Ever wonder what business growth sounds like?
It’s the sound of a phone ringing.
Every day, millions of people call businesses in the hopes of buying products or services, booking appointments, and getting their questions answered and their challenges resolved. Too often, the organization on the other end doesn’t pick up—not because they don’t want to, but because they can’t. They’re busy, unavailable, or unable to provide the personalized service their callers expect.
Smart businesses overcome these limitations by taking advantage of live virtual receptionist services.
Virtual receptionists answer calls on behalf of the organizations they serve. They’re trained, professional human beings available on-demand to represent you and your business over the phone. They do it all—from answering and transferring calls live to taking messages, scheduling appointments, handling FAQs, placing outbound calls on your behalf, and more.
Live virtual receptionist services are the modern evolution of the in-house receptionist function of yesteryear. Cloud computing and advances in telecommunications technology have made it possible for receptionists to handle calls remotely, if and when businesses need them to. This gives organizations like yours greater flexibility in meeting caller demand.
For prospects and customers, meanwhile, live virtual receptionist services are indistinguishable from speaking to someone located at a company’s physical office.
It’s a win-win for callers and businesses.
Here are just a few ways live virtual receptionist services fuel business growth:
Strengthen your customer service reputation.
Live virtual receptionist services can transform your business into a customer service leader in your region or industry. Survey after survey (PDF) shows the majority of consumers prefer to contact businesses over the phone.
Those callers hope—and increasingly, expect—to speak with a live, human representative:
- Roughly 76% of callers will hang up without leaving a voicemail if their call isn’t answered
- Approximately 67% of callers will hang up if they reach an automated system
Rather than seeing heightened customer expectations as a challenge, consider this an opportunity to stand out. All you have to do to outperform your competition is pick up the phone.
Consider the fact that 72% of consumers will share their positive experiences with others. That figure has a direct impact on your bottom line.
- Did you know that online reviews influence purchase decisions for a whopping 93% of consumers?
- How about the fact that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know over any other form of advertising?
Reduce overhead and supplement existing resources.
Live virtual receptionist services allow you to boost your customer service results and tap into the power of word of mouth—without burdening your business with high, unnecessary expenses.
The average annual salary for an in-house receptionist is $36,000. That doesn’t include benefit packages, training costs, or potential severance. Many business owners, particularly owners of small businesses, can’t justify the costs of hiring, onboarding, and training someone on-site to answer calls full-time.
Fortunately for those organizations, live virtual receptionist services are available for a fraction of the cost.
Even for businesses who can afford an in-house receptionist, 40 hours a week doesn’t always cut it. Prospects and customers frequently call during non-business hours. Other times, they don’t get through because lines are busy or staff members are on break.
Virtual receptionists, on the other hand, are available to answer calls before and after the business is open, and as-needed during busy periods.
Best of all, with live virtual receptionist services, there’s no investment you need to make in new hardware or software, no errors or growing pains associated with implementing a new platform in your business. It’s all virtual. The change to your business is minimal or nonexistent. Some services (including ours) will even allow you to keep your existing business number, so you can forward calls to your virtual team with zero friction on the caller’s end.
Gain more business opportunities—and increase revenue.
The many benefits and flexibilities of live virtual receptionist services add up to more opportunities for your business. Let’s run down the big ones:
- You’ll maximize your chances to connect with every prospect and customer. We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: missed calls are missed opportunities. Live virtual receptionists are able to answer most—if not all—calls that come into your business. Virtual receptionists are available when you need them, and are never sick, late, or on vacation.
- Better customer service means greater customer lifetime value (LTV). At the risk of sounding obvious, customer service has a direct impact on LTV. The better you can serve your callers, the more likely you are to convert and retain them.
- You’ll learn more about your audience. Live virtual receptionists can collect call data and key details about your customers, and prospects: names, contact information, reasons for reaching out, the best times to follow up, sentiments about the business, and so forth. These insights can inform marketing and sales efforts, reveal gaps in customer experience, shape product and/or service offerings, and more.
(PS – The benefits of virtual receptionist services aren’t limited to phone calls. This can all happen via live chat as well.)
What happens when a live virtual receptionist takes a call?
Virtual receptionists answer calls from US-based offices, greeting callers with a personalized message, e.g.: “Thank you for calling Dr. Smith’s offices—how may I help you today?”
From there, receptionists route callers according to call handling instructions tailored to fit the unique needs of your business. Specific types of calls can receive their own treatment: a prospect, for example, can be immediately connected to your office while solicitors are offered voicemail.
In a typical live virtual receptionist service arrangement, a receptionist will…
- Greet your callers
- Dial your phone line
- Offer to connect you with the caller, if you are available
- Take a message or offer the caller voicemail, if you are not available
- Send you an email, text message, or app notification with your caller’s message or voicemail
The process is up to you. When and how you use virtual receptionists, along with what they say to customers and prospects, are your calls to make. No pun intended.
Live virtual receptionists at Ruby
Ruby is a proven industry leader in live virtual receptionist services. Every day, thousands of businesses across the US trust us to pick up the phone on their behalf. We take pride in helping our customers grow their businesses. Take it from them:
“Ever since we signed up with Ruby Receptionists we’ve been able to recover 10-15% of our inbound leads and over $1,600 in marketing costs per month. That’s a huge return for our investment with Ruby and we’re just getting started!”
“For five years Ruby’s professional and friendly receptionists have done an amazing job of treating our clients just how we want! Better than anyone I could hire in house and our clients constantly rave about ‘our’ receptionist!”
“Ruby’s extended hours translated into a boom for my business. I did not realize how many potential clients moved on to someone else when they got my after-hours voicemail. Now with Ruby one the line, even if I cannot pick up, many more potential clients are sticking around to become actual clients.”
Discover how our live virtual receptionists can help you grow your business. Try Ruby risk-free with a free 14-day trial. Talk to a friendly Ruby at 844-311-7829 or chat with us to get started.
