6 Ways Virtual Receptionists Can Make Your Clients Happier

While face-to-face meetings are certainly important and play an important role in client engagement, those instances where clients reach out through phone and digital channels such as live web chat are just as critical. Often, phone or live web chat is the first interaction the client has with the business. In other instances, clients deserve prompt responses when they have questions or require consultation. Forcing them to leave a voice mail or pushing them into a long call or chat queue frustrates them and can turn advocates into detracts very quickly.

Happy Clients Is Even More Important Today

In the new COVID-19 world, many businesses and entrepreneurs have shut down their offices, and depending on their location, they may not even be able to meet with clients. Indeed, video and audio conferencing solutions have been overwhelmed in the past couple weeks as the volume from new customers and existing customers with additional requirements stretching their network bandwidth and systems. 

Keeping tabs on your clients and being available when they contact you is always important, but even more so right now. Simply because clients are “sheltering in place” or staying at home does not mean that they aren’t engaging with businesses. Whether phone, live web chat, email, or text, businesses need to offer clients a seamless engagement experience. If they fail to do so, businesses should expect to experience everything from frustrated customers to lost revenue opportunities.

Yet, as entrepreneurs and small businesses have overflowing plates—which is exacerbated by the COVID-19 new normal—you simply don’t have the time to answer and route every incoming call or respond to live web chat inquiries. Tapping a virtual receptionist and live web chat service will enable you to focus on keeping your business thriving while delighting clients with great engagement experiences. After all, happy clients are great advocates and demonstrate much higher rates of loyalty than other clients. 

Ways to Make Your Clients Happier with Virtual Receptionists

Following are different ways in which businesses can delight their clients with virtual receptionists:

1. Making First Impressions Count

The initial experience a client has with a business creates an almost indelible imprint; it is virtually impossible to overcome negative first impressions. Connecting incoming client calls with a professional receptionist who knows your business, can route them to the right person on your team, and push those that aren’t urgent into voice mail creates a great first impression. The same applies when a client is on your website and reaches out for help—whether support or sales related. Live web chat agents who can quickly respond to client chats go a long way in ensuring happy clients.

2. Answering Incoming Calls

When a client calls you, they expect to speak with you or the appropriate member of your team. Nothing can be more frustrating than the reach voice mail and way hours or days for a return call. A virtual receptionist can vet incoming calls, route those that require a real-time response to the correct person on your team, and forward others to voice mail (e.g., vendor sales calls). Without a virtual receptionist, businesses treat all calls the same—which can result in engagement delays that have a negative impact on the client’s perception of your business.

3. Responding to Email

Client emails can quickly and easily get buried in the pile of emails received every day. Indeed, the average professional receives 121 emails every business day. Virtual receptionists can filter through incoming email, prioritize those that are important, and route email to the appropriate members of your team.

4. Engaging via Live Web Chat and Text

Clients increasingly want to engage with their vendors through digital channels such as live web chat and text. Virtual receptionists can monitor these channels and ensure that clients receive quick responses, answering their questions and solving their problems. And while clients indicate they prefer digital channels over traditional channels like phone and email in many instances, that doesn’t mean their level of patience increases. Indeed, they expect even faster responses from businesses when using digital channels. 

5. Managing Schedules and Calendars

Virtual receptionists need to be empowered to execute business decisions on your behalf. As part of their engagement with clients, virtual receptionists can schedule meetings and manage calendars for your team. Clients don’t need to wait for confirmations after their engagement, but they can coordinate with virtual receptionists to schedule meetings during the call, live web chat, or text exchange with the virtual receptionist. 

6. Reaching Out to Clients

Just as virtual receptionists can field incoming calls, live web chats, emails, and texts, they also can reach out to clients to schedule meetings, check on support issues, qualify leads, or nurture potential clients through the buyer’s journey. 

Evaluating Your Virtual Receptionist Options

When it comes to choosing a virtual receptionist service, it is important to remember that they are not all the same. Many do not offer engagement options across multiple channels and lack a breadth of experience serving businesses across different industry segments. The ability to seamlessly move between engagement channels is also key—as clients expect to be able to move from live web chat to phone and for businesses to make an outbound call to them after receiving an email or text. This is where services like Davinci Live Receptionists are differentiated from other virtual receptionist offerings on the market. 

About Patrick Spencer

Patrick Spencer (Ph.D.) is the President and Founder of TIRO Communications that helps companies develop, build, and manage content, customer, advocacy, and demand-gen programs. Included in its offerings is TIRO Cognition Insights, a data analytics tool that enables B2C and B2B businesses to pinpoint what their customers and competitors’ customers are saying and to identify corresponding actionable product, services, competitive, sales, and marketing intelligence.

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Website: www.tirocommunications.com