10 Ways a Virtual Receptionist Can Help a Small Business to Succeed

Small businesses simply don’t have the time or resources to manage everything on their plates. Consider this interesting factoid. Even though we are living in a Digital Age when technology is commonplace, nearly half of small businesses still don’t have an online presence. Factor into consideration that the majority of their customers prefer (and sometimes only) to engage with their vendors through digital channels, and this is a huge business gap.

Help Needed!

It is no wonder that many of these same businesses cannot find time to manage their daily schedules and appointments, field incoming sales and customer service calls, and perform basic administrative tasks. The answer is not to work more hours or to multitask faster. As a small business, you and your team are very likely already working at full capacity.

Yet hiring a full-time or even a part-time assistant simply isn’t feasible. Non-revenue producing staff is not something most small businesses can afford. Further, new tax and benefit requirements such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and new paid sick leave laws make it even more prohibitive.

So what is the alternative? Missed customer or prospect calls, delays in getting customers answers to their questions or problems, difficulty scheduling meetings, among other administrative functions are not the solution. The answer is outside of your company. Just as technology has disrupted many other areas of the economy, it has changed how a growing number of small businesses manage their administrative tasks—and frankly even more.

10 Ways a Virtual Assistant Can Help

Davinci Virtual recognized the potential impact virtual assistants could have on small businesses when we were found nearly a decade ago. Thousands of small businesses use our Davinci Live Receptionist Services so that they can focus on their businesses. The combination of the right technology with a personal human touch enables our small business customers to extend their brand experience and reach without adding any new staff to their teams.

What are some of the ways Davinci Live Receptionists can help a small businesses? It begins with the basics:

1. Call forwarding and screening.

Incoming calls can be screened by a member of your dedicated receptionist team and routed to the appropriate employee in your company or to any phone number you elect to use.

2. Voice mail management.

You can receive all voicemail in your email inbox, thus eliminating the need to call your voicemail. In addition to this voicemail-to-email capability, you can convert all of your email to voice; read, search, store, and print messages just like email.

3. Appointment scheduling.

Appointments get scheduled in real time and include email alerts and/or text notifications for new or upcoming appointments.

4. Dedicated local and toll-free numbers.

Establish a business presence in a new city and make it easy for customers to get in touch with you by using dedicated local and toll-free numbers.

5. Advanced call routing.

Prospects and customers can reach you regardless of where you are at by using advanced call routing.

6. Administrative tasks and work.

Administrative tasks can consume valuable time you need to spend on the business. Outsource tasks such as travel planning, delivery scheduling, and meeting support so that you can focus on your business.

7. Auto receptionist.

For businesses with a high volume of inbound calls, a full-featured auto receptionist can be employed to route them to the right person or voicemail within your organization.

8. Online faxing.

Going paperless makes full sense when it comes to faxing. With online faxing, small businesses can receive and send all of their faxes via email and to read incoming faxes within email.

9. Audio conferencing.

Phone conferencing is an assumed capability for most companies. Small businesses can integrate their audio conferencing needs into their virtual receptionist service, simplifying management and allaying costs.

10. Special FAQs and complex call flows.

Creating a call flow process will help optimize the time spent speaking the prospects and customers on the phone. Route calls to a specific department, answer their FAQs, and provide them with product support.

In addition to the above, small businesses can get more strategic in how they leverage their Davinci Live Receptionists team. Because our dedicated virtual teams are experts on their customers’ businesses, the live receptionists can perform outbound calling services as well. This is where they become particularly valuable, often delivering bottom-line results for our small business customers. These activities range from lead generation, to outbound appointment scheduling, to surveys and market research, to subscription renewals and sales.

Thousands of small businesses across the United States experience the benefits of Davinci Live Receptionist Services every day. For more information on Live Receptionist Services and how our team of professionals can help your small business, visit www.davincivirtual.com/live-receptionists.

About Coco Quillen

Coco is the Chief Operating Officer at Davinci Virtual Office Solutions. She manages the strategic development and operational implementation of services for Davinci. She works closely with all teams to ensure customers are well taken care of.