Recently, we’ve seen businesses of all sizes, from small startup firms to big businesses, using freelancers and virtual receptionists. In the past few years, there’s been a major spike in the virtual receptionist industry in particular. Alongside all of that growth, as with pretty much everything else, are many myths and misconceptions.
There are so many ways businesses can get support from virtual receptionist solutions, no matter what size and what industry they’re in. Let’s explore some of the most common misconceptions below.
THE VIRTUAL LIVE RECEPTIONIST MISCONCEPTION: Hiring virtual receptionists costs quite a lot.
THE FACTS: When a trained expert is employed, their qualifications will certainly add to their possible price tag. When it comes to virtual receptionists, that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. The services can be quite affordable, especially when they charge by the minute and spread the cost across many businesses.
THE VIRTUAL LIVE RECEPTIONIST MISCONCEPTION: They do not have real care or concern for the customers they interact with.
THE FACTS: Since virtual receptionists never meet callers in person, many assume they just don’t care about the needs of those callers. In fact, the best virtual receptionists must be adept at anticipating and addressing their clients’ needs. They will gather up training resources and read from them on a regular basis. In fact, virtual receptionists will go through many more calls than in-person receptionists, meaning they can gain valuable experience from each interaction.
In practice, virtual receptionists seem to handle customer service successfully; many happy customers report thinking their virtual receptionist was a receptionist at the company that they were calling. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about customer service being neglected just because the receptionist is virtual.
THE VIRTUAL LIVE RECEPTIONIST MISCONCEPTION: Their English is not spoken well.
THE FACTS: While there can be problems with after-hours request services, reputable, U.S.-based firms will be able to help you. Leaders in the industry actually have many bilingual and native Spanish speakers on their team.
A good rule of thumb is to ask the company you’re looking into about their representatives’ physical location. If they’re not willing to divulge that, chances are it’s overseas.
THE VIRTUAL LIVE RECEPTIONIST MISCONCEPTION: They’re nothing more than a glorified voicemail service or “switchboard operator”.
THE FACTS: That’s like saying that virtual receptionists in real life (not the one in the intro to this story, of course) can do only what this virtual receptionist does. In real life, many virtual receptionists assist with a wide variety of tasks.
Some of the many tasks virtual receptionists can accomplish include:
- Book or change appointments
- Call to remind clients of upcoming appointments
- Field incoming sales calls and prep leads for your sales team
- Give descriptions of the services your business offers
- Perform data entry for things like insurance or payment information
- Provide seamless reception services after normal business hours (or on weekends)
- Reach out to clients to gather feedback or help with customer relationship management (CRM)
Conclusion
Virtual receptionists have been getting more popular over the last few years. Alongside that, many misconceptions have popped up. Common ones include high costs, not being well-spoken in English and not having real care or concern for customers.
Want to get yourself a 24h virtual live receptionist? Contact 24H Virtual today! We can help protect your time through delegation to a team of professionals that are highly qualified.
