but with time differences, any questions they may have could take a while to get answered. If you have a virtual receptionist, these services are available 24/7, so clients can be seen to immediately, and even if they are just given a better time to call back, they will appreciate such assistance. Due to people’s accessibility to products worldwide, good customer service could be the make-or-break factor in securing a sale.

It Frees Your Time to Actually Run Your Business

As a business owner, it is always incredibly daunting when you realise how much responsibility you have and how much time said responsibilities take up. Completing tasks such as bookkeeping, accounting, and running ads can take up so much time that you often won’t feel like you actually have a chance to run your business. Add on top of that having to answer the phone every 10 minutes to talk a client through a simple query and make some kind of appointment. If you have a receptionist, then you will be able to get rid of this headache as a receptionist will be prevalent at handling a client’s queries in a calm and quick manner, ensuring they are happy customers but also ensuring you can continue with the work your business does whilst they have their query answered.

Conclusion

As technology develops, a lot of job roles are slowly fading away or losing importance; however, that of a receptionist will not be important. Granted, now businesses have the option to have virtual receptionists, which doesn’t take away from how crucial it is to have some immediate level of communication with the customer to handle any questions that they might have.