Many companies tried out outsourcing their call centers and receptionists in the past, and feedback from clients and customers was often that they didn’t like speaking to people who weren’t based in the USA as it made it difficult to explain a problem, they therefore would much rather speak to someone inside the company. That of course is understandable, but a virtual answering service is a large leap forward compared to the outsourced call centers of old, and can have a profound effect on improving your customer service.
What is a Virtual Answering Service?
A virtual answering service is provided to deal with simple but time consuming calls that your business typically receives throughout the day such as requests for literature, appointment setting, dispatch of items, and general enquiries such as opening hours or information requests.
You likely employ a front office receptionist or several to carry out this task of answering general enquiries that come into the main customer number, which prevents them from dealing with clients who enter the building quickly and effectively, and also stops them from doing the actual physical work of sorting files, compiling information packs, typing up meeting minutes and reports. By freeing up your front office receptionists from the general enquiries and appointment setting they will enjoy their jobs a lot more and you will be able to train and utilize them for more productive tasks.
So a virtual answering service outsources the general phone enquiries to a US based call center who have access to all of the information and software required to take over your general enquiries and set appointments for your senior management team. They can take requests for literature and dispatch requests and enter these onto the system so that the correct team in your company can deal with them.
The individuals working for a virtual answering service are well trained customer service professionals who know how to deal effectively and politely with all general business enquiries and will be trained to understand your business, becoming knowledgeable of your organization structure, and even your customer base.
A good virtual answering service company will be committed to providing a service better than what you are able to achieve inhouse by training their professionals in dealing with all customer enquiries effectively, extending your operating hours, improving response times, and passing information requests onto your business as efficiently as possible.
What Your Customers Will Know
Your customers may at first realize that your usual receptionist isn’t answering the phone anymore, but actually they will receive the same service they always did, in fact the phone will get answered faster and their enquiry dealt with quicker. Your most regular and important customers will have direct lines to their account managers anyway, so the customers ringing your general enquiry line will be prospective or occasional customers and will be handled professionally and courteously. You and your customer so see much better customer service, resulting in more sales.
